Edit- (Looks like y'all were posting like madmen while I was writing this since I am s-l-o-w, so bits are redundant but I am too lazy to edit it all out!)
Thanks for posting this Sam.
It was a good (if long) trip, and
big "Thank You's" go to Reloader64 who not only provided truck and trailer, but drove the whole way too!
Didn't seem to bother him when his prediction that his trailer fenders would hold up Sam's 105 proved somewhat optimistic (read- crushed like tinfoil). He plans to just build proper steel decks over the wheels instead, so they WILL hold up next time, and he'll teach me how to weld at the same time...woohoo!
The 105's themselves are pretty immaculate.
Mine had minor damage to a couple of top bow corners, looks like it got pushed down from above, should be easy to straighten.
From reading all the papers this morning (logbook was sealed in a multilayer cocoon of cling film in the trailer bed) it appears that they were all dispatched brand new to Qatar, stored indoors there and never issued, then fully serviced late in 2007 and returned to the US.
Once here they were stored in the open, but with blue tarps tied around them at waist level. This means everything below that was protected from the elements, including the tires, so the only part that suffered was the top of the cover.
The blue tarps are returning to nature now, thus the blue hula skirts on the trailers. They did their job though.
Most, if not all, have the levelling jack attached to the wheel well. Ours had the ladders attached to the tailgate inside, didn't look in the others to see, but I imagine they have theirs too since they bolt on. All the spare tires looked new (still have lettering on tread).
If you got one of these trailers, you should be happy!
A cautionary note- the track width on the A3's is a LOT wider than on earlier 105's (10" or more I would guess. Mine isn't here to measure at the moment). We were not ready for that, thought Scott's trailer deck was wide enough, it was not. Take that into account when you go to get yours so you don't have the issues we had.
Entertainingly, it took around two hours to get Sam's trailer (the front one) loaded. Took about 15 minutes to get mine on there!
Cheers
Pic 1- Pawnshop shows his disappointment over his trailer
Pic 2- Qatar tracking label