M105A2 24v to 12v conv.. Need help...

[TEXASAGGIECO2012]

Im a new owner and my plan is to put a 250gal propane tank in it for football tailgates. Im converting it to 12v. Question is what do I do now? I'll be buying new 12v lights tmrw, but what should I do about the trailer/truck connection wires? Attached some pics so ya'll know what were working with.

 

[m16ty]

I don't recall which ones but you don't need all those wires. All you need is 4 wires (the other wires are for blackout lights and such). One for tail lights, one for right turn, one for left turn, and ground. After you find the 4 wires you need, attach a plug that will plug into what you have on your tow vehicle.

On a side note, How much cooking do you do? A 250 gal tank will cook thousands of hamburgers or hotdogs. Seems overkill to me. I'd check your state laws also for hauling that much propane.

 

[Warthog]

You could have just changed the bulbs in the tail lights to 12v bulbs and not worried about the blackout lights.

The wires should have been labeled with standard metal military labels. Since you have removed the plug end you will have to trace out the correct wires. The plug had letters that correspond to the wire numbers

E - #21 - tail light
B - #22-461 - left turnstop
J - #22-460 - right turn/stop

 

[TEXASAGGIECO2012]

Thanks for the help! I guess I can try the 4 black ones, then the 4 red ones and see which works. The 250 gal tank is going to be converted to a smoker. The dream is to trap hogs at the ranch and cook 'em. But thousands of hamburgers does sound like a good idea.

I attached the professionally made blueprints

 

[KsM715]

Go to where the vehicle end connects to the rest of the trailer harness, should be a blockish looking thing right inder the front of the bed on the driver side. The bullet connections under the bed should have the metal tags that show what wires go where in these drawings. Just rig up a 4flat connector there and put 12v bulbs in the tail lights

 

[m16ty]

. The 250 gal tank is going to be converted to a smoker.

Ok. I thought you were transporting 250 gal of propane to cook with.

Here's a thread that tells the wire numbers- http://www.steelsoldiers.com/trailers/59349-electrical.html?highlight=trailer+wiring+diagram

Edit- Jeff beat me to it.

 

[TEXASAGGIECO2012]

I got impatient this afternoon with the trailer's rubber plug and took the hammer and trusty M9 bayonet to it. The enjoyment of swinging the hammer in anger front of the neighbors was worth the hassle.

 

[TEXASAGGIECO2012]

Jeff are you suggesting that I slice the wires next to the metal tags (underneath the trailer) and run new wire from there all the way to the hitch of my tow truck?

 

[Truckie]

Take a look at this thread, I made up a connecector to go to the existing trailer connection. (unless the connector is beyond repair!)
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/trailers/55613-m101a2-trailer-wiring-connector.html

 

[Happyland1410]

Here is another option. I wanted to leave all of the 24v lighting stock to work with my deuce but I also wanted to be able to pull the trailer with my F350 so I just added a set of 12v lights with separate wiring. Here is the thread on it:

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/trailers/59560-added-12-volt-lights-my-m105.html

 

[Barrman]

Does this mean you don't want the military plug/cable for the front of the trailer? I can come by Monday afternoon and pick it up.

Seriously, welcome to the site. There are a half dozen or so Aggies here. I am '90. There are also about 20 people who are addicted to these silly green machines within 100 miles of you.

Another option before you cut everything up was to just swap in LED light buckets. They work on 10-32 volts. Oh well. If you are just tossing the stock trailer plug, I would be interested and will be in town Monday to get my son's braces adjusted.

 

[TEXASAGGIECO2012]

After I took a good look at the wires I noticed they have some sort of color markings. (EX. red wire w/white stripe...ect) does anyone by chance have a "wire color chart". Im attempting the trial and error process. Heres a pic of where im at.

I also found a helpful link for ppl wiring M101's, problem is I have a M105

http://fheadturbo.blogspot.com/2011/01/m101a1-m101a2-trailer-wiring.html

 

[Warthog]

After I took a good look at the wires I noticed they have some sort of color markings. (EX. red wire w/white stripe...ect) does anyone by chance have a "wire color chart". Im attempting the trial and error process. Heres a pic of where im at.

I also found a helpful link for ppl wiring M101's, problem is I have a M105

Turbocharging my CJ5: M101A1, M101A2 Trailer Wiring

There is not "color" wiring diagram for the trailers. The cable that you smashed the end off of, comes as a complete unit. You will have to use the trial and error method. Most Military Vehicles use only black wire and only have the numbered metal markers to designate the wires.

One thing you might do is remove that section of wire from the terminal block near the bed. The end of the cable near the bed is maked with the metal wire numbers. Here is a picture of what the harness looks like:

OD Iron LLC Military Vehicle Parts and Accessories

If you remove one at a time you can use a ohm meter to find out whick wire is which and make the wires.

The TM for the M105 trailer can be found at www.jatonkam35s.com. You need manual TM 9-2330-213-14&P

The wiring diagram is in Section 4-27.

 

[TEXASAGGIECO2012]

I wish I could help out an AG and give you the plug & cord but like he said I smashed it. Worst part is I found out on warthogs link that those things pricy. Oh well this wont be my last trailer, I'm hooked. Be proud this trailer is gonna be used in lot 100 for TAMU tailgating. Is the guy with the trailer/generator, deuce and a&m firetruck on this site?

I want the trailer to look clean w/o red yellow green white and brown wires being too visible. So I'm thinking about doing it the hard way (trial and error). Its my punishment for using a hammer.

 

[Barrman]

All the military trailers used the same plug and wire numbers.

There is a Bryan M35 owner, CS M35 owner, Caldwell M35/M715 owner, Waco M715 owner, Temple M35/M725 owner, Kingwood M1009 owner, Huge number of Houston and Austin area MV owners and a bunch in the Eastern woods too.

 

[porkysplace]

You could just pick up a pair of the grote multi - volt LEDS off e-bay and make a adapter for the wiring harness and still use with the deuce .

 

[TEXASAGGIECO2012]

Just had a great idea, test for continuity in the wires. (from the cable plugs to "hacked off" wires)

 

[Ratch]

Is there a cover on the drawbar that you can pull off and find a junction box underneath?
I don't know anything about 105's, but all the 101's have that, I've rewired several for 12v flat 4-wire connectors.

What I've found works nice is wire loom and black plumbing repair tape and bullet connectors.
If you don't have any already, you also can go to Walmart and pick up a couple bullet crimp connectors. They should fit the trailer junction plugs perfectly so you don't have to hack any trailer wiring, just plug in. You can also grab the wiring and trailer-side plug while there, and some wire loom to make it tidy. If you want to get really tidy about it, like I've started to, you can pick up a roll of the black rubber-like stretchable plumbing repair tape to wrap around the junctions and outside of the wire loom.

Crimp those connectors on to your 4-wire male wiring connector, then plug them in to the corresponding trailer wires according to the linked page in this thread. Wrap the loom around the wire, then wrap the plumbing tape around the loom in a few places and around the 4-wire connector, and you're good to go.

It doesn't have to be 4-wire flat, either, you can pick up whatever connector would work best for your tow vehicle. I just made one with a 7-wire RV plug so I can stop using an adapter for my regular trailer.

I tried to re-use the factory harness with the plug cut off and replaced with an RV plug, but I found that cable too heavy, it was a serious PITA to work with and not really purposeful.

 

[KsM715]

Jeff are you suggesting that I slice the wires next to the metal tags (underneath the trailer) and run new wire from there all the way to the hitch of my tow truck?

Yes. Those connections pull apart. Pull those apart. the connectors that go to the front of the trailer, (the end you wont be using any more) and cut the connectors off. Leave enough wire on each one to allow you to solder your 4flat too. You know, green/brn to one, yellow/brn to nother and so on till you have the 4 soldered on. Then use the chart I posted to connect the proper color wire on the 4flat to the proper number on the wiring left under the bed.

 

[TEXASAGGIECO2012]

I did a similar thing. Jeff that chart was real helpful. I used the wire continuity tester. By sticking the testing rod into the the male plugs, and tapping the alligator clamp on the wires I was able to find out which wire went to which plug by the light lighting up. After labeling I used the chart you posted earlier to find out which was Rturn, Lturn ect. Then I attached civilian trailer wire to the ends of the M105's wire. A torch works well to get the pins off (if you removed the adapter like I did..) It turned out quite nice. Now to call the propane guy for the 250gal tank.

I'll post photos of how it turned out once the sun come back up.

Dammit! I forgot to crimp the waterproof connectors (just sealed them with heat)