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Ideas for a suitable S280 hauler?

NEIOWA

Well-known member
1,195
127
63
Location
NE IOWA
I would love to sell you the dolly......

But, In all truth; it was the squirliest craziest unnatural thing I have ever towed. When I left the GP yard in Mobile I went to my hotel to check out and went through all the bolts holding it together. Some were loose and I went through the whole rig, Tires, lug nuts etc.

I towed it 2 hours in the rain to GoldnEagle's house and it was just plain exciting to say the least. It like to sway like crazy and fishtail. Tried 45mph then 50 -55 . It did not like any steady speed really.

Now After I got it to Zev's house, he showed me how to inflate the air bags. Duh, as I thought they were tied to the air/hydraulic brakes which were not hooked up but they have individual shradder valves on each bag. It might have rode better with some air, don't know for sure.

I think there is a reason all the $28K dollies look new when surplus.....
Think about it. M720 has about a 6ft wheelbase when bare. How do you think going to handle? Put a shelter/load in the middle of the two sections (as designed) and handles fine.

ote that the large dollys tow great at 60mph even bare.
 

StrykerPerry

Active member
214
37
28
Location
Flintville, Tennessee
KIMG2591.jpgi tow mine all over . But it does have a small wobble at 50mph with the weight in it vs an empty one at 65. I plan to put a shock on the steering to fix that which may also fix towing the dolly by itself without strapping the hitch
 

Tinstar

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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1,776
113
Location
Edmond, Oklahoma
606222C0-CC84-4743-8E30-B3A813D5560C.jpg77CFC09A-A872-4344-A73A-D06B59D4EFBF.jpg
Transporting my S-280 to its final resting spot after major modifications inside.
Was painted OD once off M989A1 trailer.

Serious overkill of a trailer, but it worked perfectly.

Pics don’t show it but there was plenty of room to open door enough for easy entry.
 

ixpacman

Member
71
6
8
Location
Chilmark/Massachusetts
I towed my S280 on an M720 from Charlotte N.C.to woods hole Massachusetts and found that once I made an adjustment on the toe-in on the front tie rods it towed perfectly.I lost a front wheel near Roanoke because of my bad preflight inspection and it still towed fine even with a wheel gone. Good thing I took my headphones off. I also towed two M1022 dollies daisy chained from albany NY to woodfhole with no real issue. I think the dolly sets were very well designed if used and maintained as designed.
 

ixpacman

Member
71
6
8
Location
Chilmark/Massachusetts
Unloaded and I just did line of sight on edge of rims on each side. trial and error on the road.Had to do it a couple of times..Once I had it right the rig tracked nice and my top speed was better. Had to make sure i went straight for 100 ft to make sure hitch was straight then adjusted each wheel individually.very slightly toed in.Air bags have to be all evenly inflated.
 

ixpacman

Member
71
6
8
Location
Chilmark/Massachusetts
I think a steering damper would definitely improve the handling I just couldn’t figure how to register and insure the darn thing. The rig towed quite well up to the M35’s top speed of Mach 53. Even down hill. Brakes worked awesome too. Didn’t even know the thing was back there until I lost a wheel
 
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