LM-105 Shelter Trailer

[Lonekazoo]

I recently picked up an interesting trailer, thought I'd post a couple pictures here with the hope that someone might have seen one before.

From an old military ad I found, it appears to be a Craig Systems LM105 Air Force mobility shelter from the 50's. It has a removable carriage with dual wheels, airbrakes, parking brake, etc. The shelter has two forward landing gear jacks that pin up for trailering. The whole shelter can be taken off the carriage by removing two pins; then it can placed in a truck or the ground. I believe the shelter is about the same size as a typical S280.

It's in great condition, and tows very nicely (already have 800 miles on it!). The suspension works well, has great articulation, and isn't too heavy (I'm guessing about 3000lbs). My thought is to turn it into a camper/ham shack to pull behind an m923a1. It's very airtight and should be easy to heat and cool. It does have a huge HVAC system inside that I would remove (WAY oversized, probably for cooling vacuum tube radio gear, maybe 1/3 of the total weight). The shelter is about 12'L x 8'W x 6.5'T.

My issue is that I almost feel like I should preserve it. It looks like it's been covered, and the interior is in very good condition, with the lighting shades, ceiling tiles, flooring, etc, intact.

If anyone has experience working around one of these, I'd really like hear about it. George

 

[gimpyrobb]

Thats a nice trailer!

 

[Flyingvan911]

Very cool!

 

[Nick]

Thats cool you say it pulls nice, looks like it would be kinda squirrelly cuz its short and tall.

 

[Lonekazoo]

Thats cool you say it pulls nice, looks like it would be kinda squirrelly cuz its short and tall.

Behind an F450 and a 5-ton, it's not squirrelly at all, but I want to occasionally tow it short distances with a Yukon XL 2500 3/4 ton and it may be a little dicey. And backing it up is like a regular 105--you have to be paying attention.

It came from just up the road from you--I picked it up in Fresno and dragged it home to Utah during a recovery from Barstow. I guess things don't rust too badly in your part of the country.

 

[swbradley1]

So it's like an S280 shelter on wheels. Cool find.

 

[MWMULES]

Weird where have these been hiding? I still have to pick up an early 50's Craig shelter AN/TRC-32. It is gutted inside except for the electrical system, heater and exhaust fan, I don't have a dolly for mine yet. Restored the data plate so now I can read it. Turns out the brackets on mine are not for a dolly, but for raising it. Also found the cover cap for the duct hole on the side. Turns out mine was originally painted Strata Blue.

 

[Nick]

Wow, cool, small world. Yeah we dont get much moisture here so stuff tends to last a little longer, and no salt on the roads either.

 

[MWMULES]

George would you get pictures of the underside of your shelter? I would like to see how it attaches to the trailer and if it has skids. Mine has the remains of skids and appear to have been made of wood not metal like the newer shelters have. Also what size are the wheels/tires? Thank you in advance

 

[Lonekazoo]

Here's a couple pictures of the underside. I really haven't spent much time with it since I got it home. Two feet of snow and weeks of high temps in the teens hasn't helped.

The tire size is 9.00 x 16

 

[Lonekazoo]

I'm a little worried that the ceiling squares in this shelter might contain asbestos. There are a couple spare pieces on top of the HVAC unit that I'll take pics of and post here to see if anyone can confirm. My son who has done asbestos removal thinks they're OK, but I want to know for sure before I start cutting holes in the roof for ventilation.

MWMULES, I like the schematic you posted showing the lift kit that was at one time stowed inside your shelter. Do you still have it? Looking closely at my unit, I don't believe it has ever been taken off of the carriage. I may never do it except maybe to get easier access to the airbrakes, replace shocks, and to paint it. My brother has an M936 wrecker that would do the job if I could come up with a sling. Two additional rear jacks might be a solution, or I'm thinking in a pinch that I could back it 3' onto a truck bed and then raise the front jacks enough to clear the carriage.

Since our shelters seem likely to have been Air Force, I found a paint scheme that would definitely stand out::

 

[MWMULES]

The lift kit was long gone, I was hoping my weird lower brackets were for a mobilizer, but they are not. Only original things inside of mine were heater/ air exchange fan, electrical wiring and lights which I removed because of bad ballasts. My inside walls and ceiling is all Masonite which will be removed also as it was flooded at one time. It has a water line on the inside that goes up about 18" and when I picked it up the floor was covered with pancaked flood mud.

 

[MWMULES]

George a short up date on mine. I have been removing the non-standard bench and other items the COE had put in the shelter. The only breach in the shelter was a 2" hole in the cover plate where an a/c unit had been at one time. In the mid west we have a wasp called a mud dauber, there were numerous mud dauber balls on the inside walls that I have removed. Today I got around to removing the original aluminum desk which had the air circulation fan/heater mounted under to see if I could service it and get it working. Took the top cover off and this what I found! There were about 25 in the nooks and crannies of the desk so took it to the car wash to remove the mud balls.

 

[MWMULES]

another LM-105

Found another one, the Air Force had cut a hole in the front for a window AC. Thanks to the hole I can tell they used cardboard to honey comb the wall panels, got to love the 50's! It looks like the same under carriage as your, and has the cranks for the dolly legs.

 

[uscgmatt]

Those are neat shelters. I like the controlled area placard.

 

[Artisan]

Me Likes!

 

[wreckerman893]

I have it's bigger brother.