M105A3 to A2 landing gear conversion

[number9]

I've seen several posts mentioning how the landing gear on the A3 sucks. I won a few trailers today and of them is an A3 and an A2 that I bid on with the thoughts of trying to steal the landing gear off it and adapt to the A3. I don't know if anyone has tried or done this, but I intend to give it a go when I get them home. If it's doable I'll post plenty of pics of the process.

I also wonder if the spare tire mount / winch off the M35A2 would mount high enough up off the ground height to work under these trailers? Anyone done that?

Also, were any of the A3's camo? Seems all the ones I have seen are green with a camo tarp at most.

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[rosco]

Yeah, one gal did the spare tire rack deal on the right front corner of a 105. She had pictures. Seems there was enough clearance for most applications. It was mounted to the frame. From the picture, I thought that you could trim the spare frame and get it a little higher.

Don't know about the landing gear - NO PICTURES!

Lee in

 

[Nonotagain]

As for the spare tire mount, the A3 already has a spare tire mount on the front of the bed, so no need for that mod.

The landing gear from the A2 will work with a good bit of modification. Plus it's heavy, very heavy.

I ended up purchasing from McMaster Carr a long quick detachable pin and thru drilled the rotating part of the landing gear leg and the mount. This solved my issue of the bent leg syndrome.

 

[CUCVFAN]

Also, were any of the A3's camo? Seems all the ones I have seen are green with a camo tarp at most.

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A bunch of Tan ones sold in TX last week. I vaugely remember seeing a camo one somewhere...

 

[number9]

Yeah, I know the A3 has the spare tire mounted on the front of the trailer body - and also looks to rest on a plate across the back of the A-frame tongue where it meets the body. From looking at the pics of each trailer style it appears that maybe the A2 landing gear won't retract to it's final position due to this plate the A3 tire sits on. I could be wrong on that, just looks that way from the pics. Hence the question of using the Deuce spare tire winch to relocate the spare if that's the case.

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[BKubu]

There is NOTHING wrong with the M105A3s landing leg IF you follow the guidelines set forth in the TM. The landing leg is designed to hold up the front of the trailer, whether it is loaded or not. It is NOT designed to allow you to roll the trailer around with a full load in it. If your landing leg is not FUBAR, and you don't have a need to roll the trailer around when it is loaded (especially on soft or rough ground), you will be fine to leave the original landing leg on the trailer. Or, you can just modify the trailer for the fun of it...