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M1101 Pickup/Transport considerations

jimqbaum

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Location
Lynchburg,va
December 03 2014
I must have read through hours of threads on this trailer and I am thankful to all thread posters. It really helped me with my decision to bid on this great green iron!
Called ahead and found the staff and officers at Ft. Pickett VA to be of great help. When I arrived they also followed through with courtesy and respect and were of most help. Never did I get a feeling that I was not wanted or in their way.

Pulled the trailer out of the stack and proceeded to hook up the temporary tow lights purchased from Harbor Freight. Make sure you get the correct side placed before your start tying them down! Dummy me. The mag mounts worked fine but I still zip tied them down. On to the safety chain. Being as I had to use an extension to clear the spare tire on the Jeep, I knew from previous post that the safety chains would not be long enough. I purchased 4ft of 3/8 chain to thread through the safety hook up holes part of the Jeep hitch leaving the two ends available to hook to the existing trailer safety chains. I took some chain quick links to hook to the existing trailer safety chains. The trailer safety chain hooks were to big to hook to the puny 3/8 chain, hence the quick links. I did not see the need to test the parking or regular brakes as it was coming home with me regardless. I felt that this empty trailer was not too much to stop with the Jeep. I was more concerned about a stuck brake or bearing issues with a 75 mile tow ahead of me. Stopping often to check for heating issues and home I go with a uneventful trip.

Sure I had a Jeep full of tools, zip ties, electrical tester, bottle jack, 3lb hammer, gorilla tape and the like, but where I failed to realize is how screwed I would have been if I had to do some tire or bearing work. The girly man bottle jack would not have come close to what I would have needed to take a tire off this beast. I am not even sure if a farm-all jack would have done the job in the height department. So be sure to add a significant amount of cribbing to your pack list. You can see in the pictures how I was able to tackle the pintle height via a trip to Northern tool. The Jeep has shown a 12 inch riser with a bolt on pintle receiver.

Paperwork in Virginia requires a "Trip Permit" from the DMV to the tune of $5.00 and the rascals only make this good for 4 days! The folks at the base gave me a number to call for help with the titling of this trailer and I will be sure to continue the post on that and future findings as I progress this into my "Bug-Out" "Zombie killing platform"!
 

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KansasBobcat

Member
641
8
18
Location
San Antonio, TX
trailer

Sounds like you were pretty well prepared. Should carry socket for axle nut, I think 1 1/4 inch and cotter pins incase you need to adjust bearing. Only had one too tight in 5 trailers. I used extra hoisting shackles to lengthen safety chains. In a pinch you can take the ones off the trailer if nuts not welded on.These are great trailers and a real bargain!
 
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Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
34,012
1,810
113
Location
GA Mountains
Congrats on a safe recovery. I too, have been reading up on these. Just when I was about to go to the dark side and get one, I figure out the bed is much shorter than an M101. Bummer.
 

3dAngus

Well-known member
4,719
101
63
Location
Perry, Ga.
On my last trailer haul to Orlando, the new buyer immediately caught something I never did.
That axle nut was loose. I always check temperatures and it never got warm. A loose nut is dangerous, and not just on trailers:lol:
The raceway could come unglued and bearings fall out.
Shake these tires back and forth and see if there is any wobble. I couldnt see any going down the road, but there was definitely some wobble upon manually shaking it. Hope this helps someone. Another thing to add to my checklist.
 

FloridaAKM

Well-known member
2,699
392
83
Location
Gainesville, Florida
Congratulations on your safe trip home, you did well. I've pulled home three of these trailers from as far away as Atlanta with no problems. As far as the jack is concerned, I used a 3 ton floor jack & checked the bearing & wheel turning resistance before starting on the trip right after connecting to the trailer leaving no doubt as to the condition of the bearings. Harbor Fright lighting (connect to the legs post on the body in the rear, it is steel) is the way to go unless you tow a lot of these & an adapter would be the better choice after changing the 24v bulbs for 12v! I hope to pick up a few more before they stop selling good ones.
The weight of the trailer should not be a problem as the trailer has surge brakes to help stop it, if they don't work; then you may have a problem with a loaded trailer. Enjoy!

In picture two, you are a brave man not setting the emergency brake in your driveway, it could roll down the hill, causing a bad day...
 
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cyclic

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Location
central Texas
You do know that you can do a tire change without a jack?

Lower the hitch way down, install the rear supports to the highest current point, and start winding up the front jack. Both tires off the ground without needing a separate jack.
 

3dAngus

Well-known member
4,719
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Location
Perry, Ga.
You do know that you can do a tire change without a jack?

Lower the hitch way down, install the rear supports to the highest current point, and start winding up the front jack. Both tires off the ground without needing a separate jack.
Fantastic idea!!!
I could do that with my M1061 leveling legs and I loved it, but never considered it for my M1101s.
I'll be sure to brace my front leveling leg on the way up, even thouth those flat plates on the back should hold er steady.
Great tip of the day there cyclic! Thanks.
 

KansasBobcat

Member
641
8
18
Location
San Antonio, TX
You do know that you can do a tire change without a jack?

Lower the hitch way down, install the rear supports to the highest current point, and start winding up the front jack. Both tires off the ground without needing a separate jack.
Is this safe? Could not find it in TM 9-2330-392-14&P.
 

Trailboss

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,577
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Location
Norwood LA
Even though the tire pressure marking is 17psi, I pump them up to 30psi for smoother riding at highway speeds. You have to actually check the pressure - don't rely on a visual inspection because with the run-flats in the tires, they may not look low. I have had a couple of tires at ~5psi when I picked them up.
 

FloridaAKM

Well-known member
2,699
392
83
Location
Gainesville, Florida
Agreed that 30 psi is a good towing pressure empty & you have to actually test the pressure, not look @ the tire or kick it & assume that it is good to go. All of mine were brand new with the rubber tits still on all the tire, so initial pressure was good for storage. Another thing to look @ is the rear tailgate. When the trailer is hooked to a standard hitch, you can't see behind the trailer & if you hook magnetic lights to the tiedown stubs, you can't lower the tail gate. I found that fastening the mag lights to the leveling leg stubs & tie wrap them for safety, you can lower the tailgate & see behind the trailer in the rear view mirror along with both side mirrors. Just the way my towing has evolved with a Toyota Tacoma towing the M1101 & M1102's One last check would be the brake fluid in the surge brake master cylinder, only use Dot 5 fluid & don't overfill it as it seems to ooze out over time!
 

Trailboss

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
Norwood LA
Is this safe? Could not find it in TM 9-2330-392-14&P.
Very safe! Just used this method to change a tire today with an M1101 that has a 1300 lb MEP003a running in the back. It is very stable as I was jumping in and out of the trailer changing a leaking fuel line.
 

bricksrkids

New member
89
0
0
Location
Acworth, ga
I have a Jeep JK that I have used to recover several m1101 trailers so here's my 2 cents. Your hitch might bend. That pintle hitch riser is creating a big upper lateral twist. Be sure to check it. I would lower the pintle to the holes directly behind the hitch 2" bar.

This happened to my first Jeep trailer set up. I switched to a Reese riser that is much stronger and only 2" of rise and all is good now.

Nice trailer!

Bill
 

KansasBobcat

Member
641
8
18
Location
San Antonio, TX
My pintle riser from Northern is 1/2 inch plate with 8 inch gusset welded on the back. I use the set of holes leaving one set visible and this tows level behind my Tahoe. No problems but have not gone off road with this set up.
 

cyclic

New member
24
0
1
Location
central Texas
You can do several things to get better towing height/hitch set-up.
#1 in my opinion is changing to regular truck rims and tires. A set of dodge or chevy 8 lugs and some 265/75R16 tires will bring it down a bunch and still maintain great ground clearance.

#2 is change the trailer hitch. Several options exist. Keeping the surge brakes limits you. Once you get past keeping them, you could go with a height adjustable channel style hitch with pintle and/or ball mount. A fixed pintle, or a fixed ball mount.
I went with a regular 2" ball style to get it road worthy quickly, I will eventually swap it to a collar-lok coupler (greater articulation, mid point between a regular ball and a pintle).

Mine.......................
9qRd9h.jpg
 

Attachments

KansasBobcat

Member
641
8
18
Location
San Antonio, TX
You can do several things to get better towing height/hitch set-up.
#1 in my opinion is changing to regular truck rims and tires. A set of dodge or chevy 8 lugs and some 265/75R16 tires will bring it down a bunch and still maintain great ground clearance.

#2 is change the trailer hitch. Several options exist. Keeping the surge brakes limits you. Once you get past keeping them, you could go with a height adjustable channel style hitch with pintle and/or ball mount. A fixed pintle, or a fixed ball mount.
I went with a regular 2" ball style to get it road worthy quickly, I will eventually swap it to a collar-lok coupler (greater articulation, mid point between a regular ball and a pintle).

Mine.......................
View attachment 532236
Did the Chevy wheel swap today on one of M1101. Lowered the lunette 3 -4 inches. Looks pretty good but chrome covers will have to go!
 
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