M149A2 Fix-up Thread

[CallMeColt]

Everyone,

This is going to be one of my threads documenting my fix-ups! M149A2 this time.

I usually already have the item in my possession in had before making a thread & already started doing something, but in this case am doing it before in hopes I can get some input.



Tires and everything look good from the pictures. It says it is a 1966 but it is now an A2, so it clearly went through some upgrading. My guess is new tank, wheels/tires, and the lunette ring, along with brake system & stuff.

What I was looking for input on was the lunette ring. The ones I have always seen have a castle nut and are slightly offset... you loosen the nut and get it to come out of the keyway, then can rotate it to get a little adjustment out of it. This one has an adjustable channel, but it also has some pin that looks to be bolted so it stays secured. The adjustable channel is obvious, almost all my trailers have this. But, what's the deal with that pin? Nothing in the Technical Manual goes over this and the updates to the TM I found talked about in the PS Monthly magazine don't cover it either, just some of the brake system changes & how a heater port may be present on newer tanks.



It LOOKS like you unbolt it from the top & you can flip the whole thing, then put it back in, replace the pin, the bolt it back in, so the lunette is significantly lowered.

I'm hoping this is the case! It will make it tow level much easier. I have a pretty good hitch, but it won't go that high. These are fairly light empty, so I'm no worried either way.

All this is just for the trip home with my F-250. It's going to be a good trip. I know it's going to be a little risky being that it's an older trailer and it is 7ish hours one way, but I'm up for an adventure & will be going prepared with tools, a helper, and a TM in hand.

I think this is going to clean up nice. Been waiting to get one for a fair deal that wasn't total scrap. I think the flaking paint makes it look way worse than it is. The bent lunette mount isn't a big deal to me because one of the first things will be to make new, longer adjustable channel mount. Once it is home, I don't plan to ever tow it unless it's behind my LMTV. I may just put one of the older style lunette rings on it as I can get one for next to nothing.

 

[flyfishtrailer]

I had one of these but have never seen that hitch on a military trailer. Switching back to the military will probably shave a few pounds off that tongue weight LOL. Good luck, I wish I never sold mine now as I really have a use for one at my new property.

 

[Coug]

looking at the pictures it seems like the bottom of the assembly is a different shape than the upper for where the pin is going through, so really not sure if it would still fit in if you tried to flip it upside down. It might work or it might not, but if it were me I wouldn't go into this with the assumption that it will.

 

[CallMeColt]

I had one of these but have never seen that hitch on a military trailer. Switching back to the military will probably shave a few pounds off that tongue weight LOL. Good luck, I wish I never sold mine now as I really have a use for one at my new property.

All the recently refurbished M149A2 trailers have this lunette setup. A bunch that have recently sold at auction have them, so it's not a one-off thing. Odd, none the less.

 

[CallMeColt]

looking at the pictures it seems like the bottom of the assembly is a different shape than the upper for where the pin is going through, so really not sure if it would still fit in if you tried to flip it upside down. It might work or it might not, but if it were me I wouldn't go into this with the assumption that it will.

Funny, I went back and looked at the pictures before coming to see if anyone replied & noticed I have totally overlooked that myself. I think I'm at the over planning stage.

Going to just bring some new bolts/nuts. Cut the bent ones off & mount the lunette in the lower mounting holes. Good enough to get it home & be secure.

 

[CallMeColt]

Well, a very long day, nearly 1,000 miles & 18 hours of driving later, it is home!



Cut the bolts and moved the lunette down. Didn't bother with trying to flip it. Put on temporary lights and secured them. Anything that would tall off the trailer, I put in my truck... wasn't much. Looked it over. Filled tires to 75psi... they were at 70 already.

Trailer is in better shape than expected. Tires are late 2017 codes. Bearings got no hotter than 120° the whole drive. Tank is clean. All seals are there. Tongue jack works 100%. Water system fittings are 75% there. Lights I bet work, just need a lens cover. Only thing that will need love is the brake system, but only on the air side.

Paint looks terrible because it was a re-spray from Woodland to Tan. Anyone with surplus vehicle experience knows how long that lasts & how much it peels. Makes it look way more ugly than it really is.

This is going to clean up nice!

 

[Tinstar]

Good score!
That will clean up nice.

 

[CallMeColt]

Spent a little time on this today between a ton of other projects going on!

Changed out the smashed tail light assembly.

Peeled all the GovPlanet stickers off.

Filled it with water to test for leaks. Completely forgot the bottom PVC plug was only hand tight, so it dripped a bit. The odd pull to shut off valve up front works and sealed up great. Nice and free. Rear spigot drips a little. I tried to tighten the packing with no luck.

The vent up top is no good. When draining, it drains really slow. As soon as I opened the cap, WOOSH. That's an easy find.

Removed that abomination for the adjustable lunette ring up front. Gotta find the regular one that goes in there.

Was happy to see it holds water and the tank itself didn't leak at any seams. Will be moving forward with it soon now that some other projects have moved forward. Going to start trying to get the plumbing parts together.

 

[juanprado]

That hitch is called a teleswivel to make it safer to hook up the trailer. Was a mod units could "buy" and retro fit any chassis like the m103,m105 but specifically marketed to m149. Unusual to find many out there. Uncle paid like $2500 for that unit.

I do not think they are offered anymore or in production.

There is also a different kit they made to make the crank double wheel landing gear more of a one handed safer operation to raise . I recently got one as the vendor was asking uncle pricing and literally listed for maybe 5 years that I watched it. I made contact , asked questions, and we negotiated a reasonable price.

TeleSwivel Products

Teleswivel Power Hitch Trailers transport mission essential equipment and supplies. Weapons systems, equipment, tactical power, water and ammunition are routinely transported on trailers. Connecting to trailers is an aggravating task, made more difficult by tough terrain and weather conditions...

teleswivel.com

Plan on installing on my m107 . Thread some day of my restore....

I have a promo DVD showing both products and being installed but have no clue how to post. It is made for a much older version of windows and does not autoplay.

 

[juanprado]

The whole teleseivel is not designed to be flipped. You move the Lunette up or down by unbolting the 2 bolts in the channel holding it on.

It is also designed that the safety chains can either stay on the frame or relocated to the bottom of the teleswivel.

 

[CallMeColt]

That hitch is called a teleswivel to make it safer to hook up the trailer. Was a mod units could "buy" and retro fit any chassis like the m103,m105 but specifically marketed to m149. Unusual to find many out there. Uncle paid like $2500 for that unit.

I do not think they are offered anymore or in production.

There is also a different kit they made to make the crank double wheel landing gear more of a one handed safer operation to raise . I recently got one as the vendor was asking uncle pricing and literally listed for maybe 5 years that I watched it. I made contact , asked questions, and we negotiated a reasonable price.

TeleSwivel Products

Teleswivel Power Hitch Trailers transport mission essential equipment and supplies. Weapons systems, equipment, tactical power, water and ammunition are routinely transported on trailers. Connecting to trailers is an aggravating task, made more difficult by tough terrain and weather conditions...

teleswivel.com

Plan on installing on my m107 . Thread some day of my restore....

I have a promo DVD showing both products and being installed but have no clue how to post. It is made for a much older version of windows and does not autoplay.

All interesting. I figured someone knew what that thing was! It was damaged badly but made it home, and now it's off.

I'd love to find that M200 High Adjusting Hitch shown on their site, but I'm sure it's not out there. Was thinking of cutting & welding myself.

 

[CallMeColt]

It's been a while since I came back to post anything about this project!

Changed the tail lights to LED assemblies. Found one bad wire & ran a new one.

Started mounting some new brake parts.

Got all the needed new plumbing.

Title is in hand & it is registered.

I ended up getting another, newer M149A2 frame. I might sell this one I started & start over.

 

[Mullaney]

.
Interesting Reading...

Maintenance leaders, according to TACOM Ground Safety Action (GSA) message 22-009, dated Mar 21, 2022, you need to identify your M149-series water trailers and inspect them for frame corrosion.

That’s because TACOM and DEVCOM inspected some of these water trailers and found corrosion inside the frames that exceeded Army standards. Most notably, corrosion appears at the point where the frame and tongue of the trailer meet.

Also, during the inspection, it was discovered that some M149s were misidentified and accounted for as either M149A1s or M149A2s. The base model M149 is obsolete and is a designated mandatory divestiture item. The M149A1 models are authorized; however, they don’t have a TM. Incorrect accounting could cause units to order incorrect repair parts or lead to repairs in excess of the maximum expenditure limit (MEL).

Units that identify obsolete or unserviceable M149 water trailers must request disposition for turn-in directly from their local DLA Disposition Services. In fact, they have 90 days from date of the GSAM to comply.

 

[CallMeColt]

.
Interesting Reading...

Maintenance leaders, according to TACOM Ground Safety Action (GSA) message 22-009, dated Mar 21, 2022, you need to identify your M149-series water trailers and inspect them for frame corrosion.

That’s because TACOM and DEVCOM inspected some of these water trailers and found corrosion inside the frames that exceeded Army standards. Most notably, corrosion appears at the point where the frame and tongue of the trailer meet.

Also, during the inspection, it was discovered that some M149s were misidentified and accounted for as either M149A1s or M149A2s. The base model M149 is obsolete and is a designated mandatory divestiture item. The M149A1 models are authorized; however, they don’t have a TM. Incorrect accounting could cause units to order incorrect repair parts or lead to repairs in excess of the maximum expenditure limit (MEL).

Units that identify obsolete or unserviceable M149 water trailers must request disposition for turn-in directly from their local DLA Disposition Services. In fact, they have 90 days from date of the GSAM to comply.

No doubt that the one here meets both of those. The frame is from the 60's. Realistically, it's very sturdy. Makes sense why so many all the sudden made their way to auction.

 

[flyfishtrailer]

About this time last year, I was up at the Doyle GP yard for a pick up...they had over 100 (we tried counting but couldnt see that far down) water trailers for auction, even a few of the newer dual axle 8 wheeled variety.