M35 PULLING A SEMI TRAILER

[JEEPGUY]

HEY GUYS,
I WAS WONDERING SOMETHING.
(oops sorry about the caps)

will a m35 work to pull a 45 foot semi trailer ?

what I mean is, if i pull the bed off and put a 5th wheel assembly on it. I located one that came off of a 2.5 ton 6x6.

what are your guys thoughts on this ?

thanks in advance

 

[Recovry4x4]

Get that and the approach ramps for sure. I would snatch them up in a second. Whats letf of the 2 1/2 ton tractor? You could certainly make yourself a tractor out of the M35A2. Pulling the 45 footer empty will be no problem but get up over 20,000# and things start really adding up. Using a cargo as a base for a tractor is cool. In the old days there was a 154" wb tractor called the M48. That vs my M275A2 with the 142" wb. If you do make the tractor there are a few other things to consider, here's a quick list
1) Need to make a porch for hooking up the trailer.
2) Need to run air lines and wiring to the porch.
3) Need to consider a tractor protection valve.
4) Should bob a little of the frame of in the back.
5) Need to add a trolley brake.

Lots more litte issues but sounds like a fun project.

 

[Desert Rat]

JG,

I'm doing the exact same thing to 'Storm. She's getting her fifth wheel this month. I'm not bobbing anything though. I'm adding a catwalk, adding wiring for the pigtail, adding stopcocks for the air and a trolley valve for the trailers I will pull. I'll add the trailer lift bumpers at a later date once I get them from Buddy. As my limited (and frustrating) technology allows I'll post the pics.

 

[Polverone]

DR,
I started reading your post and said to myself, I need some pics of this.........

I'll post the pics.

Uh, never mind.

I was dying to use the "This thread is useless without pics emoticon but got thwared before I started.

I find this an interesting topic and will follow it with zest. How difficult would it be to unbolt the bed and remove, bolt a 5th wheel hitch on it and tow the family 5th wheel to the campground(s).

"Yessir, that Good Sam club is just dandy, oh me? Uh, I pull with a Deuce..."

 

[Elwenil]

Miltrucks has already done this conversion before on a Deuce. If I remember from his site correctly, he used the 5th wheel from a 5 ton tractor because it was better somehow. Remember that you will also need some way to mount flaps behind the rears.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Eric did build a custom M48A2 out of an M35A2C. The 5 ton fifth wheel offers little over the deuce one except its much more plentiful. The 5 ton approach ramps are a neater design in my opinion but functionality are the same. Lets take a look at adding the 5th plate without bobbing the frame. This should work fine if towing a civilian trailer. Best and correct mounting of the 5th plate is just fwd of the centerline of the tandem. If you don't shorten the back of the frame and you need to tow a military semi trailer, you willl have to mount the 5th plate towards the rear of the frame well behind the centerline of the tandems. This makes towing tricky and when loaded unsafe as it unloads weight from the steering axle. My M275A2 clears the M447 trailer minimally when turning and its got very little rear overhang. Plan your swap according to what you plan on towing. I've moved several civy trailers and on the M275 they come plenty close to the back of the cab. I've often considered the swap making an M48 but I really don't need a second tractor. I don't think Eric will mind me sharing his work, here are a few pics. The last one is my truck and trailer and gives you an idea of the clearance with the M447C trailer.

 

[Desert Rat]

Eric's example of a fifth wheel is what I am hoping and praying my truck will look like but in desert cammo. Since Kenny was so gracious in donating the exact same headache rack to me I too have the same idea as Eric does. However, mine will have other options for working on my farm that Eric's lacks plus his has a winch mine will probably lack. Time will tell.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Another cool consideration for those parting with a cargo truck in favor of a tractor. The M295 chassis that the M313, M447, M749 and M750 expandible trailers use will accept the M36 bed with minimal if any modifications. With racks, bows and a tarp would make a pretty cool trailer. Eric had one of these chassis for sale a while back too. That's how you make a tractor into a cargo truck.

 

[Miltrucks]

Ok -I'll jump in on this since my name is being dragged about I had to build one of these as the LWB M48 2.5 ton tractors are near impossible to find, and the M275s just seemed too short.

The tractor we built up does very well. As Kenny mentioned, I opted for the 5 ton setup as it is much heavier duty than the 2.5 ton ones - including the L/R rocking mechanism. It also gives you just a bit more height over the 2.5 ton one and makes the trailers set a bit more level. I like the approach a lot better on these as well.

I went with the pipeline truck/winch setup on the rear and then we mounted the fifth wheel as close as possible to just forward of the duals. It could have probably gone forward another inch or two to be perfect, but we didn't have room for turning on the trailers.

The way we did it, I can't haul all the military trailers out there - for example, I have pulled a military 40' data center van with it, but the front air conditioning brackets had to be pulled. It would just clear on the level, but offroad while turning there wasn't enough room.

I have one of the expandible van trailers - you can see it in the last picture of mine, and we removed the box off if it. Getting ready to add a dovetail frame section and then building a flatbed out of it for transport.

5 ton approach with bobbed frame, 5 ton fifth wheel, 2.5 ton tractor crossbar and fenders, and then the pipeine setup. 5 ton tool box was shortened and rotated 90 deg. and then the joystick placed on top of that.

We tapped into the wiring and air lines so there is still all of that on the rear, as well as by the joystick.

Also had enough room in front of the fenders to add some brackets to store a military tow bar across the back for flat towing operations.

I just used it a couple months ago to flat tow a 27,000+ lb military crane from Northern Ohio down to the farm in SE Ohio. Was SLOW on all the hills, but pulled it well. The data center van I used to pull with it weighed in at probably about 25-26ooo lbs and it seemed to do pretty well.

Mine gets used every now and again - about as much on-road as off-road. In the process of changing everything over to 12.5x20 XLs and keeping the tandem duals (haven't figured out the dual spacing issue yet with these but working on some ideas) to give it a bit better wet weather traction. Will probably be adding air assist steering here soon as well as with the front winch on it, it is a bear to maneuver into tight spots.


If you are thinking about it - go for it. I love mine and tend to use it more than some of the other trucks. They work well!

 

[houdel]

This thread seems to be directed toward converting a Deuce to a tractor configuration. While I'd love to tow a semitrailer behind my Deuce, the thought of chopping it up and buying all those fifth wheel parts and so forth would end up costing quite a few bucks, plus I'd lose my cargo truck capability.

How about just buying one of those inter-trailer dolllies used for tandem semitrailers. They use a lunette coupler to attach the dollie to the first trailer in the tandem and have a fifth wheel mounted over a tandem axle suspension for the second trailer in the tandem.

Seem to me that would be the best of both worlds, I'd still have my M35A2 cargo truck with the cabability to tow a semi trailer. I assume I'd have to add in and plumb up a trolly brake though, probably through a check valve to the service glad hand so I can apply the trailer brakes without locking up the truck's service brakes. Any thoughts on this possibility?

 

[Desert Rat]

I have a dolly converter. However, it's limited by the weight it can handle. I'm not chopping up anything on my truck, just removing it. With some creative engineering you can fit a kingpin on the bottom of a bed and add stabilizing braces at the corners and have a mulit purpose truck. With all the different needs we have at the farm a tractor is the best fit. We just don't have the money to keep on buying trucks for each purpose we have.

A trolley valve is simple enough to install on a truck. Nothing fancy is needed. But you do need a tractor protection valve without a doubt.

 

[jh1990]

WOW I now this thread is really old but I was just looking through past threads in search for a picture which I found but I was just wondering how everyone was making out with their projects they mentioned.

 

[builder77]

I am curious about exceeding the weight ratings that are on the data plate. The deuce has the official 10,000 tow rating. If you are towing on the highway I susupect that you will have to stop at the weight stations. I don't know if the official tow weight is looked as closely as the gross vehicle weights are.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Hey Jeepguy, whats the status of that tractor you were getting the 5th plate off of? I need a quarter fender in the worst way.

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

I start my dolly conversion next week and think the convertor will be my best choice since I still like having the cargo duece and am limited on my fleet. I do want to be able to tow at least a M 127 since I am waiting for one to come up within my budget. I think the tractors you have posted in this thread are awesome and very well done. If I can afford one next time they come up I am still looking for an M 818 since I do not have time to do a conversion of a complete truck and I drove them when I first got into the Army Transportation Corps.

 

[OPCOM]

Hey Recovry that trailer with the generators looks really sweet on the back of the deuce.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Thanks Patrick. I really need to get my arse out in the yard and square that trailer away for paint. One of the 3 gensets has found it's way to Cranetrucks house. My ultimate plans are to have a 10KW and 3 KW mounted on the deck of that trailer. If my calculations are right, it will take all the 10 KW can give to fire the A/C unit.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Here's a pic of a 530 class firetruck towing an M118 on an M197 dolly.

 

[westfolk]

The tractor in my avatar is an M109A3. He's the same truck w/my M172. I only have an M275A2 and M52A2. But I have had about fifteen tractors. All change overs, M135, M211, M35A2, M109, M109A3.

 

[jasonjc]

Hey Recovry4X4 I like the color of that fire truck alot. Iwas going to paint my 24087 but after seeing that one I like it a lot more. Do you know anything about that one or was it just pic you found???