• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

School me...

Mistaare

New member
26
1
0
Location
Pa
Brand new to this site. I have been reading as much as possible for the past 2 days. I have been looking for a trailer to take into the woods (on some pretty undesireable roads), load with fire wood, and drive home on the highway 40-50 miles. So I started looking for m416's and they are hard to find, so I expanded my search to M101's and found this a couple hours from my house.

It is a 1968 Case Master 3/4 ton military trailer,w/full canvas.Has new spare tire mounted inside. Has 12 Volt light system,with 7pin round plug. Also has two hand brakes for locking in place (does that mean it has surge brakes also?). with a PA titled for $1000. Would a 1968 casemaster be considered a M101 A1? A2?

After my somewhat limited knowledge, it seems like M101's would be ok, but the M105's would be way to big. I would be using a '09 Tacoma with 6500lb tow rating. I actually do NOT want to get anywhere near the upper limits, but 2500-3500 lbs. I am figuring that the trailer would weigh about 1500 lb, 1/2 cord of green wood can weigh upwards of 2000 lbs, that would put be in the ballpark of 3500.

Actually just wondering what you guys think of;
1. towing a m101 with Tacoma
2. what to look for when shopping? Any known weak area's?
3. how difficult would it be work or have work done and/or source parts for these?
4. how difficult it is to insure?
5. what do you think of the one I found?
 

swbradley1

Modertator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
14,251
1,706
113
Location
Dayton, OH
If it is a M101 and in perfect condition it might be worth $1,000. The hand brakes are on M101A1s and M101A2s. Surge brakes are on the A2s along with GM 8 bolt rims.

A 101 can be filled to the top of racks with wood and still towed. The Tacoma should have no problem.
 

jedawson1

Member
420
22
18
Location
Murfreesboro, TN
What swbradley1 said, its well suited to the task at hand, and for your Tacoma.
Price seems fair if its in good shape.
If you take care of the trailer you could even have a good resale value especially if you keep the bows and canvas in good shape.
trailer is pretty simple, shouldn't need much other than a tire every now and then.
Insurance is not an issue, a trailer is a trail is a trailer.

Best of luck.
 

maddawg308

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
10,865
762
113
Location
Appomattox, VA
A word of caution: lots of guys call these trailers "dump trailers", because you can pull out the two forward cargo body pins and dump the trailer contents. THERE IS NO WHERE IN THE MILITARY MANUAL THAT TELLS ABOUT A "DUMP" FEATURE ON THE M101 TRAILER. While you can do this, the "dump" feature is more of a flaw in the design of the trailer, not a feature for its use. Many have used this faux "dump" feature with no ill effects, but a few here have destroyed the frame of their trailers by doing this.

If you are hauling a lot of firewood, sorry to say, but it would be best if you unload by hand.
 
Last edited:

Gunzy

Well-known member
1,769
66
48
Location
Roy, Utah
You might consider the M1101 trailers to. There seem to be a lot of them coming onto the market. Do some research first though. I know someone here in Utah that has 8 of them and is selling.
 

Mistaare

New member
26
1
0
Location
Pa
Thanks for all the responses. This is just the type of info I was looking for.

- maddawg - Definetly will not be using it as a dump. Thanks for reconfirming what I have read. I knew it was bad but didn't know that it could result in the frame bending.

- swbradley - if I filled it to the top with fire wood my truck would be p*ssed! I have to watch not to overload.

- jedawson - resale value? if its as durable as Im reading I will end up keeping this for a L O O O N G time. :mrgreen: but I will definitely keep the tarp and bows in good shape.
 

harleyhouse

Well-known member
1,256
30
48
Location
Oakmont, Pennsylvania

Attachments

Mistaare

New member
26
1
0
Location
Pa
Harleyhouse - I am in Pgh. I think I contacted you on CL, did you have a red cammo trailer for sale a couple months ago? I also think that I have seen you on Expedition Portal?

I dont know if its an A1 or A2, I am hoping for a A2 for the surge brakes.

That taco and M101 looks like a good match up. Thanks for the link, I didnt even think about looking on ttora.
 

Warthog

Moderator
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
13,774
232
63
Location
OKC, OK
The M101A1 will have a 5-lug rim and the M101A2 will have a 8-lug rim. Any pictures?
 

Mistaare

New member
26
1
0
Location
Pa
Its 5-lug. So assuming its 101A1 without surge brakes?

Its on Craigslist, so I dont have any pictures. I posted the link to the ad on CL but I guess its against the rules.
 

Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
34,012
1,808
113
Location
GA Mountains
Correct, the link is against the rules. Nothing prohibits you from uploading a pic of it here.
 

swbradley1

Modertator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
14,251
1,706
113
Location
Dayton, OH
Click insert image in the quick reply box and follow the buttons on the popup box.
 

Mistaare

New member
26
1
0
Location
Pa
I was hoping to get him down to $800.

I didn't know anything about the tire/wheel combo, just found out that its a split rim and not many tire places want to mess with them.

Is it hard to find rims with that bolt pattern?
Can you run regular tires on those rims?

Thanks a ton for all the information.
 

m16ty

Moderator
Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
9,580
217
63
Location
Dickson,TN
To find M101a1 wheel isn't that hard but you'll have a hard time finding a match on the civilian market. They are M37 wheels. You can run "regular" civilian tires on the stock wheel but they'll have to be 16" tube type.

You should be able to find a A2 for the kind of money you're talking about for the A1 (like the one harleyhouse posted). A A2 is much better because you'll have standard GM 8-lug tubeless wheels and surge brakes.
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks