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M105a2 pickup story (long)

azjimbob

New member
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scottsals/az
First let me thank you all for all the information everyone posted about recovering the M105a2 series trailer. Your information gave me the confidence that this could and should be done.

Here's what occurred:

Won a GL auction 3-29-12
Submitted EUC 4-2-12
Approval and notification 4-11-12 (way faster than I expected)
Picked up trailer 4-23-12

After much debate on bringing the M105 home a flatbed or towing it....I decided to tow it the home 138 miles from Davis Mothan Air Force base in Tucson Arizona.

Left home at 0500 arrived at the location at 0710 and was checked in, issued my pass and told to wait for the GL rep only took 15 minutes for Mike to arrive, check out the paper work and have everything signed. Then I followed him to the "back 40 acres" where a row of trailers and other vehicles were lined up.

He offered to get a lift to put the M105 on the pintle but the guy with him just picked it
Tongue up and we moved the trailer to the hook (was easy to move once we released the parking brake)
*(note) trailer can not be moved by hand with brakes on

After the trailer was hooked up I was on my own.

Here's what I did.

Used ladder to get into trailer bed.
Removed the tarp (folded and put in truck bed).
Added inks of chain 3/8" to safety chains (bolt cutters are a must have tool)
with Quick Links quantity (4) 3/8" to secure safety chain.
Checked tires both were under 20psi.
Used portable airtank (7gallon size) to inflate each to 32psi. (that emptied the tank)
(side note tried to fill the tires at Discount Tire and they won't air the tires because of
them being a split rim-nor would they refill the portable tank because of liability
issues)
Secured the tailgate in an open (down) position with pieces of rope.
Attached the magnetic temp lights and check for functioning properly.
Check and secured the landing gear and zip tied any hanging wires and cables.
Drove out 25 feet and checked over the trailer (all ok)
Drove to the main gate and turned in my passes. (check trailer again)

All told it took 1 hour for the hookup checkup and drive out

Drove to Discount Tire to attempt to inflate tires no luck there
Stopped at a QT and filled tires (free air there) to 50psi-took awhile and checked the
brakes for heat (normal temps) had to back it up to the pumps no worries it back great!
Headed out on the Highway and drove home average speed 65 the trailer pulled perfect.
I was surprised how nice it handled.

Arrived home couple hours later and used the high lift jack to uncouple the trailer.

What tools I took and what I used

Took

Floor Jack (3 ton)
High Lift Jack
Basic Socket set
Large Socket set 3/4" size 1"-2" sockets
Bailing wire
Zip ties
Magnetic trailer light
Cutters
Mini sledge
Ladder 5'
Portable air tank
Air gauge
Bolt cutter
3/8" bucket of chain 15'
4 quick links 3/8"
Various blocks of wood
Rope
Screwdrivers
Grease tub

Used

Ladder
Bolt Cutters
Chain
Quick Links
Portable air tank
Zip Ties
Magnetic Lights
Air gauge
Rope

Some notes:
If you expect to turn the Lunette bring a 1 1/12" Very Large Wrench
a socket will not fit on the nut due to the landing gear being in the way.

It took a longer than expected time to fill the tires. Ther're huge!
Bring a high quality air gauge

Now I have to plan on how to tell my wife that I need to get a M1102 for the CJ7
 

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Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
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Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Looks like you did great. I've had great results pulling trailers home. I bring spares just in case but I've not had to change a trailer tire on the side of the road. BTW, one of those cheezy 12V compressors works well for refilling an air tank while going down the road. Takes a while but your driving anyways.
 

azjimbob

New member
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Location
scottsals/az
From reading stories of other members' recoveries everyone seemed to think that it would reduce wind resistance while towing down the highway. It also provided a great platform for mounting the magnetic lights in the bed of the trailer.
 

bebobalhan

New member
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Location
san jose, nm
:) It is good when things work out. :shock: A big pipe wrench works on the lunette also. I used an axe as a sledge hammer to knock it loose after backing off the castle nut. BTW if you do not have the socket to fit the lug nuts a pipewrench and cheater bar works there also--FYI the left lug nuts loosen clockwise not counter clockwise. lefty tightie-rightie loosey:confused:
 
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