TOWING A M720 mobilizer is it me or ?

I live in my shelters btw in an S280 and a SPAM (Shop Portable Aircraft Maintenance) shelter dollys don't bolt to SPAMs btw the holes are about 1 in off from the other shelters in height now sure why so I tied mine on it to keep it on also the hitch rubber on some of the dolly sets is junk and can break off happened when I towed the spam home with the m840 so we welded the hitch together without the rubber

Note: Do NOT use the M720 with a shelter loaded going thru California.
Some idiots overloaded a shelter and it came apart on the freeway and
they now prohibit them on California highways. Luckily I found out before I
tried to move my S-280. I used local roads and stayed away from the freeway.
Not sure if that was legit or not.

I don't plan to go to Kalifornistan at all but when I start towing mine more which is soon I plan to make a safety chain setup on the dolly set to connect to the lift/tie loops on the bottom of the shelter incase of breakaway

from this ring on each corner up to the shelter dolly is where I plan to mount them

StrykerPerry said:

takes allot of room to turn also easier to back with a deuce than with a pickup mainly because of traction

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It takes a lot of skill (and practice) to properly back any of these articulating dollys with a deuce of 5-ton. However, I got to thinking about "backing up" yesterday after I rigged up the dolly with the cargo straps. And actually, once I got home, I did back it up where I wanted it, pretty easy just like any other trailer with a fixed-tongue. But, it's a really short trailer. So, in the worst case, it may be easier to strap the draw bar in place before backing, even when loaded with a shelter.

Nice shelter layouts by the way. And as I recall (memory might be fading here), we had one of those SPAM shelters and it hooked right up to an M720. That was over 20 years ago so don't trust me on that.

Asa Jay

cool I have allot of trailer skills that most people don't I back mine loaded or unloaded allot it is easier loaded but you have to know when to steer allot more than a regular trailer I back mine up to a pallet I use for a porch about 80ft each time I move it and I usually get it on the first try without pulling forwards if not I'm 1ft off to one side

also I would not try tying them straight with the shelter unless on soft dirt or something because the mounts on allot of shelters are steel on aluminum and have a little corrosion because of that I do not fully trust the mounts on some and I have checked mine for strength also if using the heavier dolly sets you would probably break the rubber hitch mount or bend or break something else

here is the hitch where I broke the rubber piece off turning around in a parking lot glad I have safety chains lol we took it off there the whole towbar and took it to the house and welded it then put it back on way safer than before

Great info guys! Glad to see other military equipment being used. How hard is it to get the attachment points for an s280 to connect to a dolly? I lot of the shelters Ive seen do not have the connection points.

Custom made if you don't buy one with them about like hens teeth

I use a farm jack to help level them when connecting

Sorry. Double posted.

Clint (StrykerPerry) has posted some good videos to the internet of connecting/disconnecting an s280 shelter to a dolly set if anybody would like to see how it's done. Do a google search for s280 shelter m720 and it should bring them up.

Thanks for the mention I forgot to post links

MWMULES said:

I just picked up what I thought was an older S280 shelter with the mobilizer mounts. KCCLAY and I did the recovery and he mentioned he had a M720 mobilizer that he had got in trade several years ago and if I wanted it, it was mine. Went over today to get it, got the tires and air bags up to stated pressure in the TM hooked it up and left to go home. His place is just off the Hwy and as I was speeding up to merge all of a sudden about 30MPH it started to sway back and forth thinking it would mellow out I kept going, by 40 it was like a drunk baby was driving at 45 I thought it would rip the receiver off the back of my truck. I dumped the speed got below 30 got off the next exit and back to his place. Has anybody else had this problem or is it just me, does this sort of thing not happen with the shelter attached? Tm states 50max highway 15 cross country did they get that backwards?

Shelter is bolted together per the TM btw.

I am going to do another thread on the shelter as that is another bag of worms.

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I have an M720 and M1022 and years of experiance with suspension issues.

The problem is the "ALIGNMENT". There are 3 things involved, CASTER, CAMBER, and TOE SET. Toe must be done last. CAMBER has almost no effect on handling.
CASTER will have a dramatic effect on handling, just as you all have been describing.

Now set up your M720 with the load you carry on it. Leveled off and ready to go out on the road.
Wheather it is connected to the truck should make no differance.

You need to make sure the caster angle is negative about 4 degrees. This doesen't sound like much but you can see it with a kittle practice. Less may not be enough. More should be fine. By negative I mean, from the side with the wheel removed as you look at it, the king pin housing should appear to lean toward the rear of the vehicle. This means the top of the pin should be closer to the rear of the trailer than the bottom of the pin.
Probably about an inch.

Some of the finest driving cars on the road have caster angles as high as 11 degrees. That is why when they are going 140mph they feel like they are only going 40mph.

The caster angle is easiest to see on a motorcycle.
Stand about 10 ft to the side of the front wheel and look carefully at the tubes going down from the handlebars to the front wheel axel.
If you follow the direction of those tubes you don't get to the point where the tire touches the road. The tire touches the road several inches behind that axis. By doing this caster causes the tire to want to naturally follow the tire as it travels down the road.

Happy, and safe, travels. Thank you all for your service to our home, the USA.
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