Valence's 1960 Pioneer Tool Trailer

The socket is an easy one............Axle spindle nut socket for Dodge M37 is what you are looking for. You should also purchase the Budd lug wrench and bar for the 1.5" lug nuts. http://www.vintagepowerwagons.com/pdf/parts/group23-04-10-15.pdf

Rims are the same as used on the M37.

Vintage Power Wagon, John @ Midwest Military or Evil Dr. Porkchop here on the site, have what you are looking for.

Bert

Tubeless rims are available but you better be seated when you get the price for one. (Look up GKN and search 5 hole Budd centers)

I believe that as long as you are careful and inspect / clean all of the rim components when you have them disassembled the split / lock ring rim works great. I have them on two of my trucks and one trailer. I mount my own tires and always chain wrap the rim / tire while inflating the first time and never had an issue.

If that is above your skill set or comfort level, the large truck tire shops work on them for minimal charges.

Bert

Thank you very much for your posts and help.

As I stated earlier I initially wanted to go tubeless wheels, but I think I'm in agreement with you now. I doubt once aired up I'd have any problems, even when off roading. My deuce has similar style of wheels with tubes.

Getting a spare for the trailer would be a lot cheaper then


It'll just be a bit more interesting finding good tires for it. I'll want to tow it at highway speeds with my 2001 Dodge Dakota. The only thing that still may change things if I decide to replace the axle so I can have electric trailer brakes to help out my little truck.

Get an axle off an M101A2, this will match the M880 rim style / tubeless, better tire selection and you can upgrade the tongue for surge brakes.

Bert

Valence said:

I love the Mr. Heater. It was more expensive than I would have liked, but it does greatly improve the work conditions. I decided to take a look at the axle bearing. I assumed that the axle/bearings have not been serviced since the Army sold the trailer "umpteen" years ago. So far, initial indications look promising as the hub bolts came off with just a 1/2" socket and the inside wasn't full of water or coorosion (just the typical military very sticky grease).
View attachment 609175 View attachment 609174 View attachment 609172 View attachment 609173


I have a number of questions though: (If anyone can help me answer these, it would be greatly appreciated!)

1. This axle appears different than my deuce (the only axle I've taken apart). What is the the proper way to take the bearing out? I see what appears to be the 8-sided nut inside, but I don't know what the flange is in front of it. I expected to see a similar tabbed lock washer and two spindle nuts.
2. What size of 8-sided socket will I need? I tried measuring it with my calipers and ordered a 2-9/16" eight-sided socket from my local O'Reillys, but I believe it's actually too small. It did not seem to fit, but it seemed close so I think it might be a 2-5/8" nut instead?? I haven't been able to find a 2-5/8" eight-point socket.
3. I've read that these trailers use M37 wheels. Is this true? The tires say "7.5-16", so the wheel is 16" in diameter, but how wide/deep is it?
4. I would rather have tubeless wheels +1 spare, so I'm trying to determine what wheel will fit this axle. Being a 5 lug bolt pattern, I've measured according to the following figure and it appears to be 5 x 6.5" bolt pattern. Do you agree with this methodology?

http://www.crawlpedia.com/bolt_patterns.htm
View attachment 609176

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Your wheels are 16" rime 7.5" wide.
You may be able to use old 19.5 or 17.5 motorhome wheels to go tubeless. Use the measuring gude from crawlpedia to check. Also measure the center hole/bore. Most common tire sizes for the old motorhome stuff was 8x19.5 & 7-17.5

I forgot to measure the wheel center hole diameter, but I think I'm going to stay with this axle. I'm sure a new or different axle could shed some weight or provide other wheel options. Or I could just re-pack the bearings, obtain 1 more lock-ring style wheel for a spare and run with tubes. I think that sounds pretty easy.


I did remove one shock and take some measurements:

Mount: 3/4" (Loop mount style)
Extended Length: 18-3/4"
Compressed Length: 11-3/4"
(On the shock I measured from center of mounting loop to center of mounting loop)




Copying what I learned in researching shock options in my other thread:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...railer-Shock&p=1844978&viewfull=1#post1844978

This shock equates into an "L3" Loop mount style for a matching Monroe shock.

The following seem to be decent matches.
Note: All the below shocks had the "Body End Code" and "Rod End Code" of "L3" (3/4" inside diameter loop mount), but has been excluded for readability.





So looks like #14 is the closest match, just purely by observing the compression and extended length.
http://www.monroe.com/en-US/catalog/e-Catalog/66413


Also there's currently (until 05/31/2016) a Monroe Rebate offer! But I don't think it applies to the 66413 shocks - but it would apply to the 37114 shocks (#8 ).
• Monroe OESpectrum Shocks, Reflex Shocks, Sensa-Trac Shocks, Max-Air Shocks, Gas-Magnum Shocks: 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, 37000, 39000, 911000, 911500, MA700, MA800, 34000 Series;
http://www.monroe.com/assets/downloads/promotions/2016-US-Monroe-Get-100-FINAL-REBATE-PAD.pdf

• $50 with purchase of four (4) qualifying Monroe or Rancho shocks
• $75 with purchase of two (2) qualifying Monroe shocks and two (2) qualifying Monroe struts
• $100 with purchase of four (4) qualifying Monroe struts

Update: 03/12/2016:
I decided to order #8 (P/N 37114) due to it appearing as a heavier duty, more off-road capable shock (I hope it's not too heavy duty?) and I found it cheap on eBay ($22.00 each, shipped vs $33+ on amazon) and didn't have to deal with a mail in rebate (eBay purchases do not qualify for the rebate offer).

Nice work!

I have used the 32283 with good results on multiple trailers. O' Reilly can special order.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?97814-Shocks-M101A1-A2-A3-is-there-no-part-available

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/MON6/32283.oap?ck=Search_32283_-1_1382&keyword=32283

juanprado said:

I have used the 32283 with good results on multiple trailers. O' Reilly can special order.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?97814-Shocks-M101A1-A2-A3-is-there-no-part-available

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/MON6/32283.oap?ck=Search_32283_-1_1382&keyword=32283

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3/4 ton trailers?

If so, cool, that means that the #8 option (37114) from above likely won't limit the trailer suspension compression by only compressing to 12.88" and I can get a $50 rebate

I measured the wheel centers, it is 5"

So to recap the wheel dimensions:

• 5 on 6.5" bolt pattern
• 5" center
• 16" diameter
• 6.5" width

I purchased a pair of flat LED tail lights so I can use the same lighting whether I tow the trailer with my little pickup or my M35A2. I'm going to use an M105 trailer harness so it'll be a little too long but I can loop up a bit of the excess. I'll just put in 'Y' splitters on the appropriate connectors to wire in both a 7-pin commercial plug and the 12-pin military plug.

I'll need to cut a rectangular hole in the back of cargo body for the electronics and wires that stick out the back of the flush mount LED tail lights.

First though, I'm trying to decide if I'd rather:

1. Mount the lights all the way down near the rear "bumper" and move the reflectors above
   • Advantage:
     • Since the wires will stick into the interior of the cargo body, a lower mount option will have less distance the wires will intrude and into the cargo space.
   • Disadvantage:
     • Would have to weld close current reflector mount holes and drill new ones above the tail lights
2. Mount the lights above the current, stock, reflectors position
   • Advantages:
     • Less "rework" as the reflectors can stay where they are.
     • Perhaps the tail lights will be slightly safer from being broken when mounted higher above the bumper - ie: items or people sitting on the bumper.
   • Disadvantage:
     • More length of wires exposed into the cargo area of the trailer

Here are some quick pictures for reference. Don't mind the reflector on the right that I've temporarily removed (all the reflectors are going to be replaced with new ones anyway). Also, the current commercial 12v tail lights mounted to the sides and below the bumper will be removed entirely.

Rear of the trailer:


Tail light mounted above reflector:


Tail light mounted below reflector:



I'm thinking option #2 makes the most sense and its disadvantage really doesn't matter.

What do you think?

Valence said:

3/4 ton trailers?

If so, cool, that means that the #4 option (37114) from above likely won't limit the trailer suspension compression by only compressing to 12.88" and I can get a $50 rebate

Click to expand...

Yes, I have used them on M101A1 & M101A2 trailers and my friend has used them on a m116a2 gen flat bed. I bought and flipped a few m101's and always upgrade the shocks to gas from oe hydraulic. It also does not hurt that my son works at O'reilly so I get a generous discount...

Valence said:

I measured the wheel centers, it is 5"

So to recap the wheel dimensions:

• 5 on 6.5" bolt pattern
• 5" center
• 16" diameter
• 7.5" width

Click to expand...

M37 Rim, you should be able to locate one easily.

Bert

The 19.5 motorhome wheels wont work. Wrong pattern.

O'Reilly's was able to find a good match to the hub gasket:
P/N: 4390
Rear Axle Flange
Dodge Truck, 1941-62



So, trying again, this time I ordered a 2-9/16" octagon axle nut socket from eBay. It fit perfectly and the axle nuts came off easily. (forgot to take pictures). I'm glad that there wasn't a tabbed lock washer like on my deuce.

The upper brake adjustment bolts were rather rusty but I did manage to adjust the brake pads inward enough to get the drum off.


The inner bearing is still in the drum and I'm sure that it'll tap out easily enough, but first I wanted to ask, is there an inner seal here that I need to replace? It looks like there is.


View from the outside of the drum:

A second older style (short bodied) 1960 Pioneer Tool Trailer appeared for sale on a local ad 1 week after I purchased my first one. I went and looked at it and told the seller I was interested in some parts if he was unable to sell the whole trailer.

Well...I grew tired of the want ad search and no leads for the parts I wanted so I haggled and I purchased the trailer for $150 so I could take the parts off it I want and then decide what I would like to do with the rest afterward.

The tires were absolute garbage, so we borrowed the 7.50x16 tires and wheels from the first trailer and used a floor jack, portable air compressor, impact and patience and swapped the tires at the seller's house. We strapped down the gull-wing doors because 3 of the 4 hinges were rusted off, thus one door was held on only by the 56 year old rubber hing (what was left of it) and the other door was bent some and we didn't want either catching any air. I checked the hubs for any sign of heat about 1/2 mile down the road and then drove straight home. The ~35 mile recovery was a complete success! Much thanks to a local friend and helper as I only had 1 arm in a cast (wrist sprains are serious business). Enjoy my cheesy grin.

Yes, Behind the snap ring is a grease seal. I found the snap ring a bear to remove. Interesting that in your pic the snap ring does not have the round ears for the snap ring pliers to grab it.

search epay
[h=1]WHEEL SEAL WC51 FAMILY WWII / M37 DODGE NSN: 5330-00-154-8353[/h]

juanprado said:

Yes, Behind the snap ring is a grease seal. I found the snap ring a bear to remove. Interesting that in your pic the snap ring does not have the round ears for the snap ring pliers to grab it.

search epay
WHEEL SEAL WC51 FAMILY WWII / M37 DODGE NSN: 5330-00-154-8353

Click to expand...

THANK YOU!

And yes, I'm a bit worried about how I'll get that snap ring out. It'd probably be a good idea to replace it with an easier one to remove!

2 flat blade screwdrivers will get that ring out.

red said:

2 flat blade screwdrivers will get that ring out.

Click to expand...

Hey, you are quite useful. We'll have to keep you around.

Thanks Mr. red