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Valence's 1968 M101A1

Tinstar

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I mounted mine up-side-down so the light wasn't tucked up under the trailer too much. I'd rather be seen than run into. Just an option since you've only done one so far.
What about installing clearance and marker lights and reflective tape?
Would help visibility a lot and look so much better than lights installed upside down.
I completely understand “why” you did that, just looks weird IMHO.

Unless your really close to trailer, the stock location and mounting direction works very well.

But, I’m not where you are and dealing with all that traffic in that area.
 

Valence

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FYI: I updated Post #54 with additional pictures.

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I've thought about adding marker lights to my M105 and M101 like I added to my deuce using that drop bracket. You know, two red marker lights on the very back, two red on the rear sides, and two amber on the front sides. Though I'm concerned with these marker lights feeling "too big" for the M101 (the brackets 5-1/4" wide and hang down 3-1/4" under the bed).

image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg side-marker-light-clearance-light-mounting-bracket-mid-and-rear-12277192-1.jpg

Alternatively there are these neat lower profile LED marker lights, but that'd require drilling 6 holes in the trailer body for each one.

led_marker_01.jpg led_marker_02.jpg led_marker_03.jpg led_marker_04.jpg


Now, granted, my M101 already DOES have a lot of holes in it (this is a view under the tarp, check out all those points of light!)

IMG_2332.jpg
 
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DeadParrot

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Here are some side marker lights on my M101A1. Installed on frame in case I wanted to use a bed-less chassis for some yet known use. Small 12v led lights. Bright for their size. IIRC, found at Autozone. IIRC the brackets are 1" angle iron. Only two chassis holes per light.

Redmarkerlite.jpgYellowmarkerlite.jpg
 

Tinstar

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0A53907C-268C-43EF-A17E-E914CCE29CE8.jpg868C6EC7-3D34-43C7-B1F6-FB8483B22B3C.jpg
Truck-Lite 3/4” LED Marker lights.
Smallest DOT approved light available.
Much brighter in person and especially at night.

Not military, but a whole lot easier install than the Military marker lights.
 

Valence

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Here are some side marker lights on my M101A1. Installed on frame in case I wanted to use a bed-less chassis for some yet known use. Small 12v led lights. Bright for their size. IIRC, found at Autozone. IIRC the brackets are 1" angle iron. Only two chassis holes per light.
Truck-Lite 3/4” LED Marker lights.
Smallest DOT approved light available.
Much brighter in person and especially at night.

Not military, but a whole lot easier install than the Military marker lights.
Thank you both! Those are interesting ideas/solutions. I suppose I could also put those low profile LED lights I linked earlier on pieces of angle iron like DeadParrot did.
 

Valence

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I finished the LED tail light conversion. Minor wire repairs were needed (a plug had been ripped off and the bare wires were twisted together) and I added another ground wire for the right-side LED lights.


2018-03-11 14.21.27 HDR.jpg 2018-03-11 14.26.09 HDR.jpg 2018-03-11 14.23.49 HDR.jpg


As I've stated before, the goal is for it to have both the military 12-pin and civilian 7-pin trailer plugs so it can be towed by either truck and still operate natively on both 12V or 24V power sources. It's going to be a fun time cleaning up and restoring this home-made wiring "conversion".
2018-03-11 14.28.40 HDR.jpg


I then removed the cheap Reese jack stand and the factory kick down leg and I added (I believe?) an A3 model jack stand. As can be seen from the pictures, it sits at a bit of a different angle than the original "A0" and A1 jack stand. I won't be as easy to use as the Reese jack, but it’s infinitely more stable and durable. I might look at bolting a swivel wheel to the bottom of the new jack. Next is to replace the safety chains that I removed for longer Grade 70 zinc yellow 3/8” chains with hooks with safety clips. It’s the same diameter of chain that used to be on the trailer, but is technically way over kill in rating.

“Over-kill is under-rated”. ;)

The 3/4" diameter, 6” long bolt for the safety chains was rusted in place. I put the nut back on and was able to beat it out with a sledge hammer, though it still buggered up the threads just enough that it took my 3/4" impact to strip the nut off. So I’m waiting for that bolt replacement to arrive.

2018-03-11 15.17.15.jpg 2018-03-11 15.17.23.jpg 2018-03-11 15.20.09.jpg 2018-03-11 17.12.27.jpg
 
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Valence

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I have been negligent in my duties to post everything that I've done with my trailer here.

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Back in April 08th, 2017, I purchased a complete set of metal bows and corners from a seller sub4411 on eBay. I would not recommend doing business with him.

His Ad Photos:
s-l1600.jpg s-l1601.jpg s-l1602.jpg

His ad text:
Bow kit, trailer 3/4T/1.5T
Bow kit for military trailer single axle, single wheel on a M101/3/4T and 105/1.5T These bows are adjustable in ht. and width, comes with hardware, includes 10-corners and 5-top bows, all metal construction
2540-00-693-0744
PN#12441082-1
Brand NEW, Original government Issue, NOS
qty in stock(1-kt)
ship wt. 75lbs.
shippable/FED EX
shipping/79.00
Please note: Customers West of the Rockies, alaska, Hawaii and Puerto-Rico, higher shipping rates may apply
What I received was not as advertised (and the ad description said nothing about "pictures are only representative"), but they clearly were just bows and corners pulled off of an M105 trailer (due to the location that the bolts used to be in) and disassembled, then parts painted using a non-matching olive drab spray paint (as you well know, olive drab does not match 383 green CARC). Most of the carriage bolts were unusable as they had been chewed up by vice grips and I would NOT want to lay a cargo cover over top of the now sharp heads. The seller and I did, sort of, reach an agreement - he shipped me a spare bow and corner (which I'm still trying to sell...), some paint, and new hardware - but I would have much rather received monetary compensation instead. Thus, I will never do business with him again. I could have really stuck it to him and filed a "not as advertised claim" and etc, but I just wanted the metal bows and corners and these were in good shape otherwise. In retrospect, I should have just been more patient as I've seen several other sets for sale since then, at a lower price.

2017-04-08 15.45.45.jpg 2017-04-08 15.44.46.jpg 2017-04-08 15.45.13.jpg 2017-04-08 15.44.51.jpg 2017-04-08 15.42.34.jpg 2017-04-08 15.39.19.jpg 2017-04-08 16.03.57.jpg 2017-04-08 15.38.46.jpg 2017-04-08 15.43.36.jpg 2017-04-08 15.37.31.jpg

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Back on September 27th, 2017 I installed new Monroe Part Number 37114 shocks (same as I put on my M105A2 trailer)

2017-09-27 19.46.41.jpg 2017-09-27 19.47.09.jpg

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On March 21st, 2018 I decided where to mount the license plate (in the State of Utah, any trailer over 750 lbs must be registered, no discounts for age, at the time of this writing it was $41 per year), not an ideal location, but it's still higher than the rear stand kick down (and I need to get that portion of the frame unbent) and the license plate won't be covered by the cargo cover either. This is a 16 gauge backing plate to mount the license plate to.

2018-03-21 18.34.22.jpg 2018-03-21 18.34.49 HDR.jpg
 
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Valence

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Yesterday I fixed the front of the trailer wire harness as the previous owner had cut off 4 of the plug and butt joined a 4-pin connector.

2018-06-02 18.24.00.jpg 2018-06-02 18.54.10.jpg

I then modified a 7-pin replacement harness to connect to the trailer harness (note, the dang Chinese manufacturer of said replacement trailer connection didn't follow the standard wire colors for the connections and I had to test them out). I added 'Y' splitters to the trailer harness so either the civilian or military trailer plugs could be used (the trailer didn't come with the military plug, but I used one that Silverstate55 had very kindly repaired and given me last year). The cover for the electrical bundle was also missing, but I had saved one from an old, short bodied pioneer tool trailer that I sold last year as well. I drilled the frame holes larger and added nutserts to mount the plate (two on the top and two on the bottom of the frame rail - and yes, I did put copper anti-sieze on the bolts in the nutserts as I don't fancy them rusting into place).

2018-06-02 18.15.27.jpg 2018-06-02 19.14.05 HDR.jpg 2018-06-02 20.01.21 HDR.jpg 2018-06-03 19.18.53.jpg 2018-06-03 19.21.18.jpg


Mostly in the dark last night I finished the safety chain upgrade. The original safety chains were also 3/8" in diameter, so I used the same size, just Grade 70, zinc yellow with safety clip hooks as well. I had to replace the chain mounting bolt as when I removed the original bolt I damaged its threads (it was rusted in pretty good, and even with the nut on the end of the bolt when I pounded it out, the threads were still damaged). The replacement is 7", grade 8.

I kept the original chains off the trailer as they were in perfect condition, and used a set from another short bodied pioneer tool trailer that I parted and scrapped out nearly two years ago as it only had one chain anyway (I only needed the mount and big loop on said mount). The original chains were 16 links long, the new ones are 24 links long to properly reach a truck using a receiver hitch.

2017-03-09 19.16.42.jpg 2017-09-16 11.40.54.jpg 2017-09-16 11.40.58.jpg 2018-06-02 21.37.05.jpg 2018-06-03 19.19.50.jpg

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Today I verified continuity from each of the trailer plugs' pins to the appropriate wiring at the taillights. I then set my iPad behind my trailer on a stool and "Facetimed" my cell phone. I was able to sit in my pickup and verify all proper brake, signal, tail, and hazard light functionality. This was so I could perform the check by myself, without needing to bother someone else.

2018-06-03 20.23.44.jpg

Then I drilled two new holes for nutserts on the inside of the trailer tongue by the military plug holder to mount the 7-pin holder (in retrospect, I probably should have looked for a nicer 7-pin plug holder, this one is pretty cheap, but serviceable I suppose). Which ever plug, military or civilian, isn't being used will need to be wired down to ensure it doesn't bounce out and drag on the road.

2018-06-03 20.53.57.jpg 2018-06-03 20.55.52 HDR.jpg

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Finally, I'd like to fix the trailer cable mount point near the lunett.
Here's an example of the one still present on my rusty 1976, large bodied pioneer tool trailer:
2018-06-03 20.27.40.jpg

Which the bolt is clearly broken flush on the M101:
2018-06-03 20.27.34.jpg
 
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Valence

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Last Saturday (July 28th, 2018 ) I used my M101A1 to avoid a $60 delivery charge and picked up a brand new queen mattress and box spring (okay I guess they're no longer true "box springs" but are "foundations" as I was corrected on my vocabulary usage at the store :roll: )

For the record, a U.S. queen sized mattress (60" wide, 80" long) fits perfectly in the M101A1 cargo box, however, these 3/4-ton M116A1 based trailers are "too much trailer" for the sub 1/4-ton Dodge Dakotas. Though with a light load (no load? lol), lower speeds and greater stopping distances it works well enough.

It would have been less hassle to have just taken my deuce and a half the ~7 miles but I felt like I needed to justify the bother and expense of having the M101A1 trailer with MORE bother and expense :p ... :shrugs:

2018-07-28 14.32.00.jpg 2018-07-28 16.19.00.jpg
 
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USAFSS-ColdWarrior

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Last Saturday (July 28th, 2018 ) I used my M101A1 to avoid a $60 delivery charge and picked up a brand new queen mattress and box spring (okay I guess they're no longer true "box springs" but are "foundations" as I was corrected on my vocabulary usage at the store :roll: )

For the record, a U.S. queen sized mattress (60" wide, 80" long) fits perfectly in the M101A1 cargo box, however, these 3/4-ton M116A1 based trailers are "too much trailer" for the sub 1/4-ton Dodge Dakotas. Though with a light load (no load? lol), lower speeds and greater stopping distances it works well enough.

It would have been less hassle to have just taken my deuce and a half the ~7 miles but I felt like I needed to justify the bother and expense of having the M101A1 trailer with MORE bother and expense :p ... :shrugs:

View attachment 736667 View attachment 736668

There's nuttin' like havin' a BED-IN-A-BED !
 

McGuyver

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FWIW,
My M101 tows really nicely behind both my Dodge Cummins, and Hemi Durango.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Valence

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FWIW,
My M101 tows really nicely behind both my Dodge Cummins, and Hemi Durango.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Oh mine tows perfectly behind my Dodge Dakota too. It turns, pulls, and rides just fine (I can feel the extra jars in the rear end over bumps though). Except, I can feel it back there in acceleration and especially deceleration. The transmission noticeably waits longer to shift up while accelerating and I have to brake harder and longer to stop. I would presume a more appropriate vehicle size to trailer weight ratio would be one where I don't really notice the trailer when its empty.

On the up side, without much practice I could successfully back it up straight (though I had a lot of room ;) )
 
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McGuyver

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When I said tows nicely, I meant all of that, i.e. those vehicles pull it well.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
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