M105; Questions about my first recovery

Hello All,

I found an M105 That I’d like to pick up, but have some concerns about the recovery first. I’ve read plenty of threads about the M105s but they’re almost all about using 1/2t trucks or smaller and people try to talk them out of it.

I have a 2016 Ram 2500 Diesel, with a hitch height at 24in. The lunette is flipped on the trailer already, bringing it down to 31in, leaving a 7in difference in height.

The seller states that one of the tires is soft but holds air. I will try to add air before I get it on the road, but worst case scenario I’m dealing with a soft tire, no spare.

Its a 30mi drive from point A to point B almost all of it is highway speed. I have tow lights for it.

I’m very comfortable towing trailers. I’m an 88M and spend most of my time in a M1088A1P2 with an 871 trailer, Im one of those guys that can actually back up a water buffalo with a LMTV lol, I’m comfortable going forward and backward with trailers is where I’m getting at.

Given the conditions above, would you tow it home or load it on a trailer? If you towed it would you buy the correct plate and pintle to level it? The seller has a tractor to help load; either by lowering the frame onto my pintle or by pushing it onto a trailer. Unloading I am completely on my own.

any advice and wisdom is much appreciated by this FNG.

7" isn't that big of a drop, I would just tow it. Note that the trailer safety chains will probably not reach your truck. Bring some extra chain and hooks. Even with 0 psi in the tires they wont be flat. Just make sure the thread isn't coming apart.

I towed mine from tx to nv behind my ram 2500. No issues .

I also towed my 1082 that way as well.

I did tow a mkt with most of the weight in the rear of the trailer which caused a wobble at 65. I loaded up 40 gallons of water on the forward part of the trailer and it did make it tow better.

go for it sounds like you have a good grip on things.

Hey FNG, we have all been there Also welcome to the site. Lots of good info here. Seriously you should have no problem towing the M105 as I towed mine from Ft. Dix, NJ to Cape Cod, MA in a snow storm with no problem. I have an F150 so your 2500 should have no issues. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the replies guys I appreciate it. Will I have any problems disconnecting the trailer with such a height difference?

HFolb23 said:

Thanks for the replies guys I appreciate it. Will I have any problems disconnecting the trailer with such a height difference?

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I've done it by myself, without tools.

A far better option is a farm jack.

It would be nice to have a spare, a hydraulic jack and lug wrench for the recovery. Pulling it with a flat would not be fun. Someone near you might loan (or sell cheap) a 9.00/20 deuce tire & wheel.

With a jack stand, you have the means of taking it off too. Note of caution when taking it off, they are top heavy so don't lift it far enough to go backwards.

You will be fine with your pickup, but like 98G said a farm high lift jack works great.

That’s a big, heavy trailer with useless air brakes unless you have a M35/M939 series.
Towing is the easy part.
Stopping, especially panic stop, is the issue.

Ever heard of the tail wagging the dog?

M35A2-AZ said:

You will be fine with your pickup, but like 98G said a farm high lift jack works great.

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I had to google it to jog the memory on a "farm jack"....oh, yea, good for lifting it off. I imagine in a pinch, one could lift to change a tire with it.

I had changing that tire in mind, but airing it up may be enough. Take a tank of air to get it to where more pressure can be added. If it's ran too low, will mess up the tube.

The angle of my hitch is not near as much as some (distance from Reece socket to lunette ring) and it made my Reece less than tight on the 2" shank after moving a couple 105's. There is a lot of leverage when it gets further out and I was cautious to stay close. If I were making a 105 to attach to my PU, I'd add a surge brake actuator and 2 5/16 ball (+ frame) and get it lower.

If the tires are in decent shape without much weather checking or dry rot, then they should be fine to make a short trip. The trailer weighs about as much a small utility trailer-and those ones don't have trailer brakes. I always check a trailer 1 mile in the trip, and if I'm going more then 10 miles, in another 5 miles (so a check at 1 mile and then 6 miles.)

If there is any uncertainty you can load onto a trailer, minimum width needed is 78". I just picked one up, put it on a trailer myself with a farm jack, a couple wheel chocks, two blocks of wood and a tow strap.

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I have recovered more than 25 m105 trailers towing them. Closest ones were 64 miles away. Most were a lot further. All towed with a 3/4 ton pickup. I never had problems with towing any of them including a couple of high pucker factor stops on the interstate. If your brake system is solid you shouldn't have trouble either. As for the hitch height difference, with the lunette flipped the bottom of lunette should be closer to 29". The advice of a farm jack is spot on though. I use mine all the time to un-hitch trailers since my back problem cropped up. Makes it an easy one man job.

Do as I say, not as I do.... 1000miles of this...

Bring wd 40 and a 3 foot 2x4 the support leg can be a handful to pull up.

98G said:

Do as I say, not as I do.... 1000miles of this...

View attachment 733705

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Talk about playing with Fire and running with scissors!

You were very lucky.

My Dodge Cummins with my 1082 from Fort Hood to Vegas.

Here is a safer way to tow the M1082...

This method is not as safe, but did work well @ the time I needed it...

M105 is easy with a half ton. I've towed 3 over 350 miles with a half ton. Last one was with an xterra. Towed it fine

NV555 said:

My Dodge Cummins with my 1082 from Fort Hood to Vegas.

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NV555, that setup looks familiar. Were you the one who loaned me your landing gear handle to crank the leg up when we were picking up mkcoen's M1082 a year or so ago? We were in the LMTV.

Cheers