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M101A1 hand brake question

hoffy85

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Yesterday I brought home a M101A1 trailer that I bought. The guy gave me a box full of parts and said it was everything for the hand brakes. I would like to put the hand brakes back on the trailer. How difficult and time consuming will it be to get the hand brake set up back on to the trailer?

Thanks in advance!!
 

juanprado

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The real pain is you have to pull the brake drum which means unbolting the axle plate , spindle nut ( you need the right socket), bearings to get the cable to the right place. The seal is not a very common item but can be found at Napa and bearing supply houses. The seal is retained by a huge snap ring maybe 3 or 4 inches wide. I had a hard time finding the proper snap ring pliers that would open wide enough. The axle shaft gasket is also a harder to find part for the older dodge power wagons. The brake drum is **** heavy for just a parking brake. :)

bolting the handles and the cable clamps is easy. What I found is that a lot of brake handles adjusters are frozen and the knobs or assemblies will not turn which adjusts the tension and length of the brake cable.
 

gimpyrobb

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I would be interested in parking brake stuff too. Don't toss them, at least put them in the "free to good home" section.
 

hoffy85

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I'll definitely hold onto them for now. I'll probably look in to putting them on. If its too much of a hassle than I want to deal with then I'll post them on the classifieds for sure. It would be really nice to get them put on though.
 

juanprado

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The good side is you will have inspected and repacked the bearings (bearings are common commercial parts) which is a good thing for a 60's trailer. A new seal and you are solid on the rolling stock. I personally don't like the old school goop the military uses for grease. The modern stuff ( red or green) is much better, waterproof, and technically superior. You can also inspect the brakes and spray some brake clean and also have solid brakes. 2 maintenance items down, you will not need to do again. I have seen very little wear on those brake parts.

It is definitely worth doing as they are handy feature and add value to the trailer. Even in my flat neck of the woods they are handy!
 

hoffy85

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I'll look through all my parts and check out the instructions to put them on and then go from there. It looks like someone has already repacked the bearings as the bolts and whatnot look new. We'll see how it goes. I'd really like to have the brakes on there!
 

hoffy85

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M101A1 Hand Brakes

I want to put the hand brakes back on my M101A1 trailer. The parts were given to me in a box when I bought the trailer. I've done some researching and I'm trying to find the best source that can walk me through putting them back on. I'm not even sure If I have all the parts and pieces. What is the best resource to use as a how to on installing them? Is there anyone that sells a new brake kit that I can buy? Any info would help! Thanks in advance!
 

doghead

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I would look at the TM(parts portion). It has exploded views of all the parts.
 

hoffy85

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Yep you did give me a link and I looked through the manual. There weren't very good instructions on how to even correctly install the brakes. Is there anyone who sells a new ready to go kit with new parts?
 

doghead

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Maybe you missed the maintenance section of the TM. You will find chapeters titled, HANDBRAKE LEVER AND LINKAGE REPLACEMENT there.

You will also see things like this there.

Do NOT ask the same thing in multiple posts/places. That is called cross posting and is against the rules.
 

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hoffy85

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The brakes were already disassembled when I got it. I Basically have a box full of parts that I'm workong from. Also im not trying to post similar questions in different threads. I had another question come up so I asked. I would appreciate some advice and not criticism. Thanks for the help. I'm still curious if anyone sells some sort of kit with all the parts.
 

doghead

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No "kits" that I know of.

Do you need more visual assistance than what I showed you is in the TM?
 

doghead

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BTW, I was trying to help you by telling you how we(I) want you to use this forum, it was not criticism.

Also im not trying to post similar questions in different threads. I had another question come up so I asked.
You started 2 threads for the same thing. That is what I am referring to.

You've done it twice, so far. Both times I have merged the threads into one.
 

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doghead

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Yep you did give me a link and I looked through the manual. There weren't very good instructions on how to even correctly install the brakes. Is there anyone who sells a new ready to go kit with new parts?
Directly from the TM(preceded by a picture with the numbers),

ASSEMBLY
1. Install two brake guide washers (23).
2. Install brake guide (22) and four capscrews (21).
3. Install brakeshoe (20), washer (19), and new clip (18).
4. Install strut (17) and new clip (16).
5. Install brakeshoe (15), washer (14), and new clip (13).
6. Install brake lever (2), pin (12), washer (11), nut (10), and cap (9).
7. Install two springs (8) and spring clips (7).
 
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