M104 trailer - I think?

[carmen]

Guys

I have a chance to pick up what I believe to be a M104 trailer. This trailer is the one that has a gate in the front as well as the back. All of the sides brackest are there but no bows. The floor is solid, but there is a little rot on the front left side that will need to be cut out and replace. Other than that it seem to be in fair to good condition.

Can anyone please tell me a little about this trailer and if possible post some pictures? The guy wants 200 for it and I already have a guy that will haul it in for me for free. I just picked up a M135 - a whole nother story - and I think that this would be a great trailer to have behind it.

Thanks

Carmen

 

[BFR]

go buy it now before the owner changes their mind

 

[CGarbee]

I have a M104 in the yard (needs a little TLC and is missing the landing leg, side racks, and bows...).

The following is the text to a response I made a while back when somebody asked about differences between a M104 and a M105. David Doyle has done at least one article in MV Magazine about them, and includes them in the Standard Catalog, perhaps he will chime in with some more info. PoW (Dennis G.) also has one...

The M104 has a front gate, and required a different front landing leg than the M105 in order for the front gate to sit flat when open. The front landing leg on the M104 does not come above the frame whereas the M105 version does. (anyone have a spare M104 landing leg they'd like to part with??).
The M104 used double ended hoses and electrical line to connect to the tow vehicle. The M104 has a pair of glad hands and a trailer electrical socket on it that is identicle to the glad hands and trailer socket that is on the back of a M35... Loose enough hoses and intervehicular cables, and you switch to the style that is on the M105 where they are affixed to the trailer...
M104 also ran on 1100x20 tires in order to be utilized behind the GMC and REO designed dueces with the single tires on the rear axles instead of the trucks with the 900x20 duels such as the M35...
The hub assembly is also a tad different on the M104 and the center of the hub sticks out father through the wheel than on a M105 so changing tires on the M104 is a little easier...
Oh yeah, of course the wood racks on the M104 are slightly different since it has a front gate... but the sides and rear are the same...

I'll post some photos later on this evening as I put together a webpage on the trailer the other day during my Thanksgiving vacation, but dialup prevented me from uploading it to my server...

 

[G744]

PoW translates to G744 on this forum.

M104's are radically different from M105's. In addition to what went ahead from Cabell;

The entire frame and tongue are different, with a swivel "tuckup" landing wheel. The bed has tailgates both front & rear as well. Lighter tongue weight as well.

The axle follows the old Timken/Rockwell pattern with parts like a 2.5 ton, the hubs look just like those on the earlier M105 ( 8 bolts to the bearing cap).

The side racks and bows are the same as the M105, but the front and rear racks are hinged to the sides and don't lift off like the M105

dg

 

[CGarbee]

Just remembered another difference: My M104 has the parking brake handle on the rear end , the M105 has them on the front end...

G744: My mind is slipping... I knew that you visited here, but couldn't remember the handle

 

[CUCVFAN]

The chassis is an M102 model, as opposed to the M103 that the M105 variants use. If I remember, the side gussets on the body do not kick out at the bottom like an M105. I'll try to find a pic. One actually sold at Aberdeen a few years back. Pretty cool trailer. Stock tires were 11.00x20's, as it was designed to be towed by M34/M135 trucks. There were also A1 and A2 variants, but they did not have the front tailgate.

 

[clinto]

I'd love to have a 104, if for nothing other than the rarity

 

[jasonjc]

It would be nice and look cool behind my M 135

 

[G744]

I moved the brake handles to the front, I'm too slow to get back there before it goes downhill.

dg

 

[CGarbee]

OK, got some of the photos of my M104 up on my website... Need to find the ones that show the brake handle, rear lights, and front tailgate in the "down" position, but it is a start...

See:
http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/m35pages/m35photos7.htm

BTW: I could be convinced to sell mine since I've decided that a kitchen trailer would actually be more useful...

 

[clinto]

What was the point of the M104 originally? What was it designed to haul? It is a neat piece, but it's usefulness seems limited, as you can't really put something extra long in it, the cargo would just hit the tow vehicle.....

 

[carmen]

Ok, I liked what I read from you guys and I like the pictures and now it looks like I will soon be an owner of an M104 trailer. I called the seller today and will pick up the trailer next saturday.

Now I need to know what are the correct manuals for this trailer? Also does anybody have a set of bows for this trailer as well as the correct measurments for them?

Thanks

Carmen

 

[CUCVFAN]

The manuals will be harder to get. I dug out a 1968 US Army handbook that lists the TM's for it. I will double check, but I'm pretty sure they are the 213 series manuals, the current version of which now only contain M105 trailers. You will probably need to find an actual print version from the late 60's or early 70's to have the M104 included. There is another TM number too, but it's one of the 4 or 5 digit jobs (X-XXXX) and I definitely don't remember that number.

 

[CGarbee]

I have a M104 manual at the house (operators/maintenance) that I picked up off of Ebay for reasonable money from a book dealer... I'll check tonight to see what the number on it is...


Dan Parmley has the dataplates for them if you need them:
http://www.mvdataplates.com/tailers_other_than_semi.htm

 

[carmen]

Thanks for the come back on the manual. If you can get me the number then I'll at least now what to look for. Don't recall the condition of the date plate but I will certainal keep it in mind.

Does anybody know what kind of bows I will need for this trailer?

Thanks

Carmen