"New" Trailer: 220KAK, 1960 Vintage 26' Box Van

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Well, we closed the deal today...

Dianna and I are now the proud owners of a 1960 Vintage KINGHAM TRAILER CO. 26' Box Van Trailer.

Here's the Date Plate Poop:

Kingham Trailer Company
Louisville, KY

Model: 220KAK
MFR Serial No.: 31287
FSN: 2330-542-2511
Vehicle Wgt. Unloaded: 10250 lbs.
Payload Max.: 36000 lbs.
Gross Wgt. Max.: 46250 lbs.
Date of Delivery: 1-13-1960
Contract No.: DA-20-133-ORD-24272
US Property: 7C2100

She rides on 11.00 - 20 NDT Duals on Tandem Axles and has air brakes (NOT the vintage Electric Brakes I had been told it had.)

Overall, for a 51 year old vehicle, she's in very good shape needing relatively minor TLC to bring up to date.

Purchase Price: $400.00 CASH

I have full access to the yard in which she is currently stored, and the seller has no problem if I take a few weeks to get her roadworthy (fresh tires?) to tow her home. BTW - Home is just 4 miles from where she now resides!!!

Now, before somebody hollers.....

​

I WILL be posting some pics (hopefully tomorrow) when I get some from a camera that are better than my phone.

More to follow.....

 

[srodocker]

nice i love the box vans...not sure why lol

 

[Danger Ranger]

Subscribed and waiting....this should be cool.

 

[therealsundance]

in.

 

[quickfarms]

 

[hilber]

 

[dodgedougak]

Congrats, post pictures when you can

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Here are the Phone Pics of the trailer from a few days before we closed the deal. Other things came up today and I was unable to get by to take better pics. (Sometimes God has other plans for our lives.)

These are the same pics that were posted over in the "SchoolBus" thread.

Does anyone have any historical reference pics that would show authentic marking for a trail like this during the early 1960's? I'm just guessing, but a BIG WHITE STAR on the olive drab would "seem" appropriate. I'll be checking with David Doyle and with the good folks over at Olive-Drab.com too.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Steel Chassis and Rear Door Framework;
Aluminum Superstructure and Skin;
Interior Wooden Floor has been overlayed with a thin plywood or composition board - will eventually replace with original Oak(?)Planking;
Wooden "siding" and bump strips (about halfway up) on Interior sidewalls seems in excellent condition and and well aged to show some nice Woodgrain;
More to come.

Oh, and the TIRES..... Well, the tires are ALL dry-rot, and the left-inner-rear tire is missing a pretty big chunk of tread. The other 7 tires are well-worn and dry-rotted, most are NDT 11.00x20's. The GOOD NEWS is that I have a lead on some "new" 11.00x20 NDT's that were taken off of an M818 Tractor to make it a Mud-Truck.... They have only a few hundred miles on them and still have the mold nubs on them!!! AND they are mounted on 10-Bolt 5-Ton Wheels - - - Perfect for this trailer!!!

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

After church today, I went by and took some fresh pics.... YES, I drove the deuce to church as I do most every Sunday

It has BOTH civvy AND military taillights, so I'm wondering if it's got 12v and 24v circuits.

The spare tire racks both seem nice and "straight" without being all bent up.

The landing gear cranks up and down as though it were brand new!

I'm a little concerned now that I know that she's got air brakes. Electric brakes would be released without power and therefore easy to tow without hassles. However, the air brakes should be engaged without air, so I'm going to have to get them working OR figure out how to release them mechanically in ofret to tow her home (4 miles).

More pics right after this post.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

More pics from today.

BTW - it's 104F right now, so I'm not out there working on her. Will be doing that in the evenings this week and weekend.

In these pics, you can see the shattered electrical junction box. the first of those three pics is a low shot that also shows the glad hand ports - the glad hands will have to be replaced to test/use the brakes.

 

[quickfarms]

Trailers did not have spring brakes until the late 70's

The brakes should be released if there is no air in the tanks

 

[srodocker]

did i miss how your going to haul it? i love old trailers. i want to make one a toy hauler!

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Trailers did not have spring brakes until the late 70's

The brakes should be released if there is no air in the tanks

That's GREAT NEWS !

I intend to jack up each wheelset to check/verify free-wheeling BEFORE I commit a truck to hauling her home for me.

We're now looking at M818 or similar tractors for our own toter.

Would any particular pics help confirm that brake design???

 

[srodocker]

thats awesome. i want that type of combo some day!

 

[islandguydon]

Chappy, You got the deal of the century my friend. I like the support feet. The trailer has unlimited potential. I like the raised front, thats your sleeping quarters, am I correct..?

What are you hauling it with..?

 

[hilber]

Looks good. Thanks for the pics nd again congratulations

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Chappy, You got the deal of the century my friend. I like the support feet. The trailer has unlimited potential. I like the raised front, thats your sleeping quarters, am I correct..?

What are you hauling it with..?

Here's the plan in an nutshell:

Stage 1a: Pre-recovery repairs and Title & Registration paperwork;

Stage 1b: Finish widening backyard gate to permit "swinging" the trailer in off a 25' wide residential alley, removing the current 8'x10' metal yard shed, and prepping the backyard for her arrival;

Stage 2: Load the trailer with the present contents of the soon-to-be-trashed yard shed and add some household items to make room for some "major" house remodeling (moving kitchen into present den, open present kitchen and livingroom into one LARGE living area - we aren't a two-living-area lifestyle couple)

Stage 3: Work on trailer undercarriage restoration - air lines, brakes and bearings, etc.

Stage 4: After the house remodeling - unload household stuff back into the house and add bug-out quarters for two adults, 5 dogs and 6 cats, possibly a couple of windows and a side door (it has only cargo doors on the rear that I don't want to modify).

Should be a fun, and reasonably "long term" project. The present priority is getting the house DONE.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

The project progresses....

I was able to track down the guy with the 11.00x20 NDTs on 5-Ton Wheels. He's still got them (been over a year since I ran into him).

He's going to keep one as a spare for his 5-Ton M818 Muddin' Truck, but that leaves a set of 10 available for our 220KAK Trailer... Perfect for 8-on-the-ground and 2-for-the-spare-tire-racks!!!

I haven't seen ALL 10 Tires. I understand that several are in EXCELLENT CONDITION with the nubs still on them, but that there may be a couple with a bit more wear.

No matter, I made a deal over the phone:

$500.00 for ALL TEN 11.00x20 NDT's on 10-Bolt Rims​

AND... He has promised to arrange loading, probably this Saturday if he can "enslave" his two teenaged nephews - We can watch them work.​

More on this as events unfold........​

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

UPDATE 2011-10-11 Tuesday:

While the yard gate project has met some delays (trip to NM prior to mother-in-law's back surgery - lost a weekend's work-time) the Trailer Repair aspects are plugging along.

Today, the 220KAK Trailer got her new shoes!
(Pics below show the "crew" and results.)

As far as we could tell, the lugnuts have not been off the hubs since 1973 or earlier, I hired a neighbor who runs a mobile truck tire service company to change the wheels for me. He's got everything necessary and I wouldn't have to take the time to do it "manually". So, for just $160.00 he sent a couple of his guys and one of his trucks over. I let them into the yard, snapped a couple of pics and went to a Chamber of Commerce Luncheon. By the time I returned, the job was DONE, the gate was locked and the trailer's got new rubber on the ground and two spares in the racks. Then, I snapped a few more pics.

Headed back to work, I stopped by a little cabinet shop just about 400 feet from where the trailer sits. They have a small forklift. I politely asked if they'd be able to help load the old tires into the Deuce sometime in the coming week and they said, "SURE!".... Ask and ye shall receive!!! So, one day next week, we'll load up the old tires and rims.

The one "odd" pic is of the Kingham Trailer Company logo which is cast into the right and left ends of the rear-door-frame sill. Pretty cool logo, huh?

Let's see.... Investment so far....

Trailer:...........$400
Tires:.............$500
Tire Service:...$160
----------------------
Total so far:..$1060 . . . not bad, huh?