thathaway3
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I'm not sure if this is the correct Forum for this post but I'll give it a shot. I'm a former soldier who served in a Field Artillery Battalion in Germany in the early 1970's. I'm also a model builder and I'm in the middle of a project in which I'm building various vehicles from my unit during that time period.
One of my future projects is to build an M54 5 Ton truck with a two 600 gallon fuel pods and also the M105 trailer which it towed with a third 600 gal fuel pod. Per the TO&E I have from our type of unit, Service Battery had two such vehicles.
If memory serves (and it's been close to 50 years now), the fuel pod in at least ONE of the two trailers was filled with MOGAS rather than diesel. We had 33 M151 1/4 tons plus assorted generators which needed MOGAS, compared to 101 diesel vehicles, so one pod (or two) out of 6 seems to make sense.
I know that when you fill a 390 lb fuel pod with 600 gal of MOGAS at 6.3 lb per gallon, it adds up to 4170 lb which exceeds the payload of 3000 lb. I've heard from various sources that this 3000 lb was actually only an "off road" limit, with a highway limit being higher. Since we were always operating off road, I've also heard from various sources that to keep the trailer under the 3000 lb limit, it wasn't filled to capacity. Obviously with Diesel fuel weighing in at over 7 lb per gallon the problem would be worse if the trailer pod carried diesel instead of MOGAS.
So here's the issue: The company from which I'm buying the model kit of the M105 trailer with the fuel pod depicts the trailer as having Dual Wheels, not Single Wheels. Is this correct?
Clearly, equipping the trailer with Dual Wheels solves the capacity problem. According to the TM, the axle is rated at 10,000 lb, and as a former truck suspension design engineer I can pretty much guarantee you that the leaf springs (especially when the trailer also has auxiliary springs on top of the main leaf springs) are not the limiting factor in determining the GAWR. It's almost always the wheels and tires which limit the load. (We'll conveniently ignore the total weight problem on the brakes!!) And with a slightly wider track with the Dual Wheels being just a bit outside the cargo bed it helps somewhat with stability. Maybe.
I HAVE seen a picture of a trailer which appears to be an M105 with Dual Wheels, however I can not find any mention of such a configuration in the TM. I won't even try to rely on memory from that far back on whether I saw the Dual or Single Wheel configuration! And other than the one photo of an empty trailer, every picture I've found in the field with a fuel pod in the trailer shows a Single Wheel configuration, although I HAVE seen several where the single wheels are offset outboard from the normal position to where they WOULD be in a Dual Wheel set up.
So here's the question: Did the M105 trailer have a Dual Wheel configuration? Or is the Dual Wheel configuration actually a DIFFERENT Model, or was this simply a field modification? And if so is it a modification which came into being LATER than the period 1972-1975?
Given the early time frame I'm planning to build an M54 (per the TO&E) and a Single Wheel M105 configuration. But I am curious to know more about the Dual Wheel set up.
(And I promise not to fill the pod when I take the model off road!!!!)
Thanks for any help!
Tom
One of my future projects is to build an M54 5 Ton truck with a two 600 gallon fuel pods and also the M105 trailer which it towed with a third 600 gal fuel pod. Per the TO&E I have from our type of unit, Service Battery had two such vehicles.
If memory serves (and it's been close to 50 years now), the fuel pod in at least ONE of the two trailers was filled with MOGAS rather than diesel. We had 33 M151 1/4 tons plus assorted generators which needed MOGAS, compared to 101 diesel vehicles, so one pod (or two) out of 6 seems to make sense.
I know that when you fill a 390 lb fuel pod with 600 gal of MOGAS at 6.3 lb per gallon, it adds up to 4170 lb which exceeds the payload of 3000 lb. I've heard from various sources that this 3000 lb was actually only an "off road" limit, with a highway limit being higher. Since we were always operating off road, I've also heard from various sources that to keep the trailer under the 3000 lb limit, it wasn't filled to capacity. Obviously with Diesel fuel weighing in at over 7 lb per gallon the problem would be worse if the trailer pod carried diesel instead of MOGAS.
So here's the issue: The company from which I'm buying the model kit of the M105 trailer with the fuel pod depicts the trailer as having Dual Wheels, not Single Wheels. Is this correct?
Clearly, equipping the trailer with Dual Wheels solves the capacity problem. According to the TM, the axle is rated at 10,000 lb, and as a former truck suspension design engineer I can pretty much guarantee you that the leaf springs (especially when the trailer also has auxiliary springs on top of the main leaf springs) are not the limiting factor in determining the GAWR. It's almost always the wheels and tires which limit the load. (We'll conveniently ignore the total weight problem on the brakes!!) And with a slightly wider track with the Dual Wheels being just a bit outside the cargo bed it helps somewhat with stability. Maybe.
I HAVE seen a picture of a trailer which appears to be an M105 with Dual Wheels, however I can not find any mention of such a configuration in the TM. I won't even try to rely on memory from that far back on whether I saw the Dual or Single Wheel configuration! And other than the one photo of an empty trailer, every picture I've found in the field with a fuel pod in the trailer shows a Single Wheel configuration, although I HAVE seen several where the single wheels are offset outboard from the normal position to where they WOULD be in a Dual Wheel set up.
So here's the question: Did the M105 trailer have a Dual Wheel configuration? Or is the Dual Wheel configuration actually a DIFFERENT Model, or was this simply a field modification? And if so is it a modification which came into being LATER than the period 1972-1975?
Given the early time frame I'm planning to build an M54 (per the TO&E) and a Single Wheel M105 configuration. But I am curious to know more about the Dual Wheel set up.
(And I promise not to fill the pod when I take the model off road!!!!)
Thanks for any help!
Tom