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Another way to lower an M1101/M1102

T

Texas TT

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DFW, TX
contdevelop said:
Hello- This is a good write up. I too am considering lowering my 2010 M1102. When I bought it, the first thing I did was sell the 37 inch tires, and I ordered the 6 lug hubs from etrailer.com and was basically given a set of 6 lug wheels from a friend who swapped out the wheels on his Hummer H3. I read the aluminum box weighs between 300-400 pounds, and the whole trailer is about 1400 pounds.

I would like to reduce the overall weight and make it a lot lighter. I assume the weight is in the frame?? Right now I am considering cutting the plates off the frame and getting rid of the heavy torsion axle in favor of leaf springs and a solid axle..... Overall goal is to lower it A LOT and reduce the weight. I tow it now with full size chevy truck but would like to tow it with my 4.0 Jeep Wrangler.

Thoughts on how to reduce the weight, and thoughts on converting to leaf springs/ solid axle? Of course I would like to put a 2 inch ball mount and get rid of the 12 inch riser plate and pintle hitch....

Thanks. By the way, new to this forum.

My other option was to remove the aluminum box and mount it on my other all aluminum tilt trailer, since that trailer has a wood deck and wood sides that need replacing... I really only only bought the M1102 for the aluminum box...
Click to expand...
Would you have the part number for the 6 lug hubs handy? I could never figure out which ones to order.
 
1stDeuce

1stDeuce

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Farmington, NM
Third time is a charm!! I lowered another one today, and it's even better than the first two! (I can do it start to finish in about 5 hours now, by myself.)

The other two are lowered 2-1/2", and the second one I did I also slid the axle forward 1/2", which worked out well. (More shock length, and still looks centered in the wheel opening.)

Today I cut my 2-1/2" square tube lengthwise down the middle, so I got two U-shaped pieces that were each only about 1-1/8" tall after I cleaned them up. I pointed the legs up, against the frame. It was a little tricky to get the bolts tight, but I managed. So this trailer is now lowered 3-7/8", and I LIKE it!! I also slid the axle forward 3/4" to add some shock length.

I had considered just letting the axle rest right against the bottom of the frame, but I don't think it'll work unless I leave off the shocks. Plus, this trailer looks pretty low now. I don't think I want it any lower. :)

One thing I did notice in doing all these trailers is that my two 2009 trailers have shocks that won't collapse the final inch of shaft into the body. The older trailer has shocks that do collapse completely. The fully collapsible shocks will work better on lowered trailers. I probably should move the fully collapsing shocks to the first trailer I did, since it's shocks only have 1/2" or so travel before they bottom. (I put zip ties on them and they don't even move 1/2" with me really shaking it around... even with 2000lbs of water, pump, and hose reel!)

I'll try to get a few pictures up tomorrow. :)
 
S

SuburbanReject

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San Antonio, TX
1stDeuce said:
Third time is a charm!! I lowered another one today, and it's even better than the first two! (I can do it start to finish in about 5 hours now, by myself.)

The other two are lowered 2-1/2", and the second one I did I also slid the axle forward 1/2", which worked out well. (More shock length, and still looks centered in the wheel opening.)

Today I cut my 2-1/2" square tube lengthwise down the middle, so I got two U-shaped pieces that were each only about 1-1/8" tall after I cleaned them up. I pointed the legs up, against the frame. It was a little tricky to get the bolts tight, but I managed. So this trailer is now lowered 3-7/8", and I LIKE it!! I also slid the axle forward 3/4" to add some shock length.

I had considered just letting the axle rest right against the bottom of the frame, but I don't think it'll work unless I leave off the shocks. Plus, this trailer looks pretty low now. I don't think I want it any lower. :)

One thing I did notice in doing all these trailers is that my two 2009 trailers have shocks that won't collapse the final inch of shaft into the body. The older trailer has shocks that do collapse completely. The fully collapsible shocks will work better on lowered trailers. I probably should move the fully collapsing shocks to the first trailer I did, since it's shocks only have 1/2" or so travel before they bottom. (I put zip ties on them and they don't even move 1/2" with me really shaking it around... even with 2000lbs of water, pump, and hose reel!)

I'll try to get a few pictures up tomorrow. :)
Click to expand...
Sir,

Please post more pics and any more info you think it's necessary, this has all been extremely helpful to me. Your way is the way I want to go with mine.

Thank you!
 
1stDeuce

1stDeuce

Member
351
15
18
Location
Farmington, NM
I'll get a few pictures of the latest one. I can tell you that you'll need a plasma cutter to chop aluminum, though a sawzall would work if you're really dedicated. (The aluminum is soft)
There are rivets (Huck bolts, actually) holding on the brake lines and cables that you'll need to remove also. I grind off the heads of the ones I can get to with a 4.5" sanding disk on my grinder. The four underneath that hold the brake line bracket I knock the heads off with an air die grinder. That's probably the toughest part... I use self tappers to re-attach them. And lots of jacks/jack stands to hold the axle, because it's HEAVY. :)

Also, moving the axle forward is a must. At least 1". I'd go 1.5" if I did another one. It would still be fairly centered, and even the short travel shocks would work fine then. The axle is way far back anyway.
Good Luck!
 
U

unkyjord

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Windsor, Ontario
So I started lowering my trailer last night. I'm going for a bit more of an OEM feel, my plan is to keep the bottom portion of the brackets intact.
I'm going to cut them down and redrill all of the holes for the huck bolts. I plan to space it just off the heads of the vertical bolts, as low as I can get without them touching the bed frame. The bolts will actually be stuck in there unless I remove the vertical mounting bracket again, another option is a custom Ubolt but I feel that's a waste of money.

My question is does anyone know the spec or the part # on those huck bolts/ rivets?
I need to go out and buy a ton of them, and what I find that works likely won't be as good as the military spec ones I removed.

Thanks
 
Daybreak

Daybreak

2 Star Admiral
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Va
unkyjord said:
So I started lowering my trailer last night. I'm going for a bit more of an OEM feel, my plan is to keep the bottom portion of the brackets intact. I'm going to cut them down and redrill all of the holes for the huck bolts. I plan to space it just off the heads of the vertical bolts, as low as I can get without them touching the bed frame. The bolts will actually be stuck in there unless I remove the vertical mounting bracket again, another option is a custom Ubolt but I feel that's a waste of money. My question is does anyone know the spec or the part # on those huck bolts/ rivets? I need to go out and buy a ton of them, and what I find that works likely won't be as good as the military spec ones I removed. Thanks
Click to expand...
Howdy,
The problem that I ran into is using the huck bolts. I wanted to put my rear leveling back on (LTT-TQG) and you can not find the gizmo to handle that large of a huck bolt. The smaller ones, yes (CAT dealer and a 18-wheeler reefer repair joint). But, they could not do the large huck bolts.

The huck bolts and such are all listed in the parts manual for the trailers. (M1101, M1102, LTT-TQG)
 
T

Texas TT

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drivebymashing

drivebymashing

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North Carolina
So from what I read you did not do one of the trailer axle to frame of trailer. Thats what Im looking at doing. You said something around 5 inches? I guess if I remove the shocks completely I dont know what the ride difference will be. Im wanting to keep the factory 37's.
 
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