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M101 rusted lever, manual control - repair

BuckRun

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1. Has anyone tried removing the adjustable grip off the lever handle to aid in freeing up rusting threads? Is there a pin holding it on?
2. Has anyone tried rust solvent and using acetylene torch to heat it up to break the rusted bond?
3. Any other ideas to free up adjustable lever grip to enable it to rotate?:shock:
 

Tinstar

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Brand new ones are impossible to find so do what you can to free it up.
I have not used a torch or taken it apart.
Doesn’t look like you can without needing replacement parts.

I soaked mine in penetrating oil with some success.
Luckily the adjustments on all of them were already very close so I didn’t have to turn it far.
 

McGuyver

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2nd on the penetrating oil. I repeatedly soaked mine in WD-40, and just kept working it back and forth until I freed it up. Got most of the range of adjustment back this way.

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porkysplace

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Brand new ones are impossible to find so do what you can to free it up.
I have not used a torch or taken it apart.
Doesn’t look like you can without needing replacement parts.

I soaked mine in penetrating oil with some success.
Luckily the adjustments on all of them were already very close so I didn’t have to turn it far.
Eastern Surplus has new ones for M101 / M149A2 but they quoted me $225.00 + shipping , these pull sideways but could be adapted , but not at that price.
 

Tinstar

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There are a few than could be adapted.
Wouldn’t be original and would look weird, to me anyway.

That price is insane, like most of their items.
 

McGuyver

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Anybody ever try taking one apart to reverse engineer it? It's a fairly simply mechanism, and I don't think it would be too difficult to reproduce these...

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Last edited:

Tinstar

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I had one bent almost 90 degrees at mounting bolts when I recovered trailer.
It straighten up very nice, but wasn’t easy since you can’t disassemble them.
Especially the knob.

If I had an extra one I could figure out how to take it apart.
Not risking the ones I have, as they finally work.
 

McGuyver

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Agreed. I wouldn't want to take apart a working lever, but if you had a trashed one that was seized, you could cut it apart and look inside.

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Tinstar

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Still amazes me how scarce parts are for these trailers.
Thousands built and can’t find a correct NOS brake lever and other parts.
 

Tinstar

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Any idea who the original manufacturer was for these levers?

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No
I’ve contacted the trailer manufacturers (Of my trailers) to find out.
They refused to even talk to me since I’m not the government or a Corporation.
 

McGuyver

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Looking in the TM, part number was 10926073, and NSN is 5340-00-936-5284.

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McGuyver

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What was the name of that web site where you could look up the manufacturers of a given NSN?

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Tinstar

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Yes
I looked up that long ago.
Their nowhere to be found.
Would love to be proven wrong as I want to buy four new ones.

Some levers out there are close, but not identical.
Just like the cables.

Someday.........
 

McGuyver

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Looks like mainly two manufacturers:
Kratzke Machining and Fabrication Co., and Orscheln Products, LLC.


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Tinstar

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Yes
I’ve called them both about a year ago.
Once they heard the words civilian and individual, they couldn’t get off phone fast enough.
Emailed also.

Didn’t matter being a veteran.
 

McGuyver

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Nuts. Well, I suppose there's always the reverse engineered option. Certainly more work to it, but if there were enough demand from private parties, there's bound to be a machine shop that would make them for us. Any patent that might have existed is probably long expired by now...

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