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After several years of looking for one, I finally found and purchased a M870A1 40 ton lowboy semitrailer for my M916 tractor. I had Soni (aka M920) take it from Oklahoma to New Mexico. The trailer did not have any lights or electrical, brake components were missing and no air lines were present. The tires were in sketchy condition. I loaded up some 10R15 tires on the back of the 916 and set out for New Mexico. Its about 500 miles away and so I made the trip in about 12 hours with stops at 55 mph.
Soni had helped me round up a lot of the required parts, like the air valves and slack adjusters. Some of the ports on the valves were different sizes than what was on the original pieces, so some adapters were used. The trailer has just about 100' of 3/8" plastic air brake tubing, as well as some 1/2" and a bit of 5/8". (Which is very expensive) The rear deck over the area between the axles was removed and this made it considerably easier to access the brake components.
The trailer rear end was lifted with the FEMTT crane and set it on some jack stands so that I could work on the tires and hubs. The bearings were in good shape and the oil was too. New Stemco hubcaps were installed and filled with gear oil. I picked the most road worthy tires and cleaned all the mating surfaces on the hubs, wheels, and spacers, and the dayton wheel assemblies went together with no fuss.
Soni installed some stick on reflectors and I think that was an excellent idea. The lights were handled by the trusty wrecker light bar. Now that the trailer displayed a hint of maintenance, I felt it was up for the trip home, which was uneventful except for a dude laying on the highway that I had to drive around. (really!)
The trailer came with 16 or so tires and I purchased some others to bring me up to darn near 40 of them now in various conditions. The 10R15 tires are still out there for sale and I think I'll end up having a good set of the Michelin tires, as they seem to be the best available. The next steps are sandblasting and paint, followed by installing electrical components, and then wood decking.
Soni had helped me round up a lot of the required parts, like the air valves and slack adjusters. Some of the ports on the valves were different sizes than what was on the original pieces, so some adapters were used. The trailer has just about 100' of 3/8" plastic air brake tubing, as well as some 1/2" and a bit of 5/8". (Which is very expensive) The rear deck over the area between the axles was removed and this made it considerably easier to access the brake components.
The trailer rear end was lifted with the FEMTT crane and set it on some jack stands so that I could work on the tires and hubs. The bearings were in good shape and the oil was too. New Stemco hubcaps were installed and filled with gear oil. I picked the most road worthy tires and cleaned all the mating surfaces on the hubs, wheels, and spacers, and the dayton wheel assemblies went together with no fuss.
Soni installed some stick on reflectors and I think that was an excellent idea. The lights were handled by the trusty wrecker light bar. Now that the trailer displayed a hint of maintenance, I felt it was up for the trip home, which was uneventful except for a dude laying on the highway that I had to drive around. (really!)
The trailer came with 16 or so tires and I purchased some others to bring me up to darn near 40 of them now in various conditions. The 10R15 tires are still out there for sale and I think I'll end up having a good set of the Michelin tires, as they seem to be the best available. The next steps are sandblasting and paint, followed by installing electrical components, and then wood decking.
