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Pair of Former Water Buffalo Trailers.

Josh

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im looking to get this pair of trailers for for the axles and wiring/ what not to build a custom trailer to tow behind the deuce, but i was wondering if these axles can be ran as dualies and what not.

. the gentleman said these were former water tank trailers, dunno if you can tell from looking at them or not, but here they are.
 

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DanMartin

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I recall a PS Magazine article (or something) advising NOT to run duals on these trailers. It does not increase the capacity of the trailer by adding duals (the axle is the limiting factor I guess).

It should be possible to do with BUDD caps, but other than add some more weight to the trailer and possibly a bigger contact patch to the ground (so it don't sink?) there's really no benefit. (OK, it might look cooler).

Alex at Idaho Motor Pool has tandem dual axle sets with brakes and all for $895 for a set...just build the frame for it and add those axles for a great dual tandem trailer (I would love to build one with a full-size M-35 bed...twice the parade hauling fun!).
 

Josh

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well im the plan is to build a 24ft or 30ft flat bed to haul my truck + some other things. i go the sand alot so the extra tires would be for float and looks(duals look better on anything:-D)


i know the military rates these axles for 3000lbs and i figured the math out alrdy, the frame + truck would put me at 5800lbs, i know the military has the tendancy to underrate everything so i figured i should be safe. if you count in the 10% of the load thats suppose to be on the tongue, that drops it down to less then 5300lbs, so i should be good.

yeh id love to get my hands on one of those, but last i went by his place they looked pretty hammered, least surface wise. besides, in the figure i can always put another set of running gear under the frame if i had too.
 
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DanMartin

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Go talk to MilitaryRestoration...he had (at one time) a fuel tank trailer that was already a dually. If he still has it, that might be a great place to start on your project....
 

papercu

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Looks like the M107 Water tanks trailers, they are just the plain M103 chassis.The M149 I've seen have special axles with shocks and the running board/fenders have a step mount on the ends.
You can run dual without any problem but like said above that will not increase the load carrying any, just makes a wider footprint. Wayne
 
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Josh

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well cool, i talked to the guy about them some more, and depending on if the brakes work/lights work im going to get the pair for 300-350, seems like a good deal to me.
 

Josh

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Portland, Oregon
well i ended up getting them, they are pretty damn rusty, the frames are a total loss, both axles look to be in good shape, both roll freely, one set of spings looks to be in good shape, the other set is pretty bad, i might be able to salvage, i dont know. all the lights on the trailer were brand new, and working, the parking brakes for the trailer were so rusty the handles broke off before when i grabed them. i was afraid to hook up air to test the brakes to see if they worked because if the tires locked up then i would have had a hell of a time getting these things home.

the strand thing is that i dont think these are 1 1/2 half axles, on the data plate(pretty gone just could get a few numbers) said Max Payload 3200lbs, and empty weight was like 1800? that would make these 2 1/2ton axles.

if you think about it, a 400gallon tank of water does weigh 3,336lbs, so i finding it difficult to think that these are only 3lbs axles.

we used a forklift to put one of the trailers in the back of my truck, and since i dont own a crane or a forklift, im think i might have to do the patented tire the trailer to a tree and drive out from under it.


or i could just rent a forklift for a day =/
 
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Josh

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Portland, Oregon
well i couldnt find the empty weight in that TM, only the payload, which is 3360LBS, so i guess ill take one to scale and just weight it by itself(pop it off the truck and let it rest on the landing gear).


turns out these ones are older then '77, they only have a single airline for the brakes
 
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