Trailer buying advice needed

[uglysteve]

I an interested in buying a military trailer to pull with my Land Rover Discovery.
I just discovered Goverment Liquidation, and they have a lot of trailers. Do they normaly have a lot of them for sale? I am interested in a M101, the M105 seems too big.
What kind of problems should I look for? Any one have a M101 for sale in Arizona?
What is a reasonable price to pay? How high should the hitch be so it will be level?
Thanks,
Steve

 

[citizensoldier]

I am not sure what a Land Rover Discovery is but I will try to help.. The M101A1 that has the same rims and tires as a M37 was designed to be pulled behind those style trucks.. The M101A2 has 8 lug hubs the same as a 3/4 ton Chevy and was designed for behind this style and weight of truck.. They both average about 1200lbs empty but the A2 has a serge brake set up that is very handy when loaded and you need to stop in a hurry.. So I would check the specks of your Land Rover to see what amount of weight it is designed to stop.. The early version might be a little on the high side for your type of vehicle.. With most vehicles you can get them going no problem, its the stopping it that gets you. I will dig up some photos of each and post them for you..
Just curiouse.. How did you fin Government Liquidations? Hope this helps a little.. Oh.. and a M105 is way to big for what you need..

 

[devilman96]

Also check out the tech manual section (bottom left of page)... Look for TAPCOM for a quick ref on size and weight and them venture into the actual TM's for the 101.... Lane's correct on the 105... Far to big for you.

 

[uglysteve]

Thanks Citizensoldier,
The towing capicity o fthe Disovery is 5000lbs. How tall are the tires M101A2? I found Government Liquidation on Yahoo or Google.

 

[m16ty]

Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

Thanks Citizensoldier,
I found Government Liquidation on Yahoo or Google.

citizensoldier, Thought you had one didn't you .

 

[citizensoldier]

Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

Thanks Citizensoldier,
I found Government Liquidation on Yahoo or Google.

citizensoldier, Thought you had one didn't you .

You caught me!!! I was just waiting to say I told you so!!!
They are a standard 8" wide by 16 inch rim.. Most have 245's on them but you could put 235's or smaller or probably go up to a 305 with plenty of clearance. They realy are a well balanced trailer and I find they pull real nice with a Chevy full size.

This should give you a idea.. Now the ones with the tires in it behind a S-10 blazer are M101 CND trailers.. They are a 1/4 ton rating and only 880lbs empty.. They pull real nice behind smaller vehicles and will hold alot more than a 1/4 ton.. Very under rated.. One like that might be all you need depending on what you need to haul. You can see the serge brakes and that the A2's ride a little bit lower..
TRAILER HO HAS SPOKEN

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

OD fever...it's rampant up North. You look like you know what you're doing Lane...

 

[clinto]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

I have a friend who has several Discovery's. His erosion control company uses them to get to job sites. They go on to construction sites and monitor all sorts of issues to ensure to the builder is compliant with regulations. They occasionally have to take tools and equipment, like shovels, soil sampling kits, etc., with them and they use M416's. The M416 is absolutely perfect behind the Land Rover's They are the perfect size, track very well and seem impossible to overload. We have loaded them to the point they were overflowing with granite and the trailer just had to be overloaded and yet it worked fine.

Here are some pictures of the M416's in preparation for their new duties as civilian units:

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a90/clinto1/M416/?start=all

My friend bought two of them from CitizenSoldier, had them both media blasted and I primed them with a very good epoxy primer. Next they will get Line-X'd all over. They have both been converted to civilian 12V lighting (LED's).

I've borrowed one on occasion and pulled it behind my F-150 and it's a great trailer.

If you need some pics of the 416's behind the Land Rover(s), I will try to get some.

 

[citizensoldier]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

Know what I am doing?? Well thats debatable.. The picture of the semi single drop is of the good old days when GL deals could be had.. Maybe I should change it to black and white.
OD fever struck this yankee years ago starting with the little plastic ones and only moved to the real thing when the hammer sound had ceased..

 

[citizensoldier]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

Not trying to be picky here clinto but lets not confuse the M416 with the M101CDN.. The Canadian version is built much stronger than the M416.. Better spring packs, thicker metal , and some other significant differences.. Just my opinion..Oh and the M416 is slightly wider on the top rim..

 

[uglysteve]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

Will a 4x8 sheet of plywood fit in a M416? I need a trailer that I can bring home lumber and take on offroad trips.
Thankg for your help. I may have bid on a M105 today. I wont now.

 

[clinto]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

Oops, my bad..........

 

[citizensoldier]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

A 4'x8' will not fit in a M416 or M101Cdn. They will stack nice on the top lip though. The top rim is 4'x6' and then steps down to 3'x6' in the bottom. Sounds like you need a M101A1 or A2..

 

[citizensoldier]

I an interested in buying a military trailer to pull with my Land Rover Discovery.
I just discovered Goverment Liquidation, and they have a lot of trailers. Do they normaly have a lot of them for sale? I am interested in a M101, the M105 seems too big.
What kind of problems should I look for? Any one have a M101 for sale in Arizona?
What is a reasonable price to pay? How high should the hitch be so it will be level?
Thanks,
Steve

Just thought I would try and answer some more of you questions. As for reasonable price.. It varies but from $600 for a older beat up M101A1 to $1800 for a premo M101A2 with side racks , bows, canvas, and good tires.
Problems would be rust in the box corners, rusty wore spring shackles, seized parking brakes, bent tongue, corroded bearings , bad seals so not grease,and bad out of round tires.
I can measure if you need the height of the pintle hitch for a comparrison.. Once again I hope this helps.

 

[CGarbee]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

Both the M101 and M101A1 3/4 ton trailers weigh in (according to the dataplates on mine): 1340 lbs empty, 2840 lbs cross country (including payload), and 3590 lbs highway (including payload). Lunette ring is 21" above the ground. Wheels are 16x6.5H semi-drop center with a GY-LTS lock ring (you have to run tubes and flaps when you mount a tire...), five lug and match those used on the M37 familly of 3/4 ton trucks. Stock tire size is 900x16.

As stated the M101A2 3/4 ton trailers are fitted with the surge brakes and hubs/wheels that match the Chevy's. I can't tell you specifics on them (don't own one), but the general dimensions and capacities should be the same... Rims on these allow for use of a tubeless tire (I'm pretty sure on this one, but once again, I don't play with A2's...).

Photos of my M101, including the dataplates, before I sold it are located at:
http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/photos9.htm

Photos of my M101A1, including the dataplates, are located at:
http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/photos16.htm

Photos of my M416 1/4 ton trailer, none of the dataplates as they are pretty much trashed, are located at:
http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/m38pages/m38photos4.htm

I've got a pair of 1/4 ton trailers (M416 and M100) that are real usefull on trials and behind the M38's... Not as handy to load/unload as my 3/4 ton trailer since they don't have the tailgate, but much easier to squeeze between trees. I did look at some Canadian M101 1/4 ton trailers when a local dealer had a bunch, and they looked real nice with all the extra tie downs and grab handles, but the prices were out of sight especially when compared to what the US 1/4 tons were going for locally at the time.

I've also found that a twin bed mattress fits nicely between the wheel wells of a M101A1...

As has been said, I'd think about how much I wanted to cary on/off road and would take a gander at the LR Discovery manual to ensure that it could handle the load, but my gut feeling is that it could handle a 3/4 ton trailer on the highway and on the trails as long as you paid attention to your load and driving condiditons...

 

[Armada]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

Uglysteve, I used to have a LR Discovery. Nice vehicle! I never pulled a trailer with it, but they have a powerful V8 engine and I would not hesitate towing an M101 with it.

 

[Recovry4x4]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

Or the $45 M101. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=18274

 

[Mike_Pop]

RE: Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

The guy that bought my Mog has a Discovery and he pulls an M416 which is perfect for it. I think an M101 would be too much weight for a Discovery.

 

[tsmall07]

Re: RE: Trailer buying advice needed

the A2 has a serge brake set up that is very handy when loaded and you need to stop in a hurry..

I'm looking at GL now and can't find a single m101 a2 with a surge brake. Are there any other qualifiers that I should look for to find one with a surge brake?

 

[ecostruction]

uglysteve,

I drive a 2001 LR Discovery II and have two M101A1 trailers that I tow. One has the side racks and canvas, other doesn't. Great trailers. LR pulls them nicely. Though I do have a 2" lift on the disco, HD springs,and larger tires. So that affects my power, but puts the hitch height perfect for the M101. They still pull nice. Had them loaded to the point where the springs were on the stops from the trailer being full of mulch or stone. LR struggled a bit, but not the trailer. If you load it up that much, just drive the ol LR slow and easy and use the trans shifter to your advantage. It's made to shift. Otherwise, it pulls the trailers really well. They are very handy trailers and you can actually manhanled them as opposed to the M105s.

I've got pictures somewhere of the LR with the trailers. I'll try to find them. The M101's are rising in price. Just an FYI.