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Crack pipe question M105 on Diet?

Discussion in 'Jeep Trailer Tech' started by DanStew, Dec 5, 2012.

  1. Dec 5, 2012
    DanStew

    DanStew Preowned Merkin salesman Staff Member

    Lexington, South...
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    Sep 22, 2002
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    4,585
    I see a cheap m105 of near me. I am curious about how much weight could be trimmed from it to make it.

    Remove landing leg, probably could lose 100 pounds there.
    Remove all brake componants
    Probably even lose the axle, or if possible swap out to smaller hubs with a wheel pattern that is normal jeep.
    The frame looks beefy but not that crazy, could probably take a junk load of brackets off of the frame to loose some pounds.
    With the tub you could even cut out a side of the braces to not make them fully boxed. The tub doesnt look that crazy heavy i wonder what gauge steel the metal is for the tub.

    Anyone done this??
     
  2. Dec 6, 2012
    Jw60

    Jw60 Sitting up n buckled down. 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Sedalia MO.
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    sounds like a lot of work, for something that might be ok.
    break out the welder. your likely to use it anyway
     
  3. Dec 6, 2012
    68BuickV6

    68BuickV6 Well-Known Member

    Hesperia, CA.
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    Mar 12, 2012
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    2,160
    Sounds like too much work...
    Tons of work to get there.

    Why not just purpose build something instead of hacking and whacking trying to get there?
     
  4. Dec 6, 2012
    DanStew

    DanStew Preowned Merkin salesman Staff Member

    Lexington, South...
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    For the price i see them going for it takes alot of the money away from making one. I usually make mine but i am have been eyeing the larger size ones for capacity and possible camper build. I have seen some cool pop top campers made from them :) But then again that adds more weight. I find the tub to be my favorite part of them. I did find a guy on another forum that did much of what i am thinknig about, he pulls it behind his FJ40 land cruiser, but it still looks like more fat could be trimmed :)
     
  5. Dec 6, 2012
    Jw60

    Jw60 Sitting up n buckled down. 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Sedalia MO.
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    sorry i never asked; what are you towing it with?
     
  6. Dec 6, 2012
    joe51

    joe51 Member

    c. Fla.
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    May 24, 2011
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    201
    The M105 is designed to be pulled with a BIG vehicle (A military Deuce and a Half, 12 and 1/2 thousand pounds!). I think's going to be physically too large to be pulled with a civy vehicle other than a very large truck. Pulling it with ANY kind of Jeep is out of the question! It's also made of very thick and heavy material. You might be able to remove a few things such as the landing leg but there's nothing you can do about the thickness and weight of the rest of structure so IMO it's still going to be too heavy. Something else to consider is that the military only pulls these about 50 MPH max. It's not intended to be pulled at 70+ MPH and could be a real handful at that speed! I suggest that you look at both the empty and loaded weight and the width and then really think about whether you're willing to pull something that big and heavy. These are available CHEAP via surplus but IMO they useless except to people that have Deuce and a Haves or other LARGE, construction type trucks.
     
  7. Dec 6, 2012
    DanStew

    DanStew Preowned Merkin salesman Staff Member

    Lexington, South...
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    I understand the weight of them. Heck i even know my 4runner or jeep would not move it comfortably, just curious to know how much weight could be trimmed off of it to make it a bit more wieldy.
     
  8. Dec 6, 2012
    joe51

    joe51 Member

    c. Fla.
    Joined:
    May 24, 2011
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    201
    If you can get one cheap enough, it might be worth cutting down to make a reasonable size trailer but it would still be heavy. I think you'd need to replace the axle, wheels and suspension in order to make the weight (and height) even remotely manageable.
     
  9. Dec 6, 2012
    Jw60

    Jw60 Sitting up n buckled down. 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Sedalia MO.
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    this sounds like "i have a free engine and I'm putting it in my jeep"
    I would lean towards building the trailer to suit your needs, your going to change axles, wheels tires, lights, hitch all the pricy stuff, so the difference is in cutting metal off or buying and welding metal which is a little more rewarding
     
  10. Dec 14, 2012
    48cj2a

    48cj2a http://bantamt3c.com

    Central Illinois
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    526
    I'm still enlisted in the USAF and we don't even move them on base with anything but an M35 or M1078 of which both are 2 1/2 trucks.

    Unless you really plan all the work to shave that much weight... Watch gsaauctions.com and govliquidation.com and search for M101 trailers. They were designed to pulled by 5/4 ton truck which is more like a modern HD 3/4-1 ton pickup.

    M101A3's even have 36-37" Hummer wheels and tires.

    These are slowly being phased out as the M1100 series trailers took their place.

    There are 50 lots on the GL site right now all across the US
     
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