Making a trailer based on M105A2 bed

I am very seriously considering making a trailer based on M105A2 bed. See this page for M105A2 trailer
http://www.nf6x.net/forsale/M105_2/index.html
ADJT INSIDE WIDTH 74.000 INCHES NOMINAL ADJU INSIDE LENGTH 110.000 INCHES NOMINAL AFMQ INSIDE HEIGHT 18.000 INCHES NOMINAL
Basically I decided to do it, unless someone talks me out of it. I have a chance to get that bed.
M105A2 is a military trailer. It is unacceptable for civilians with pickups for a lot of reasons such as being too tall, sitting too high, having a incompatible lighting and braking system, etc.
What is being sold near me is a M105A2 bed only. Someone is also selling a 3,500# axle.
So, what I think I can do it, buy the bed, the axle, buy a tongue (I already have lights, IIRC), trailer jack with wheel, and weld it all together. Since my axle would sit a lot closer to trailer, and have a lot smaller wheels, the trailer would not be as tall. Also I would have a braking system if I buy a tongue with brake cylinder.
I expect the total cost of this, not counting time, to be about $500.
I may also install a winch on this thing.
Any comments?
Also, how much would it cost to hire a sandblasting company to blast it and paint in grey color.
i

Ignoramus16482 wrote:
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Not worth the trouble. From what you indicate you are 95% building a trailer and are spending too much time rebuilding something that adds little value.
Either buy a complete trailer that is ready to go, or build a complete trailer from the ground up including low riding torsion bar axles to give you a low deck height.
If you need plans, Northern Tool sells a bunch of inexpensive trailer plans. There are some books on trailer building available, but all seem to get poor reviews. Since you presumably have a metalworking clue you should be fine with just plans. It's not brain surgery after all.
Find some surplus hydraulics and build a tandem axle trailer with a hydraulic tilt and slide bed and winch like a standard flatbed tow truck, just lower. Will make it real easy to move equipment.
Pete C.

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The bed, is, actually, very nice. It has enough "ribs" to basically carry the load. All I would need to do is weld two lengthwise pieces to hold the axle and some stuff in front to hold the tongue. This would be truly a weekend project.
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I agree, though, in my opinion, it would be more expensive. Grant sold me a nice book on trailer design, also.
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This is a really great idea, and would be easy to do with this bed.
i

Ignoramus16482 wrote:
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If you do work with the surplus trailer bed, before you buy it make sure it does not have the "CARC" paint. If it does it will be a real pain in the posterior since the "CARC" stuff is pretty toxic to sand/grind/remove.
Pete C.

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:45:29 -0600, Ignoramus16482
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Whatever turns yer crank -- but you can build a 3500 lb trailer for considerably less than $500 using a junkyard axle & wheel, new steel, and new springs. (Been there, done that.) The limiting factor in most single-axle trailers is usually the tires. On the other hand, you can expect that the military trailer bed will have been soundly welded together and it will be both flat and square.

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Don, in that trailer that you have described, did you include braking system?
My own idea, right or wrong, was to build a trailer based on this bed, add axle and electric brakes, etc. This bed is nice because it is very strong and square and has solid sides.
Its drawback is that it weighs about 800 or so pounds.
i

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I built a trailer from a pickup bed and chassis: http://home.comcast.net/~glyford/trailer/trailer.htm I probably spent somewhere around $300 on all sorts of little things to make it. It ended up weighing 1100 lbs, and does not have brakes. It can hold up to 1900 lbs, and probably has at least twice, carrying horse manure compost (loaded up until the springs sag).
More recently, I got one of the little HF 4x8's with 12" wheels. The one I made required the use of a pickup with a 4L V6 to move (and stop). The little HF one tows perfectly happy with my 2.3L 4cyl, weighs about 250 lbs empty, and can carry over 1000 lbs. It basically does everything I want to use a trailer for, brush runs to the dump, camping, whatever, with the possible exception of carrying large quantities of fertilizer large distances. And cost the same as the other, including going overboard with making fancy sides. Also, there are horse farms nearby, so even that reason may not be enough to keep the other trailer.
Unless you have a very good need for such a rugged trailer, I suspect you're going to regret having to haul all that mass around. --Glenn Lyford

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Very nice work. I imagine that it was painful.
The picture of the trailer bed is here. I bought it in a lot with 26 humvee doors.
http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id 79815
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Very nice!
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Well, I have a full size pickup truck anyway. I estimate the final weight of the trailer to be about 1,100-1,200 lbs. I want to buy an axle with electric brakes. (though I am considering surge brakes also)
Pulling the weight of the trailer is not a problem -- I need it for heavy stuff. This is about 6x11 size, which is very nice and allows to carry all sorts of things -- whereas that HF trailer is not going to let me do most of the things that I want froma trailer.
Plus, this trailer bed is very nice looking as far as shape is concerned. It is bad with stock wheels when coupled to a pickup truck, but I think that it will look good if I put it lower on smaller wheels that would also be closer to the bottom. I saw it on the base prior to bidding, it is a decept physical shape. It allows converting it to canvas covered top also, whenever I can find stakes made for it.
I am going to post a message with a few trailer related questions. My plan is to get more or less all parts first, and get the trailer in about 10 days so that I can quickly put it on wheels. Govliquidation usually allows a couple of weeks before a pickup.
This base, unfortunately, is winding down as far as surplus goes, so there will be only one guy left with a forklift, which makes loading this bed ona trailer a big operation.
i

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I would think electric would be the way to go, from what I've read surge brakes can be a pain to get set up, but I know there's a bunch on here that do more towing than I that can clarify the issues.
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Cool.
That IS a nice size. This sounds fairly well thought out.
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Well, nothing says that the trailer you bring it home on has to be the same one it ends up on. You could even use a trailer like mine to go get it, just don't use sides, block the bed up enough to keep the weight off the fenders, far enough forward to keep weight on the tongue (or add truck doors to the front until the ballance is right) and chain/strap it down well. The trailer to get it home only has to hold the bed weight. You could probably even borrow a boat trailer for that (have you considered using one for a subframe? Most of the work would already be done, you'd only have to figure out attaching and maybe a tilt system...). I do hope those HMMV doors aren't CARC paint, I've heard it can be a real pain to dispose of.
As far as width goes, you could either cut the body for wheelwells or use a wide enough axle that the box will sit inside the wheels then add outside fenders (that'd probably be my preference). A drop axle (or torsion axle as someone else mentioned) would allow it to sit quite low for easy loading and unloading, and greater on-road stability. Preformed fenders are cheap, and look nice. My dad always said that when towing half the battle to not get unduly hassled is to look like you know what you're doing.

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That's good to know. Do they work off trailer brake light connection?
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It was used for deuce and a half trucks.
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I wanted to rent a car trailer for hauling this bed home. What I want is to have everything at this point, so that I would finish this trailer and get it to a drivable shape over a weekend. I am shooting for next Friday pickup, maybe the one after next.
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I hope to sell them, perhaps for $20 each.
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I think that I want an axle, whose wheels fit the wheel wells. I am not sure if I need fenders beyond what is on the trailer. I really like the way it looks.
i

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Not a flat 4. If you have a 6 or 7 pin and the vehicle has a brake controller, yes. If you have the 6 or 7 pin connector but no brake controller, you need the brake controller, but there might be some hope that the wiring to connect it to is there. If you have only a flat 4 connector, you should upgrade to a 7 pin when installing a brake controller.

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OK, thanks, I will find out.
i

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Glenn, nice trailer. I'm thinking about doing something similar.
Also, Pennsic 28 was my first Pennsic. :) I'm from Calontir.
Mike
Hroller McKnutt Pornstar, Mad Scientist, Genius for Hire Girls chased and caught!

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:33:09 -0600, Ignoramus16482
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The axle & wheels do have brakes but we never hooked up a surge master cylinder. We very rarely haul more than 2000 lb in it, and the truck can handle that OK.

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:28:01 -0600, Don Foreman
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Rule of thumb, if not law, is trailer total weight greater than half the tow vehicle weight requires brakes. I would not cheat. I had a tent railer that was very close to, but under half the weight of my car push me through an intersection one drizzly day- - - -.