M101A3 Basic Build

RagnarD

Adventurer
After working on my trailer, it was my dads turn for us to work on his. Objective was to complete a basic build in 2 weeks. Will add pics as I organize them.

Accumulated parts and provisions. Ended up not using the rear stabilizers, awning, or rear 2" receivers. Not pictured - GM alloy wheels.

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The blank canvas.
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Pulling the bed off. It is easier to remove the bed with the smaller wheels and tires.

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RagnarD

Adventurer
Frame had some rust/grime build up. Nothing major. Looks like the frame and bed did not start out their lives together.

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Soon to be previous tenant.
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After a trip to the car wash, it was ready for demo, wire brush, and prep for welding.

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RagnarD

Adventurer
Making a few gussets.

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Welding the tongue extension. Settled on 3' from tip of existing a-frame arms to new coupler. Used 3" .250 square tubing. I prefer the way we did the gussets/draw bar attachment on this trailer over the way we did mine. First attempt at action welding pics with a Nikon DSLR.....

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Used a 19K channel (3/8" thick) instead of the 21K (1/2" thick) on my trailer. We knew the coupler height would work out so did it the same.

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Improved the landing gear set up compared to my trailer. This location allows you to reach the hand brakes/landing gear at same time and allows the landing gear to swivel without completely collapsing. This location also puts it further away from tailgate and gives a little bit more room to jack knife. Only negative of this location is that it could be in the way of future tongue storage. I am going to move mine and may add a front pipe mount to this trailer so we can use both locations. We also changed the height of the mount so that it naturally wants to swing wheel down when you pull the pin (mine wants to swing crank down). Also left enough travel to couple/uncouple with a load in the truck/trailer. The caster will probably be on most of the time but the drop leg can be swapped to provide slope for unloading.

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Re-used the mil safety chains in bottom hole of channel. All new 5/8" grade 8 hardware.

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Chain tray.
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4 - 2" receivers welded to the bottom plates of lift point u-bolts.

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RagnarD

Adventurer
With all of the welding done, we moved the trailer off the concrete to service hubs and paint.

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Then we saw this...... I guess someone missed "The Proper Way To Install An Axle Nut" day at school......

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This was at the end of day 3 or 4.

After the profanity stopped, we called it beer:thirty and tried to come up with a plan to move forward.
 
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banjotx

Observer
Very nice. Like watching the build and all the pic's. I have a similar trailer M116a2 and converting to a camper. Have a question on the pic above about the wheel hubs and bearings? When removing the hubs, do the 2 machine head bolts/screws on the hubs need to be removed also after removing the castle nuts and washers. I didn't beat on the hubs or work too hard trying to get them off, but do want to check/replace the bearings if needed. thanks in advance for advice on removing the hubs.
 

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RagnarD

Adventurer
Nice build you have there.

Don't mess with those two screws unless you need to replace the drum. there are pics of the hub and drum in my other build thread.

To service the bearings, you just need to remove the grease cap, cotter pin (nut retainer), and nut. This should allow you to pull the entire hub assembly off. You will need a piece of sturdy pvc pipe to pound the grease seal out (or pry it out).

Anytime I pull a hub now I make sure to have new grease seals, cotter pins, grease caps, and nuts on hand.
 

RagnarD

Adventurer
Not wanting to half *** anything, we decided the best route was to replace the axle. With our compressed timeline, a standard online ordered axle was out of the question. Since we both like the offset axles on the A3s and the parking brakes, we called a few fellow green iron fans. They were kind enough to part with a beat up 101A3. We hoped it had a decent axle......

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And it did.

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Pay no attention to the improvised jack stands.

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25 bolts per axle to remove (with brake levers) x 2

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Repeated on the other trailer.

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After the first axle, we found a piece of scrap channel worked well to stabilize the axle on the floor jack.

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Of course, one of the brake levers on the good axle was bent so we had to swap a lever. Turned out to a be a lot more work than it looked because several of the parts/bushing rusted/corroded into one piece.

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Good axle in its new home.

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Serviced the hubs.

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14 cans of flat black paint. Wheels and tire back on. New grease caps

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Back in driveway for lights etc.

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Ready to set the tub back on the frame.

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Removed bows and sides. Bolted on the 2” receivers in each corner.

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RagnarD

Adventurer
First load.

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Still a few small things to finish up on the first part of this build but and plans are already brewing for phase 2.
 

Scrapdaddy

Adventurer
Turned out great! Question on the feel. How does it feel when fully loaded and no brakes? I have several of these 101A3s with one missing a surge. I would like to do exactly what you've done, but concerned about the brakes.
 

RagnarD

Adventurer
Hard question to answer. Depends on your tow vehicle, terrain, how you drive, wheels/tires, what you consider fully loaded, tow vehicle to trailer geometry, local laws, etc.

For our needs, the trailers pull and stop fine.
 

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