Looking at an M105A2 trailer, anyone familiar with these?

[nfury8]

Ever since I got my 70 W200 I thought it would be neat to have a similar vintage trailer.

I recently found out about one fairly close that seems to be pretty solid and priced good as well.
It is supposedly a '65 from the National Guard, easy life.

My understanding is the 105 means 1-1/2 ton, A2 means brakes of some sort.
It does have the hand park brakes and lines for air brakes.
There is also the larger 9(?) pin trailer plug.

Would the air brake be the only brake option?
Anyone familiar with these?
Were the M105s best suited for use with a 2.5 ton truck?
Would a lighter 1/4 ton(?) M101 be a better fit?
The guy selling claims to have no trouble pulling it with a modern 3/4 ton.
I would be using it for general use and then maybe as an expedition trailer later.

Haven't seen it in person yet, want to get up to speed first.

Thanks!

-Scott

[michaelz]

Scott,
I've got a M105 that I've modified and have pulled, literally, 1000's of miles with my 95 F250 and 67 W200CC. Empty, they are quite heavy, somewhere around 1800lbs. As for modifications, I pulled the military axle out and replaced it with a Dexter 7000lb equipment trailer axle with 12" electric brakes, bolted to the original springs and using standard 8 bolt, 16" wheels. All of the orginal wiring was stripped out and rewired as any modern utility trailer would be, with universal lighting. As for the hitch, I flipped the hitch ring upside down simply by loosening the nut that goes through the tongue and rotating the ring 180 degrees, dropping it's height several inches. I use a 15000lb low drop reciever bar flipped so that the pintle hitch sits really high (1/8" clearance between the open tailgate and top of hitch, watch your fingers ).
Pulled behind the F250 (4x2), the trailer sits a little low in the front, but behind the W200, it sits level. I've got 18" side boards on the trailer and have had it stacked with green firewood totaling a full cord and the trailer handled it without problem. Empty, the trailer pulls just fine at interstate speeds. It's probably one of the best equipment investments I've made.

Michael Z.
67 W200 CC
64 W300

[soopernaut]

i have no knowledge of these trailers, but it is good to see you post again.

[68dually]

The m101 is rated at 3/4 ton and would be a better fit for a pick-up. I have a 101 that I haul 1 ton of coal on with no problems at all. The 105 was made to go with the deuce and a half and should work fine but it's pretty heavy and it will sit low in the front when hooked up. The 101 takes 16" tires as apposed to 20" on the 105. All the bulbs will be 24v so you will have to change them. The pig tail has a military only style plug that will have to be changed as well. The old 101s don't have service brakes , just the parking brake but the newer 101s with the 8 lug wheels have a surge brake that is activated by the hitch. I don't know the weight rating on the 105s but the 101s are light enough that they don't have to be inspected.

Hope this helps , Randy

[nfury8]

I found some info today on olive-drab.com which looks like the 105 box is about a foot larger in width and length. That would probably account for the extra weight. I do like the idea of surge brakes, so I can use with a vehicle without electric brakes.