Post by 95sport on May 13, 2009 19:39:13 GMT -5
Spied a trailer on craigslist sunday night, and It appeared the guy didn’t know what he had:
Utility trailer 3x5 full size tires - $350 (Brownsburg In)
What it was is the civilian market version of the army m146 jeep trailer. These were made after WWII and sold at sears and the like. All metal, leaf springs and ride high on full-size tires.
mightymo.org/bantam.html
Here’s the military version:
westernmass.craigslist.org/cto/1163661177.html
These go for over $1000 in good shape. The civilian version I picked up are typically $6-800. Anyways, got ahold of the guy, and he wouldn’t budge from the price since he had some guys coming to look at it tomorrow. I told him I’d pay him the $350 if he’d be around tonight. He agreed, and I sent Kelly to the ATM since I didn’t have $400 I could get to tonight. Meanwhile, I check my trailer plug that I have never used with the volt-meter, and find that It does work. Good. I also discover that I bought the wrong shank ball for my hitch last weekend. Damn.
Kelly gets back, and I load up some tools and wiring stuff if I need to get the lights working. I take off to get gas since I drove it back in to town form camping on E. Make it to Kroger, and figure out I forgot my wallet. Damn.
Head back home. Get wallet, go back to Kroger, and get on my way.
I get a whopping ½ mile before the problems start. The jeep is pulling to the left more than normal . I think I may have a flat tire, but drive a couple of blocks to see if I can figure out what’s going on. Then I smell hot brakes. My freaking drivers side caliper is locking up again. I make it to meridian, and smoke is rolling off the rotor. I pull off, let it cool down a bit, and beat on the caliper and pins to see if it will free up. At this point I contemplate driving the jeep into the canal.
Get back on the road, and it seems fine. Then It starts pulling again. Damn.
At this point I’m thinking I may have to bribe my neighbor with some beer to take his truck to Brownsville. I decide to Pull over, cool down, and beat on the breaks one last time. Seems to work this time, and as the brakes cool off, the pedal comes back, and it stops pulling. Onward I go to brownsburg. Stop on the way and grab a new ball for the hitch and a candy bar. Go look at the trailer, and it seems to be in very good shape. Guy says it’s been in the family since the 80’s, and he’s had it in the garage for about 10 years. Mentions it’s a military trailer, so he had a bit of a clue about what it was.
Go to put my hitch on, and I can’t get the crosspin in, there’s a piece of metal keeping the hitch from going all the way in the bumper. Damn.
Get out the tire-iron and bend the steel back as much as I can. Coaxed the hitch pin in with a hammer. Assemble the rest of the hitch. Now we’re in business. At this point the guys is thoroughly impressed I’m pissing off his yuppie neighbors with my hammering.
Hook up the trailer, and plug in the lights. Lights don’t work. Damn.
They must have something wired backwards. But I do have running lights, and It’s getting dark. That’ll be good enough to get this freaking contraption home if I take the side-roads. I pull out and proceed to get lost in the godforsaken housing addition. Like a freaking grownup corn maze. Damn.
It’s dark, and impossible to tell where you are. I think they should be obligated to paint dinosaur tracks to the exit like the zoo does. That would be helpful. GPS doesn’t even know where it is, Calculating. Calculating. Calculating, Calculating. I’m going to kill her.
Drive around enough until the GPS finally finds a road, and plots a route out of this yuppie hell. Finally make it back home with no further problems. Success.
As expected, Kelly is not impressed with my new toy, she’ll come around when it makes packing / unpacking easier.
Fits well behind the jeep. Kelly says it will look redneck beside the garage. I offer to park it in the front yard as an ornament, she decides it will look fine beside the garage. It’s in really good shape, some surface rust underneath, but no holes that I can see. Not bad for a 40-50 year old trailer.
Here’s what people are doing with them:
I don’t need anything nearly that elaborate or $$, but good inspiration.
Just what I needed, another project:
Utility trailer 3x5 full size tires - $350 (Brownsburg In)
What it was is the civilian market version of the army m146 jeep trailer. These were made after WWII and sold at sears and the like. All metal, leaf springs and ride high on full-size tires.
mightymo.org/bantam.html
Here’s the military version:
westernmass.craigslist.org/cto/1163661177.html
These go for over $1000 in good shape. The civilian version I picked up are typically $6-800. Anyways, got ahold of the guy, and he wouldn’t budge from the price since he had some guys coming to look at it tomorrow. I told him I’d pay him the $350 if he’d be around tonight. He agreed, and I sent Kelly to the ATM since I didn’t have $400 I could get to tonight. Meanwhile, I check my trailer plug that I have never used with the volt-meter, and find that It does work. Good. I also discover that I bought the wrong shank ball for my hitch last weekend. Damn.
Kelly gets back, and I load up some tools and wiring stuff if I need to get the lights working. I take off to get gas since I drove it back in to town form camping on E. Make it to Kroger, and figure out I forgot my wallet. Damn.
Head back home. Get wallet, go back to Kroger, and get on my way.
I get a whopping ½ mile before the problems start. The jeep is pulling to the left more than normal . I think I may have a flat tire, but drive a couple of blocks to see if I can figure out what’s going on. Then I smell hot brakes. My freaking drivers side caliper is locking up again. I make it to meridian, and smoke is rolling off the rotor. I pull off, let it cool down a bit, and beat on the caliper and pins to see if it will free up. At this point I contemplate driving the jeep into the canal.
Get back on the road, and it seems fine. Then It starts pulling again. Damn.
At this point I’m thinking I may have to bribe my neighbor with some beer to take his truck to Brownsville. I decide to Pull over, cool down, and beat on the breaks one last time. Seems to work this time, and as the brakes cool off, the pedal comes back, and it stops pulling. Onward I go to brownsburg. Stop on the way and grab a new ball for the hitch and a candy bar. Go look at the trailer, and it seems to be in very good shape. Guy says it’s been in the family since the 80’s, and he’s had it in the garage for about 10 years. Mentions it’s a military trailer, so he had a bit of a clue about what it was.
Go to put my hitch on, and I can’t get the crosspin in, there’s a piece of metal keeping the hitch from going all the way in the bumper. Damn.
Get out the tire-iron and bend the steel back as much as I can. Coaxed the hitch pin in with a hammer. Assemble the rest of the hitch. Now we’re in business. At this point the guys is thoroughly impressed I’m pissing off his yuppie neighbors with my hammering.
Hook up the trailer, and plug in the lights. Lights don’t work. Damn.
They must have something wired backwards. But I do have running lights, and It’s getting dark. That’ll be good enough to get this freaking contraption home if I take the side-roads. I pull out and proceed to get lost in the godforsaken housing addition. Like a freaking grownup corn maze. Damn.
It’s dark, and impossible to tell where you are. I think they should be obligated to paint dinosaur tracks to the exit like the zoo does. That would be helpful. GPS doesn’t even know where it is, Calculating. Calculating. Calculating, Calculating. I’m going to kill her.
Drive around enough until the GPS finally finds a road, and plots a route out of this yuppie hell. Finally make it back home with no further problems. Success.
As expected, Kelly is not impressed with my new toy, she’ll come around when it makes packing / unpacking easier.
Fits well behind the jeep. Kelly says it will look redneck beside the garage. I offer to park it in the front yard as an ornament, she decides it will look fine beside the garage. It’s in really good shape, some surface rust underneath, but no holes that I can see. Not bad for a 40-50 year old trailer.
Here’s what people are doing with them:
I don’t need anything nearly that elaborate or $$, but good inspiration.
Just what I needed, another project: