wADVr
Adventurer
Hello,
I’ve been using my M101a3 for a couple years now in ‘original’ format. I have been very impressed with how it has worked despite its weight and size. I use this trailer being towed by my ‘09 JKU for a variety of utility tasks, from picking up rock, dirt, gravel and other yard materials to lumber it has served me very well. Off road it has functioned as a fire wood hauler to hauling family camping supplies that don’t fit inside my JKU (2 adults, 2 teenage girls, 2.25 dogs) or hauling equipment into elk camp. I have in all cases been impressed with how it tows and despite the ‘old school’ leaf spring suspension it rides smoother and quieter than my Jeep.
All that said though, there are some things that I have been debating on altering to better perform and possibly open up areas to explore and set up camp. From the beginning the A3 is wide, overall width of 83.5” from outside of the fenders which in original setup sit proud of the tires by maybe 3/4-1” or so on each side. The wheel wells are 14” wide and leave an open bed space between them of 55.25”. While this leaves plenty of room to lay down sheet good such as drywall, plywood or sheet metal it leaves the trailer a bit wide for my liking. A mod I have finally done is to cut the wheel wells out of the tub, remove 3” of bed floor on each side and rewelded the fenders back in. Doing this reduces the trailer width to 77.5” (-6”), provides 49.25” between the fenders for sheet goods to lay flat. The tire coverage ‘suffered’ a bit leaving about 2” of the tire exposed but I am not worried about this and IMO looks better as it matched my JKU which also has tires that stick out slightly past the flares. Attached are a few photos showing the difference and how I did it.
Next project will be to make a final decision on the axle to use and what width. The a3 axle has a WMS of 74” combined with 7” backspaced wheels to provide an overall outside tire width of 81.5” or a track width of 69”. My JKU has a overall outside tire width of 77.5” or a track width of 65” using 5” backspaced wheels. I am inclined to use an axle with a width to match the JK and then use matching wheels and tires but not sure if I want to cut down the original a3 axle or start over with a Dexter 3” axle. Either way I have convinced myself to keep with the 5200lb spindles, hubs and brakes. Unfortunately that means 6 or 8 lug wheels but I am ok with that and an adapter I found online to be able to use the same 5 on 5 JK spare tire in a pinch. The brakes will be removed regardless and swapped out for electric brakes. The Pintle hitch with the brake setup in it will go away and a simple 2” ID receiver tube installed for a Max Coupler.
Anyway that is the start of this, thought I’d share as I have not seen anyone cut the wheel wells out and I board them this way. It was pretty easy to do and in my opinion looks much better and is more appropriate for a rig smaller than a Humvee.
I’ve been using my M101a3 for a couple years now in ‘original’ format. I have been very impressed with how it has worked despite its weight and size. I use this trailer being towed by my ‘09 JKU for a variety of utility tasks, from picking up rock, dirt, gravel and other yard materials to lumber it has served me very well. Off road it has functioned as a fire wood hauler to hauling family camping supplies that don’t fit inside my JKU (2 adults, 2 teenage girls, 2.25 dogs) or hauling equipment into elk camp. I have in all cases been impressed with how it tows and despite the ‘old school’ leaf spring suspension it rides smoother and quieter than my Jeep.
All that said though, there are some things that I have been debating on altering to better perform and possibly open up areas to explore and set up camp. From the beginning the A3 is wide, overall width of 83.5” from outside of the fenders which in original setup sit proud of the tires by maybe 3/4-1” or so on each side. The wheel wells are 14” wide and leave an open bed space between them of 55.25”. While this leaves plenty of room to lay down sheet good such as drywall, plywood or sheet metal it leaves the trailer a bit wide for my liking. A mod I have finally done is to cut the wheel wells out of the tub, remove 3” of bed floor on each side and rewelded the fenders back in. Doing this reduces the trailer width to 77.5” (-6”), provides 49.25” between the fenders for sheet goods to lay flat. The tire coverage ‘suffered’ a bit leaving about 2” of the tire exposed but I am not worried about this and IMO looks better as it matched my JKU which also has tires that stick out slightly past the flares. Attached are a few photos showing the difference and how I did it.
Next project will be to make a final decision on the axle to use and what width. The a3 axle has a WMS of 74” combined with 7” backspaced wheels to provide an overall outside tire width of 81.5” or a track width of 69”. My JKU has a overall outside tire width of 77.5” or a track width of 65” using 5” backspaced wheels. I am inclined to use an axle with a width to match the JK and then use matching wheels and tires but not sure if I want to cut down the original a3 axle or start over with a Dexter 3” axle. Either way I have convinced myself to keep with the 5200lb spindles, hubs and brakes. Unfortunately that means 6 or 8 lug wheels but I am ok with that and an adapter I found online to be able to use the same 5 on 5 JK spare tire in a pinch. The brakes will be removed regardless and swapped out for electric brakes. The Pintle hitch with the brake setup in it will go away and a simple 2” ID receiver tube installed for a Max Coupler.
Anyway that is the start of this, thought I’d share as I have not seen anyone cut the wheel wells out and I board them this way. It was pretty easy to do and in my opinion looks much better and is more appropriate for a rig smaller than a Humvee.
