M1102 usability, utility?

[BearFootSam]

Good Day All,

I am departing on a cross country trip soon and need to bring my 500lb motorcycle along as this is a one way move and we are likely to encounter snow/ice along the way. I found an M1102 for sale at a reasonable price nearby that has been titled and converted to 12v lights. Any wisdom or experience to share regarding one? Surge brakes are a plus saving me from having to buy a brake controller at the moment.

For MC carrying the durable build and robust tie downs are an advantage. Once I get out west, I will make good use of the trailer to move water, firewood, building materials etc. I know these are heavy trailers, but I see that as an advantage.

In the Army I had used these trailers extensively off-road in Afghanistan, so I know what they are capable of. That said, pulling one behind a gladiator will be I assume a different affair than pulling with an up armored Humvee.

Any issues with hitch height on a rubicon? Trackability in snow / inclement weather?

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[Josh00333]

Bike even fit? Those trailers are kinda short if memory serves. Trailer bed is above the wheels yes? Might make getting the bike into it a sob.

If it's one of those I'm moving things this needs to work once, I'm sure it will work. And if you want an overlanding kinda trailer, that's a hella stout one. But I can think of a lot better "bike" trailers than an old .mil one.

I'm sure you'll have to be creative with the hitch height but you should be able to make it work, can't say they would track or handle any worse or better than any other trailer.

 

[Shamus]

Unloaded the trailer is very bouncy. But loaded it tracks very well. I towed mine from TX to WA and back a couple of times now and it towed fine. No issues in heavy rains and snow. I did drive down Snoqualmie Pass on I90 with snow and slush on the road and had no tracking issues.

My trailer fully loaded weighs under 3000lbs.

Getting the hitch to align helps with the surge working well. My Diesel Rubicon has a Clayton 2.5" lift and stock 33" tires. I need a 12" riser with the hook at 10". I probably should go all the way to the top of the riser to better align. Unloaded the trailer does not cause too much squat. But when loaded the jeep will squat more. When loaded the squat is enough that I was getting flashed by other drivers at night. I will be adding helper bags to the rear springs to compensate.

To better align the hitch I will be removing the surge and going electric. Surge brakes and diesels are not a good match up. When descending down mountain passes I use the diesels engine braking during the descent. When I got to the bottom on long descents I normally have a hot metal smell coming from the trailer. The smell is coming from the surge brakes being engaged the whole time down the pass. On long descents I have to use the vehicle brakes more so the trailer is not always riding its brakes. I love the simplicity of Surge but hate the add complications when towing with a diesel truck.

When I got to WA I removed the Mil tires and rims and put lighter rims and 35" TKO2 tires. Dropped almost 300lbs doing this. I will say the trailer tows much nicer when the new tires and rims. Removing 300lbs of rolling mass can be felt during braking and accelerating.

The pictures below show hitch alignment unloaded and loaded before removed the Mil tires and loaded after I removed the tires.

 

[ScooterInTX]

Unloaded the trailer is very bouncy. But loaded it tracks very well. I towed mine from TX to WA and back a couple of times now and it towed fine. No issues in heavy rains and snow. I did drive down Snoqualmie Pass on I90 with snow and slush on the road and had no tracking issues.

My trailer fully loaded weighs under 3000lbs.

Getting the hitch to align helps with the surge working well. My Diesel Rubicon has a Clayton 2.5" lift and stock 33" tires. I need a 12" riser with the hook at 10". I probably should go all the way to the top of the riser to better align. Unloaded the trailer does not cause too much squat. But when loaded the jeep will squat more. When loaded the squat is enough that I was getting flashed by other drivers at night. I will be adding helper bags to the rear springs to compensate.

To better align the hitch I will be removing the surge and going electric. Surge brakes and diesels are not a good match up. When descending down mountain passes I use the diesels engine braking during the descent. When I got to the bottom on long descents I normally have a hot metal smell coming from the trailer. The smell is coming from the surge brakes being engaged the whole time down the pass. On long descents I have to use the vehicle brakes more so the trailer is not always riding its brakes. I love the simplicity of Surge but hate the add complications when towing with a diesel truck.

When I got to WA I removed the Mil tires and rims and put lighter rims and 35" TKO2 tires. Dropped almost 300lbs doing this. I will say the trailer tows much nicer when the new tires and rims. Removing 300lbs of rolling mass can be felt during braking and accelerating.

The pictures below show hitch alignment unloaded and loaded before removed the Mil tires and loaded after I removed the tires.

I, for one, thinks that this would be a blast of a project. You can grab these at surplus and auction sites for cheap and it seems like you can go any direction you want with them! Care to share some more pics of what you did here?

 

[Shamus]

See Link for images

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/m1102-conversion-to-expedition-trailer.154336/

 

[BearFootSam]

Unloaded the trailer is very bouncy. But loaded it tracks very well. I towed mine from TX to WA and back a couple of times now and it towed fine. No issues in heavy rains and snow. I did drive down Snoqualmie Pass on I90 with snow and slush on the road and had no tracking issues.

My trailer fully loaded weighs under 3000lbs.

Getting the hitch to align helps with the surge working well. My Diesel Rubicon has a Clayton 2.5" lift and stock 33" tires. I need a 12" riser with the hook at 10". I probably should go all the way to the top of the riser to better align. Unloaded the trailer does not cause too much squat. But when loaded the jeep will squat more. When loaded the squat is enough that I was getting flashed by other drivers at night. I will be adding helper bags to the rear springs to compensate.

To better align the hitch I will be removing the surge and going electric. Surge brakes and diesels are not a good match up. When descending down mountain passes I use the diesels engine braking during the descent. When I got to the bottom on long descents I normally have a hot metal smell coming from the trailer. The smell is coming from the surge brakes being engaged the whole time down the pass. On long descents I have to use the vehicle brakes more so the trailer is not always riding its brakes. I love the simplicity of Surge but hate the add complications when towing with a diesel truck.

When I got to WA I removed the Mil tires and rims and put lighter rims and 35" TKO2 tires. Dropped almost 300lbs doing this. I will say the trailer tows much nicer when the new tires and rims. Removing 300lbs of rolling mass can be felt during braking and accelerating.

The pictures below show hitch alignment unloaded and loaded before removed the Mil tires and loaded after I removed the tires.

Awesome feedback, thank you! The example I found used locally has smaller wheels installed to level with the current owner's vehicle, but he does have the originals as well. I'll be headed over the Snoqualmie myself in two weeks.

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