Welders?

[jryoung]

Any welders out there with a good knowledge of strength needed after putting something together?

I have an m1102 trailer that has a ridiculously over built lunette ring on the end of the hydraulic brake. I saw a post where a guy cut the ring off and welded on an adjustable channel and I thought it looked pretty slick, but I'm wondering if it works and is strong enough to take a beating.

I'd love to put on a more modern overland hitch like a max coupler or a lock n roll articulating hitch if it makes sense from a strength perspective, but I have no idea how to make those calculations.

 

[Dsnow9]

I would just take it to someone that specializes in trailers. I had my brush chipper modified in basically the same way and it is great. Or you can just get a pintle hitch for your truck.

 

[jryoung]

I would just take it to someone that specializes in trailers. I had my brush chipper modified in basically the same way and it is great. Or you can just get a pintle hitch for your truck.

I have a knee crusher....err pintle. Hoping for some insight or questions I should ask or if anyone has a perspective before I take it to a shop and try not to have someone blow smoke up my ass....only to discover said smoke on an adventure miles from a fab shop

 

[teej89]

You essentially want to weld a square tube to a channel w/ bolt holes in the flanges? The channel will more than likely have to be fabbed out of bent plate.

 

[Elkmagnet]

It can absolutely be done if done by a good welder and a good machine with enough power.
Ther is a few ways to skin this cat. Most guys would want to mig weld it but i would want it beveled out and stick welded with a pass of 6010 then a pass of 7018 rod.
Ask to get it back with no grinding on the finished welds and no paint so that you can see the heat penetration and weld quality.

 

[Elkmagnet]

Fyi pintle hitches are great for rough terrain. but suck on the road what will be your intention with the trailer?
Edt. Sorry it looks like you had already answered this. Id probably keeps the pintle for off road. But do keep in mind that your current hitch has a lot of leverage on the reciever hitch and is reducing its capacity. I like your ideafor modifying the trailer side to get the drop that will take the leverage off of the truck side.

 

[teej89]

I'm curious, if you fab your own hitch, do you have to do something in order for it to be accepted to be used on the road? I could see some people throwing on a light weld and calling it good then one awkward bump with a heavily loaded trailer and there goes your welds ha

 

[jryoung]

Fyi pintle hitches are great for rough terrain. but suck on the road what will be your intention with the trailer?
Edt. Sorry it looks like you had already answered this. Id probably keeps the pintle for off road. But do keep in mind that your current hitch has a lot of leverage on the reciever hitch and is reducing its capacity. I like your ideafor modifying the trailer side to get the drop that will take the leverage off of the truck side.

Thanks magnet. Yeah, it works as is, and I have no fears that it will fail, the trailer fully loaded will be no more than 2500lbs.....it just sounds and feels like I'm towing a bag of boulders behind the truck. The articulating hitches are slick, but I don't want to sacrifice durability too much.

 

[Sytes]

Lock n Roll has a pretty detailed FAQ for weight, size of hitch, etc...

FAQs | Lock N Roll

locknroll.com

I'd bet a Co. such as theirs have dealt with your military surplus trailer before. Pretty cool looking.
Give them a call. That Lock n Roll hitch is pretty bad ass for off road, and apparently on road from what I read.

Curious if it's merely to haul "stuff" or if you plan to fab some foldout thing-a-ma-jig, camp setting. I dig welding and know nowhere near enough for something of a highway standard to share information though for the creative side, I'd weld like crazy to craft something out of that! It's akin to salivating over some of the food you prepare!

 

[Elkmagnet]

I'm curious, if you fab your own hitch, do you have to do something in order for it to be accepted to be used on the road? I could see some people throwing on a light weld and calling it good then one awkward bump with a heavily loaded trailer and there goes your welds ha

This probly varies by state law but I know here in Idaho I could weld up my own trailer take it down to register and drive it if I want
The only inspection would likely be for a vin at the dmv in most states.

 

[jryoung]

Lock n Roll has a pretty detailed FAQ for weight, size of hitch, etc...

I'd bet a Co. such as theirs have dealt with your military surplus trailer before. Pretty cool looking.
Give them a call. That Lock n Roll hitch is pretty bad ass for off road, and apparently on road from what I read.

I gave them a call, but when I mentioned adding on the channel bracket they got all slippery "well we can't gaurentee any aftermarket welds".....which I don't blame them. All their equipment parts though are rated well above what I need, it's just going to be the welding of the channel bracket.

Curious if it's merely to haul "stuff" or if you plan to fab some foldout thing-a-ma-jig, camp setting. I dig welding and know nowhere near enough for something of a highway standard to share information though for the creative side, I'd weld like crazy to craft something out of that! It's akin to salivating over some of the food you prepare!

This is for my trailer I picked up a while ago.

Tax Payer Funded Camp

This fall I picked up a "Combat Operations Center" model of an M1102 trailer at auction and have been slowly working on getting it converted over for a hunting rig. I was able to get it at 82% off MSRP based on what the notes say the tax payer paid for it the first time around, in fact I...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[marksjeep]

If it's done by a competent welder, the weld will be stronger than the base materials. 2500# is not much, any fab/trailer shop should be able to do it no problem. Ask them for some pics of previous custom work if you want examples of how they fab stuff. We've had many custom fabricated receiver setups done for 1 ton work trucks with oddball camper/utility bed combinations on them. Never had an issue.

 

[SFC B]

FYI, CPO has had a lock n roll for a couple years now and it is awesome. Great on road , easy to attach and high speed off road.

 

[Elkmagnet]

I thought of a few things you might consider. First whatever you do make sure you end up with a long enough tongue to be able to hit a 90° jackknife and maybe tell the builder it will be used harder and heavier than you plan. So lie