M-100 trailer info sought
 

I am seeking info on the "document" (?) box mounted on the front of M-100 trailers.

Mine doesnt have this box.. are there any for sale? if not, could anyone supply info on dimensions, mounting etc (or could it be these were a type of standard ammo box??

also looking for the light switch mounted on lower front

thanks
monty

The box you are speaking of is likely the box that held the 24V cable when not attached to the towing vehicle. The M100 I used to have had the box, but it wasn't at all like an ammo box - IIRC it was about 10 inches wide, 5 or 6 inches from front to back and 12 or so inches deep, with a hinged lid. I would be surprised if you couldn't find one for sale online somewhere.

Mike

Marc,

Here you go: http://www.midwestmilitary.net/trailerparts.html

HTH,
Hanno

The boxes were redundant on the MCI Cdn M100s, since the inter-vehicle cable on the Cdn trailers were attached to the chassis wiring, as opposed to the removable one the US used. The US version had two similar plugs on each end, along with a receptacle on the trailer similar to the receptacle on the towing vehicle. When not in use the cable was stowed in the box mounted on the front of the trailer. As Hanno pointed out, these are available from John at midwest military, although you will hav to make up the two mounting brackets if they have been removed from the cargo box.

We would remove the boxes when they got damaged, or if there was a need for a similar size box somewhere in the shop. Quite often they would end up on the oxy-acet welding carts to hold the extra tips.

There was also a document box mounted on the inside of the trailer. This was almost identical to the document box mounted on the early M101 3/4 ton trailer, or the 1-1/2 ton trailers. As far as I know this document box was purely a Cdn item, and not available as a repro, but I could be wrong.

Thanks guys.
Mine still has the document "slot" inside the front panel.

Any ideas on the light switch?

Rob my 101cdn2 was numbered T-95....interestingly, this was about 6" high on each side and back, but painted over and then repainted about 3" high before being painted out. I dont suppose that's of much significance? it has the signals tac symbol, but never saw evidence of a cfr number..

thanks again

M100 BO light switch
 

Hi Mark,
The blackout light switch was unique to the Canadian trailer versus the US trailers. I have switches, NOS condition with metal shell Douglas connecters. PM me for details.
..... Brian

Hard to say on the T95. Normally a trailer would have the same call sign on it as the vehicle towing it, except with a T after the call sign. I never worked much with the signals regiment so I can't say who a 95 in that organization would be.

CFRs were not generally marked on the M101Cdn2 trailers. Most of the ones I purchased had it in grease pencil under where the license plate would be, but this could have been just a local thing. The CFR can be found by looking through the data on the EDR viewer, but it really is a crap shoot as you must open each one at a time and the serials are not in order of their CFRs. With around 1400 (?) Cdn2 trailer CFRs to look through, it can be time consuming.

These document boxes were the perfect size for the US TM- manuals, which we used in the 50s. It wasn't until the 70s and 80s that the manuals were redone into Canadian bilingual three ring binder format.

Marc, I can Take a photo of mine tomorrow when i get back to work if you are still looking for one, they are not much bigger that the side of a tm book as has been stated.
Jason

Thanks jason, but mine has the slot-like box inside the trailer...unless there was a lid for this? (which mine doesn't have...although it doesn't look like there was a lid.

however if yours has the bigger box on the front, some nice photos of that would be apreciated..esp the way its mounted, as these boxes can be purchased
(thanks againi for the link guys !)
BTW do the catches on those boxes have a hole to be fitted with a small pad lock?

ROB- Im sorry I was not able to get to Bloomfield to photo the other firetruck..I did not get close to that area this summer...my apologies.. ;-(

BRIAN i'll email you
cheers

Yes, there is a lid for the pamphlet box. Note that it opens left to right. There were a pair of solid rivets which acted as the hinge IIRC.

There were no catches on the pamphlet holder and only one latch on the cable holder with no locking feature.

Document box
 

Here is what I could find on the web for a inner document box with cover which my New to me M110 does not have.
Dave

well whadya know....you're right again Rob..I never noticed before but yes there is a rivet in the document slot which would be a pivot for a lid..

so Jason ( or anyone else) photos would be very helpful..and has anyone else repro'd this lid?
cheers and thanks
monty

M 100 Tail Lights
 

Did these trailers leave the service with the M38A1 style light or were they upgraded. Does anybody have a Data plate that they could part with?

Mine had (has) the M-series tailights not the larger NATO standard style.

although I may switch to the larger ones just for safety sake (originals will be kept for historical accuracy when needed)

M100 tail light upgrade
 

The original tail light mounting brackets don't provide enough clearance for the new series composite tail lights: the army just bent the brackets and jammed the lights into place. Best to fabricate a new set of brackets so the tail lights aren't wedged into place at an awkward angle.
..... Brian

Marc, Here are a few photos of the m-100 also added the serial number that is stamped into the draw bar for comparison.
Jason

Trailers were never a big priority in the military. Most of the taillamps were left stock on the 1/4 ton trailers. Remember that during the service of the M100 (until roughly 1994/95) the large M series taillamps were still made of plastic, so they were very susceptible to breaking when you tipped the trailers back. There was nothing wrong with the smaller metal lights; certainly there was never an official modification to change them up to the larger ones.

If you are going to go to the larger lights, they are available on ebay these days for as little as $15 or $20 each. These are the newest LED examples which will work with either 12 volt right up to 36 volt. I would suggest building brackets which raise the lamps higher than the bottom of the trailer and set them back to the back edge of the trailer, so they don't get smacked. Even better is to get the large composite lamps made of metal, except they will not have the multi-voltage capability.

Marc said:
These are words that the wife will never utter, even though often true.

good suggestion Rob... Yes you' re right! (those three little words men love to hear)

Brake handle and linkage
 

Jason, thanks for the pics. Could you post some pics of the brake handle and linkage. I just picked a trailer up down south but it is missing the data plate, cover to the pamphlet holder, park brake handle, and the military wiring harnes which attaches to the towing vehicle. Besides that for a 1952 trailer its in great shape. A welcome addition to my Recce Patrol.


Dave
302Trooper

Hey Dave, your wife is going to kill you....I am sure of it..
I will get you a few pics and send them either here of facecrack.
Jason

now that i have the switch. (thanks BCA) .is there a plate or some kind of indicator that goes behind the actual switch knob itself to indicate ..i guess... on/off? or something like that?

Mine says on and off and Convoy light. Its mounted on the lower l/h side facint the lunnete.

Steve: is it a little tag? or just stencilled or? If possible could you or someone post a photo?
If its a little tag, are these repro"d anywhere..I checked the MIDWEST site Hanno kindly posted but did not see anything like this.

Its a metal tag with a lower hole for the switch shaft and above that is a small locator hole to keep the tag in position. I do not have access to it at this moment as it is packed away with my trailer harness stuff. Im not sure if they are available in repro.

Seems to me the tag on the old duece dash was very similar.

My camera showed up in the mail with my luggage from Kandahar today, so I shot a few photos of the M100 trailer cable stowage box, the M100 pamphlet box, and the pamphlet box mounted on the side of a M104 1-1/2 ton trailer box. Note the M104 box is held on with screws which make them a perfect candidate to supply the box for the M100. You could just fill in the holes with weld to attach it to the M100.

thanks Rob..
could you photo the convoy light switch tag..and confirm if its the same as found in the old 50's era deuces?
(if so, i might be able to get one from a wrecked deuce someday)

WRT T95...dunno about applicability to a trlr, but ya never know..might this refer to the Appointment Title of an Armd Rep (Ironside) att to and under comd of an Inf Bn for a specific tasking?

95 would seem to infer a C/S being part of the CO's Rover Group.