Apparently this is a WWII Bantam trailer

[maple_leaf_eh]

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cargo-utility...ationFlag=true

The seller is asking $900 and it is in North Bay (eh?). I am not in North Bay.

Terry

[charlie fitton]

Not an expert, but I think its a post war Bantam, made for the civvie market - I'd go look at it..

[rob love]

Bantam gets the credit for making the Jeep, but was beaten by Willys (and Ford) when the time came to fill full production contracts. Bantam was relegated to making trailers during the war, and post war continued making them for the civilian market. As Charlie mentions, this would appear to be one of the civilian ones.

[chris vickery]

I am in N Bay and would gladly look at it and get a better overall examination for anyone seriously interested.

[charlie fitton]

I talked to a local guy who'd like to know more.

Out of curiosity, could someone replace the ball with a lunette - without wrecking anything?

thanks

f

[maple_leaf_eh]

The construction of the hitch/lunette on the 1953 1/4 ton trailers is simple. There is a big steel casting that bolts to the diagonal draw bars. This casting has a through-hole. The lunette is simply a cast loop with an exterior threaded shaft with a stop face. It spins freely with greasing. There is a big castle nut that holds the shaft in the hole, and IIRC, is cushioned with a coil spring.

From a quick look at the Kijiji pictures, the original casting is either gone or covered with the sheet metal trailer ball hitch. No way of knowing how much of the original casting remains. If the lunette itself has been modified or damaged, it should be replaced. The shaft is likely a common exterior dimension, so a civilian to military or vice versa conversion would be easy.