M1101/2 Rear 2″ Hitch receiver

In this post we discuss the options, pricing, problems and possibilities for adding a receiver hitch to the back of your Military Light Tactical M1101 M1102 Trailers. #expeditionbuilt #expeditionsupply

The Problem

There’s a reason you aren’t finding content and pictures about a handy rear hitch on the Military Light Tactical Trailers. What makes the trailers great also make the trailers challenging to modify, the trailer is almost all aluminum. It makes for a light and heavy duty trailer for hauling, but not for towing heavy equipment behind it. You can’t put a rear steel hitch, regardless of which class you want, onto an aluminum trailer. You need steel to be connected to steel.

In the rear there are only two places you’ll find steel on the trailer. Look for the D-hooks or shackles and you’ll see steel located in both sides of the trailer, but not in the middle where a hitch should go.

Is a rear hitch possible?

We talked to nine trailer hitch, fabricators, and welding companies. Here are the responses, excuses, we received:

1. “You shouldn’t put a rear hitch on a single axle trailer regardless of the size or weight. Towing anything behind a single axle trailer turns it into a teeter totter.”
2. “It’s too dangerous”
3. “We would never recommend doing that.”
4. “We don’t do any work we can’t warranty”
5. “Our policies don’t allow us to”

Of the nine, we found two companies that would actually put a hitch on the Military M1101 M1102 trailer. These are small, custom fabricators, with years of experience building specialized hitches on unique rigs

We found that it is possible, if done right, but we don’t have enough tests or data to know what the limitations are.

How will you use it?

The first question you need to answer is, how do you plan to use the rear hitch? If you want to use the hitch for something lighter than a few hundred pounds, such as a bike rack or tire carrier, almost anything will do. If you want to tow a boat, another trailer, toy hauler, or anything else be ready to pay $1000 or more.

How to do it

We first recommend you pay someone, or hire us, to add a rear hitch to your M1101/M1102 trailer, if someone will do it for you. If you plan to tow or put a load on it, you want it done right. Make sure you get a warranty from whoever does the work. You can expect 6 month to 3 years warranty from a shop. Hire us and we’ll get your M1101/2 trailer setup for $1000 with a hitch that includes a stabilizer bar for towing. Regardless, you should never exceed 3000 lbs regardless of the hitch class you install. Not only are you putting weight on the trailer, even if it’s tongue weight, but you’re increasing the

Do it yourself

We don’t recommend a DIY Military M1101/2 hitch because most people don’t have the tools or expertise to do it properly. If you want to be able to depend on your gear in the middle of nowhere, don’t want to worry about hurting yourself or it falling off while traveling, especially off-road with the metal twisting and turning, go to a professional. If you want to do it yourself, proceed with caution at your own risk. We don’t supply the tools, techniques or direction for doing such.

Other Considerations

• How low do you need the hitch to sit? The military trailer already sits high. Either drop the hitch or purchase an adjustable height hitch
• Be ready to loose clearance. Any hitch you install will probably sit lower than the stock frame. Towing on the road it’s not a problem. If you’re in the backcountry off-road you probably won’t have anything back there anyway.
• What about the lights? The three lights on the bottom (middle) of the trailer are required by law in most states, check your state law for details. If you remove or cover this bar, how and where will you replace the lights?
• Do you need power to the rear hitch? If you’re towing another trailer, you’re going to be required by law to power the second trailer lights or accessories. Adding power to the hitch, 7 or 4 PIN is possible, using our splitter cable.
• One option we haven’t done yet, but plan on, is modifying a HMMWV Airlift bumper to fit the M1101-M1102. We want to keep the sling tie downs in place without modifying them and installing a Class IV hitch, not a pintle hitch.

Have experience, pictures, recommendations on adding a rear hitch to the Military LTT or other trailer? Leave a commend below or contact us.