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Just finished fighting with 1 out of 4 spring shackle bushings.On finally grinding off the shoulders of the 7/8 nut and driving it thru the spring hole.I then took the "U" threaded piece to the vise and cut a slot along just to the threads and opened it up. Cleaned up the threads and tried to thread on one of the other 3 bushings...no go, why?...suprise suprise, the lower spring hole, pass side is a left hand thread,while I thought Z~~~~~~~~~~~~~I was loosening it, actually tightening it!!The other side(drivers) are both right hand thread.At any rate I now need that piece! Any one else as dumb as me??

This is where the manuals really come in handy- read the "Note" on page 294 of the TM9-8012
Kendall

I do not believe there is anyone among us who hasn't been suckered in with a left handed thread at one time or another. They are very common on these early vehicles.

The manuals will usually keep you from falling into these traps. They are usually free to download them here. TM 9-871A, ORD 9 SNL G-747 and TM 9-2330-201-14 cover the M100 series trailers. The first two are hard to find but the later Maintenance/parts combo manual is a free download from several sites. Here's what TM 9-871A has to say about the left hand threaded shackle.

A good hint on these vehicles is that most of the time the left hand threads have a notch on the points of the hex.... Not 100% all the time but worth looking for. As a side note...when I bought my M38 a previous owner had mixed up the hubs on the rear so that the left threads were on the right side.....
Rick C

Thanks for the tips guys, I guess I really did a dummy thing. A manual is definitely a must for me!! I get close to a free download of the M100 manual but can't quite get one .....any sure fire sites for same??

Thanks,Wes.....got it all downloaded, hopefully no more silly mistakes!

Don't feel bad, We ALL have probably done this at one time or another. I fooled with Jeeps in the mid-late sixties in Civil Air Patrol and beyond, and when I got "Willy", I had a vague recollection of some "back'ards" threads, especially with the lug nuts. Sure enough, I caught this memory when my impact wrench began to labor the first time, and it jarred my memory. So I gently "rocked" the nuts by alternately starting and reversing the wrench back and forth, and sure 'nuff......ZINNNNNNG! They broke loose......BEFORE I wrung one off! Ah HA! I CAUGHTCHA! You aren't the only one to run into left-hand threads OR wring something off.

It is always a learning process. And always something to do to 'em. NOW I'm tracing my wiring back to the horn button to see why IT quit blowing. Always something!

FrankenJeep