Who made wood Ben Hur trailers?

[Bruce]

I have a wood Ben Hur style trailer. I was wondering if anyone knew which manufacturers made the wood trailers? I am trying to locate a good data plate, and I want it to be as correct as I can get it.

Bruce

[joel gopan]

There were over a dozen manufacturers of trailers. The original data plates are hard to find. As for ID of any trailer once the data plate is gone, it will be a mystery. Best way is to measure the screw hole pattern, and hope you are still young enough to enjoy the hobby when tou find the one that matches the screwholes, as they came in many dimensions. Willys and Bantam shared the same size Data Plates, others did not. Some Manufacturers had just one plate, some had two, and others had three. As for identifying features between manufacturers of wood bodied trailers, I cannot think of any. The Spring Brackets were mostly cast by Willys, and Checker Cab, and were used by all the manufacturers, There were markings on the Lunette, I know some Lunettes were by Checker. There were specific features to Tailgate hinges, some had 3 Pins for the 3 Brackets, others used a single rod the width of the Tailgate. Most manufacturers stayed with the same Tail Light and Reflector supplier, and can be ID'd by the brand of Tail Light or Reflector. Bantam was known to use Arrow Tail Lights and Reflectors throughout the War, and Willys used Corcoran Brown. As for the others, it is not recorded in the SNLs. As far as an individual with his first and only trailer, it will be hard to tell if there are mixed brand reflectors or lights, as the novice collector tends to believe that his prized possession must be correct. There were several sub Contractors for axles, Rogers comes to mind for one. Brakes were by Bendix with either Bendix or Kelsey Hayes Backing Plates.
NOTE:
There is information that Steel Body Trailers were only early War, but I believe Steel Trailers were built throughout the entire period. Also, do not believe that only light OD Canvas was used on WWII equipment, as claimed by a popular Repro Canvas manufacturer, that is pure BS, it is only an excuse to peddle the stuff they make a big profit on. I have been lucky enough to have good friends througout the business that look out for me, and send me rare items as they discover them. I have come across two NOS Ben Hur Tarps in the past 15 years this way, and both have been the same Dark OD that was used up thru the early 70s. Some Ben Hur Canvas was made in one piece, some in 3 sections. My steel Ben Hur is Mint, as it was surplused by the USAF in 49 and stored in a hanger from 1949-1989, it is 100% complete. It had the spare Tire bracket, I sold that to Dr John Bennet (MVPA Director) in 1990, and removed the PE-95. Mine had evidence of both USMC and US Army registrations. I have no idea who made it as there was no Data Plate. I am happy just to havea nice trailer. I may be able to help some ID their trailer if it still shows the USA number.