My new Pintle / eye towing system... oooolala....

[e9999]

OK, done with this one.

I removed the ball coupling off the trailer.
Installed an eye instead. Bolted the eye assembly under the frame and holding it with 3 half-inch grade 8 bolts and 2 nuts each. I'm pretty sure this should be plenty strong. If not, I have prepared a system with a steel sleeve that I'd weld the eye assembly to and then slide over the main beam of the trailer frame. I'd hold this with a hitch pin across the whole thing, and could put it either on top or bottom of the frame in a few seconds, or remove it for safekeeping.

But anyway, I just bolted it in for now. This was quite a job, to get all the holes to be positioned right etc, especially when I discovered belatedly that the PO had not drilled a couple of holes in the frame straight.... And had to be careful not to interfere with the moving shaft of the eye etc...

The eye is full swivel and is damped axially by 2 heavy duty springs (1 in each direction) to help with shock absorption. Very heavy duty. I can also bolt the assembly on top of bottom of the frame. For now, on the bottom, the trailer is only 1.5" lower at the very front than at the back. When I put a lift on the truck it'll be slightly nose up. The inside of the bottom horn of the pintle hook is 19" from the ground. Plenty of ground clearance on all this. I have something like 17" of ground clearance under the axle (yea!)

The beauty of this pintle hook system is that after a long search I was able to find a pintle hook that would not interfere with my exisiting receiver. There is probably only 1/64" or less between the hook and the 2" tube, very very close. (The pintle hook is a PH8 from Buyers products. The receiver is a DrawTite with the 2" tube even with the mount, not lower, much better for clearance....) So I have both the receiver and the pintle on for more flexibility (and protection). The pintle does also project just enough beyond the receiver than I have something like 70 deg articulation downward.

I put on the hook with two 8.8 bolts (can't find the dang 12x1.25 size in 10.9) in the threaded holes and 2 half-inch grade 8 in the lower holes. Should be plenty strong. I'll only tow my offroad trailer with this setup, probably only 2000 lbs or less.

So all in all, I'm happy. In retrospect, having taken the trailer offroad with a ball was just plain silly. It gave me stomach cramps everytime I heard weird croaking while going through creeks etc. The pintle / eye system is vastly superior for offroading. No comparison...!

 

[e9999]

pic here

 

[usmcruiser]

Very cool. Also sweet that you found one that you could mount and still retain the hitch.

Do they not make pintels that "plug" into the hitch or did you not want to go that route?

 

[e9999]

Very cool. Also sweet that you found one that you could mount and still retain the hitch.

Do they not make pintels that "plug" into the hitch or did you not want to go that route?

they do, but the mounts are expensive and look clunky. Nice to have the height adjustments though.

I am particularly tickled with the spring system on the eye...

 

[usmcruiser]

I was a little confused by the springs.

So do they prevent it from slamming back if it hops or is "flexed" really far?

Do they prevent the trailer from going rubber up?

Help me see the light.

 

[Mark W]

they do, but the mounts are expensive and look clunky.

???? I've made several receiver friendly pintle hook setups. No bigger/clunkier than a pintle with a 2 inch tube sticking off the back of it.

Just cut a peice of 3/8 to match the back of the pintle, drill it for the four bolts, and weld it to a peice of 2 inch sqaure (1/4 inch wall section) with a hole in it for the receiver pin/bolt.

Maked sure that the weld is done right. Use grade eight bolts and use a grade eight bolt to replace the receiver pin, and it is the worlds best snatch point. If you just want to tow a trailer with it you could use just about any bolts. I won't say that you could use an improper weld though.


Mark...

 

[e9999]

I was a little confused by the springs.

So do they prevent it from slamming back if it hops or is "flexed" really far?

Do they prevent the trailer from going rubber up?

Help me see the light.

the eye has a long tail that goes all the way to the big nut on the RHS in the pic.
This tail can slide axially within the "rectangular" housing, but it's travel is limited in both directions by the springs. So, these springs basically cushion the slamming and pulling of the eye against the pintle hook. Less stress, less noise, less banging. But it only has an effect on compression and tension, not for flexing etc.
And no, the eye is fully swiveling, so there is nothing that would prevent the trailer from going rubber up... That's what I wanted, full torsional articulation.

 

[e9999]

???? I've made several receiver friendly pintle hook setups. No bigger/clunkier than a pintle with a 2 inch tube sticking off the back of it.

Just cut a peice of 3/8 to match the back of the pintle, drill it for the four bolts, and weld it to a peice of 2 inch sqaure (1/4 inch wall section) with a hole in it for the receiver pin/bolt.

Maked sure that the weld is done right. Use grade eight bolts and use a grade eight bolt to replace the receiver pin, and it is the worlds best snatch point. If you just want to tow a trailer with it you could use just about any bolts. I won't say that you could use an improper weld though.


Mark...

sure, but why go through all that if I can just bolt the pintle to the bumper? Height is just right.

 

[Mark W]

Because installinging the pintle on a receiver stub means I don't have to mount one down low (creating ground clearance issues) and/or worry about clearance between the two of them.

Plus, a pintle bolted to the rear crossmember... without some sort of reinforcement of the crosmember... will bend or even tear things when used as an anchor for a few vigorous strap extractions. BTDT.

If you're talking about a '40 then a retrofitted rear bumper which is strong enough and mounted securely enough for snatching can either incorporate a receiver or you can just bolt the pintle onto it. On my '40s I bolt the pintle to/trhough the bumper because the only thing I tow with them is an M416 which has a lunette anyway. The Pintle is primarily there as a recovery point. I use 3x4 3/16 walsection square tube with a quarter inch plate and a 2 inch by 3/8 full length gusset on the back of the frame. The bumper is anchors to both frame rails as well. That's what it takes to avoid bending stuff. On '60s and mini-trucks I either incorprate a receiver into a sturdy bumper, or build a strudy mount for the receiver to replace the bumper. Then I can chose trailer ball or pintle. Because Those rigs may get used to tow a snow machine trialer or something similar.

Anyway, short answer is that the rear cross member is nowhere near strong enough for mounting a pintle which will see hard use. And hanging a receiver mount under the bumper isn't normally an option I find acceptable on an off road rig.

I did built a hitch mount for one of the minis which sits a bit low... lets me run the dual exhaust for the V8 over the hitch crossmember. Works on this rig because of the lift and the way the rig is used. But even on an SOA '60 it would be too low


Mark...

 

[stayalert]

If you have the trailer on can you drop your tailgate w/o putting three dings in it? If the answer is no, it would back to the drawing board for me...Other tha that its looks pretty cool I like the springyness

 

[e9999]

Because installinging the pintle on a receiver stub means I don't have to mount one down low (creating ground clearance issues) and/or worry about clearance between the two of them.

Plus, a pintle bolted to the rear crossmember... without some sort of reinforcement of the crosmember... will bend or even tear things when used as an anchor for a few vigorous strap extractions. BTDT.

If you're talking about a '40 then a retrofitted rear bumper which is strong enough and mounted securely enough for snatching can either incorporate a receiver or you can just bolt the pintle onto it. On my '40s I bolt the pintle to/trhough the bumper because the only thing I tow with them is an M416 which has a lunette anyway. The Pintle is primarily there as a recovery point. I use 3x4 3/16 walsection square tube with a quarter inch plate and a 2 inch by 3/8 full length gusset on the back of the frame. The bumper is anchors to both frame rails as well. That's what it takes to avoid bending stuff. On '60s and mini-trucks I either incorprate a receiver into a sturdy bumper, or build a strudy mount for the receiver to replace the bumper. Then I can chose trailer ball or pintle. Because Those rigs may get used to tow a snow machine trialer or something similar.

Anyway, short answer is that the rear cross member is nowhere near strong enough for mounting a pintle which will see hard use. And hanging a receiver mount under the bumper isn't normally an option I find acceptable on an off road rig.

I did built a hitch mount for one of the minis which sits a bit low... lets me run the dual exhaust for the V8 over the hitch crossmember. Works on this rig because of the lift and the way the rig is used. But even on an SOA '60 it would be too low


Mark...

I agree that the rear bumper/cross member on this 80 is not strong enough for extractions, but of course I have no intention of using it for such. I have tow loops (and a receiver) for that. Won't use the pintle for heavy towing either, just the little offroad / utility trailer. I am keeping the receiver for now for added flexility and because it protects the underside rear of the rig - until I get a good aftermarket rear bumper.

 

[e9999]

If you have the trailer on can you drop your tailgate w/o putting three dings in it? If the answer is no, it would back to the drawing board for me...Other tha that its looks pretty cool I like the springyness

better check that, good point!

 

[RHINO]

???? I've made several receiver friendly pintle hook setups. No bigger/clunkier than a pintle with a 2 inch tube sticking off the back of it.

Mark...

they actually make these, just a pintle that slides in a reciever.

looks good e9999, that mount is perfect for towing such a trailer, i have the pintle a ball on it so i can go either way :whoops:

 

[e9999]

they actually make these, just a pintle that slides in a reciever.

looks good e9999, that mount is perfect for towing such a trailer, i have the pintle a ball on it so i can go either way :whoops:

well, those like the one you show are often problematic, cuz the ball receivers are typically lower than the eyes on trailers so the trailer would need to be nose down quite a bit. But they do have mounts on 2" tubes that allow you to bolt the pintle at a number of different heights, those are better, but again $50 plus...

I could not go with a pintle / ball thing cuz I needed to clear the receiver.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Adjustable height

Though I have never adjusted it past the day I installed it

 

[RHINO]

yeah i can see what you mean in your pic, your setup looks just fine to me and looks like you'll clear the tailgate too.

 

[e9999]

indeed, the tailgate does clear both pintle hook and bolts on trailer neck...

can't believe I didn't check that with the trailer attached, though, that was stupid... Thanks again for pointing this out, Stay, that was good thinking! I sure would have kicked myself if I had put in 3 big divots in the tailgate the first time I opened it up without thinking.... yikes!