NATO tow hook ?? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Oct 13, 2008
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Location
Germany at the baltic sea
Hey, I am desperately looking for a picture of a J80 with a NATO tow hook mounted at the rear crossmember.

1870115.jpg



Would be helpfull with a stock / official looking car like military or red cross ...

can anybody help ?:confused: Thanks Sönke
 
Howdy! Is it difficult due to weight/load issues, or they don't want you to look like a military vehicle? John
 
I have one on my 80.

It wasn't fitted from the factory though, I found it in a wreckers yard in Qatar. All the Middle East spec cruisers have them fitted.

I'll take a photo tomorrow if I get a chance.

It's not a Nato spec pintle by the way. Those are made by Dixon Bate (as fitted to Land Rovers) I have one on my Land Rover Ninety.

This is Genuine Toyo. It's nowhere near as heavy duty as the Dixon Bate pintles, the DB's can rotate for offroad towing or be locked in a vertical position. They are greasable (nipples) also.
 
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in the UK NATO hitches are pretty common- they are not known as PIntle hitches here. You can even get brand new ones- even second hand tehy are not cheap though £40sterling for a good condition one.

They are however exceptionally heavy duty- rated at 5tonnes towing limit, with something like a 12:1 safety factor!

Mine fits perfectly onto the rear end of the truck- i haevn't had an issues with bending of the bumper yet, even after sgnificant recoevry on that point- ie KERR of a 3tonne landcruiser at speed.

I have a spare NATO hitch in the shed that i could post to a US member if anyone is interested- i don't thinki shipping would be too much! Can also get a fair few others if tehre is enough interest.

Was happy to find a spreader plate on the chassis when i bolted my naot hitch up.

FYI they can be set to rotate or be locked- basically some Sankey trailers (the Armys standard trailer behind light trucks) either has a rotating hitch, in which case the nto is locked, or it has a fixed hitch in which case the NATO is allowed to rotate- it means the trailer should never flip the vehicle over in rough terrani.

Best piccy of my NATO hitch which i have to hand:
IMG_0072.jpg
 
pintle

I have a pintle on my rear bumper, no idea if it's factory, came like that when I bought. The only numbering I can see on it is JD 00625.

I have yet to tow anything with it, but it worked well for hooking up a tug strap to it and yarding on a flipped over f350.
pintle.jpg
 
I would be cautious about using that location as a heavy recovery point. When pulling from the rear, this is pulling at right angles to the frame crossmember. The same pull on a factory recovery point a few inches to the right is pulling longitudinally on the frame - a far, far stronger thing to do.

Pulling even slightly off to the side puts the load heavily on only two bolts, which are also being pulled directly against their fasteners - ie stretched. The distance from the pintle to the bumper also helps the pulling force act on your crossmember like a lever.

This is an old topic here, but I don't see this as a strong setup. Better ground clearance, yes.

DougM
 
I don't see the rear cross member bending I looked at mine And I would feel safe using one ,Toyota would not have pre drilled it if they also thought you should not use it.
They have that type of hitch available in Cambodia I see lots of cruisers with em.
I could bring some back to the USA if some on wants one . PM me I will be in Cambodia next month I will see how much they cost. I bet not much.
Im thinking you could just buy on localy and a place that sell hitches. But I will look at the NATO 80's and see what they have on.
I'm buying one for my 80 in Cambodia I will look for factory ones.
 
Do you still want a picture? I sleep next to some UN cruisers with pintal on them. Or I can probably get a picture of one on an Iraqi troopy ambulance. I saw some Toyota pintals in the scrap pile. but didnt keep one because it wont fit on my new bumper.(4x4 labs)
I will post all my Iraq land cruiser photos when I get back . I have tons of them
 
pintle hooks can be found very easily in the US in all sorts of ratings -up to ungodly high-, typically used for military, industrial or agriculture applications. The rotating ones are less common, though.

I thought that the cruisers did come with a specific tow rating for the cross-member location in most of the world. That's not true? Surely, the 4 holes are intended for pintle hooks primarily. The bolt pattern seems pretty much universal.

And yes, from what I recall seeing, that cross member does not look as strong as the typical class III 2" receiver setup bolted to the frame rails.
 
Yeah, I've about had enough with the "cross member is strong as a Class III hitch" crap myself. Yes, you can pull small trailers with it and do light recovery, but nothing big. A high school shop class would go a ways in explaining why.

DougM
 
Hey,

thanks for the answers and the pics!

I need pics of official J80 with Pintle on the crossmember...
I want to proof, the crossmember beeing strong enough for some towing and beeing designed as a mounting place.
It is is not build for towing over 3t, no doubt..would´t trie it, just want to tow a small trailer

The pic I posted above shows the Toyota Pintle, we have a DixonBate wich can rotate. We use the VarioBlock System to use Pintle, tow-ball, winch or nothing to have space for the door to swing open..
1871402.jpg

1871404.jpg


@thisilldefend, pics would be great. :bounce:
 
Here, Mein Herr:

from the Gibraltar Toyota guys (the UN suppliers), they show the pintle hook and say this is standard equipment for the UN:

Product Details

this could help maybe?

there likely are pics someplace on there too

E
 

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