Pintle hitch help (1 Viewer)

[mpeagan]

I just bought a M101A 3/4 ton trailer and need to by the pintle reciever for my FJ. I see there two styles, the hook and the ball-combo. The ball combo beinbg about $110 and the hook about $60. Besides price is there any advantage to one or the other? I have enough normal receiver hitches so I am not sure I need to pay the extra for the ball-combo. Looking for advice on towing using the two styles, any information would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[mpeagan]

Pic of the new trailer:

 

[e9999]

I always thought that the ball combo looks less sturdy, but admittedly if the rating is fine, you should be fine. And your typical smallish pintle will normally be rated at way more than a class III receiver hitch is capable of. Still I never warmed up to the idea of the ball thing. I already had separate ball assemblies so I got a regular pintle hook. I normally know ahead of time which one I'll need when towing...

(the 101 is pretty big for offroad I would think)

 

[titanpat57]

The only thing you may find is a height problem..I did. ( I have a newer 4Runner..no lift, standard tires)

I needed about a 6" rise, so I put the rise coupler with the pintle hook to the highest setting....and it was still low.

I'm currently swapping out out to an electric brake axle and eliminating the surge setup. I also ordered the Max Coupler, which I may add is a most serious piece of hardware, to make the whole setup a little more "standard".

 

[greentruck]

Shop a little harder for the ball-pintle combo if you decide to go with that. You should be able to get it for $70 or less. I bought ours at a Boxing Day sale in Canada as an open box item, otherwise perfect, for $40. It's 8k capacity.

I'd get the ball-pintle combo. You never know when it could come in handy, even if you're only planning to tow something with a lunette.

While I wouldn't recommend using any hitch bolted through the rear crossmember of an 80 series for anything more than moderate recovery, the ball-pintle combo should work better when using a strap in terms of it keeping it hooked.

 

[mcwinery]

Change the trailer hitch to a ball receiver type.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

The ball combo has been said to have the potential to fail, but no one seems to be able to provide much in the way of first hand experience.

Even so, it's annoying to hear the banging of the lunette (the ring) on the pintle ball. I used some old 2" ID radiator hose to slip over the ball to cushion it. Problem is it wears out quickly, but it works.

The combo hitches are quite useful, and I'm using them on several vehicles. Because most bolt on, you usually need an adapter plate style hitch mount. I'm using the taller model on my pickup, upside down, with two ball/pintle combo hitches on it. This gives me the ability to pull a wide variety of trailers.
Hitchmaster Pintle Receiver Adapter | Hitch Adapters | Northern Tool + Equipment
Buyers Pintle Receiver Adapter by Hitchmaster, Model# 10032 | Hitch Adapters | Northern Tool + Equipment

As for converting the M101A1 trailer to a ball type, my opinion is why reduce the strength and design of the system? The lunette hitch is stronger than a 2" ball. It can twist more than a ball hitch. And it will even twist beyond it's free play limit if articulation becomes extreme. If you're thinking about off-roading, keep the lunette. In fact, since the 1-7/8" ball style hitch on my civilian jeep trailer was in bad shape, I made a socket using receiver tubing into which I can plug in a length of 2" square tubing with a ball hitch, or a non-rotating lunette for off roading. The pintle on my FJ40 rotates, so non-rotation of this particular setup is not a problem.

 

[REZARF]

I have a combo hitch/pintel (Buyers not China junk) with a 2" ball I could let go cheap. PM me for details.

I went to a lock-n-roll and this is just sitting on a shelf now.

 

[Big Daddy]

Hitches

Just for what it's worth . I've tried both kinds of pintle hitches and the big thing that drove me nuts when I took my 416 off road was the banging. After researching and calling all the off-road trailer shops i installed a lock-n-roll hitch. As far as I'm concerned this is the only way to go you get all the movement or more than a pintle hitch with no banging or noise. Yes it's not as strong , weight rated , as a pintle but you will never carry 10,000 #'s in a 416 anyway or in a m101a. If you do please show me your off road rig This hitch is rated at 6000 # trailer weight with 600# tongue weight.

 

[Big Daddy]

hitch

And yes this hitch does come with the other half that hooks into your Vehicle receiver

 

[TomsWhiteWrangler]

I have seen pictures on this site of those lock and roll getting mangled taking it off road. One guy had both mounts get torn up so bad he could barely use it. That will not happen with a Lunette.

I agree it is loud but you cant beat its strength. Be care beforel putting anything on the lunette to quiet it as it can cause the trailer to bind. That is trouble.

 

[Greg_B]

The right sized lunette matched with the right size pintle makes a big difference with banging and clunking.

gb

 

[Panzer]

The right sized lunette matched with the right size pintle makes a big difference with banging and clunking.

gb

Ditto. I have a Northern tool reciever pintle that I use on my CDN101 and I rarely notice it banging about except on really rough terrain. The correct size and a little heavy grease make a huge difference.

 

[Dragline]

Ditto. I have a Northern tool reciever pintle that I use on my CDN101 and I rarely notice it banging about except on really rough terrain. The correct size and a little heavy grease make a huge difference.

X2 on the Northern pintle, fits nice.

 

[Big Daddy]

I have seen pictures on this site of those lock and roll getting mangled taking it off road. One guy had both mounts get torn up so bad he could barely use it. That will not happen with a Lunette.

I agree it is loud but you cant beat its strength. Be care beforel putting anything on the lunette to quiet it as it can cause the trailer to bind. That is trouble.

I guess it's what you prefer but if a person is driving off-rd that wild to tear one of these hitches up he needs to slow down . Agree'd the pintle is stronger but in this case I would much rather tear up a hitch , if that really is the case , than the whole trailer. Yes i do have a box of ear plugs that go un-used now.

 

[Kynot62]

When I first built my trailer I had intended to install a pintle but the worry about the banging around stopped me. Mostly the noise is irritating.

Balls have severe limitations off road. A typical ball only has about 10 degrees of articulation available

I built up my own version of the lock and roll (I never knew one was available or I might have bought one). I would think that the twisting pivot of the lock and load is in the wrong place. When they fail where do they break?

I decided to build my own hitch with full articulation in all directions, up/down, left right and roll. I put the twisting/roll pivot in the middle of the hitch, up/down is at the front and left to right is at the back. I have had this on my trailer for about 5 years with no problems. I still want to make a better more compact version.

And about the original question. The combo pintle/ball has one big drawback off road. Take a look at the nut that holds the ball on. It hangs down pretty far and can get hung up on a rock pretty easily. For off road stick with a pintle or a fully articulated hitch such as the lock and roll or a self made version.

Tony

 

[Brian in Oregon]

When I first built my trailer I had intended to install a pintle but the worry about the banging around stopped me. Mostly the noise is irritating.

Balls have severe limitations off road. A typical ball only has about 10 degrees of articulation available

I built up my own version of the lock and roll (I never knew one was available or I might have bought one). I would think that the twisting pivot of the lock and load is in the wrong place. When they fail where do they break?

I decided to build my own hitch with full articulation in all directions, up/down, left right and roll. I put the twisting/roll pivot in the middle of the hitch, up/down is at the front and left to right is at the back. I have had this on my trailer for about 5 years with no problems. I still want to make a better more compact version.

And about the original question. The combo pintle/ball has one big drawback off road. Take a look at the nut that holds the ball on. It hangs down pretty far and can get hung up on a rock pretty easily. For off road stick with a pintle or a fully articulated hitch such as the lock and roll or a self made version.

Tony

Not an issue with mine. The nut is 23" off the ground.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/187703-rotating-pintle-hitch-install-fj40.html

 

[LCDiesel60]

Hi Brian--I've seen your railroad exploration site--pretty interesting....

I have the same hitch as you show in your photo---just got my trailer--3/4 ton M101A..?

HAS ANYONE TRIED SOME SORT OF 'BOOT' SUCH AS OLD TIRE TREAD OR ? TO REDUCE THE SLOP/NOISE?--OR OTHER OPTIONS--I WANT TO KEEP THE SURGE BRAKES SO DON'T WANT TO CONVERT TO HOME-MADE OR THE OTHER 2 AFTERMARKET OPTIONS THAT SOUND GOOD BUT CAUSE ME TO LOSE THE TRAILER SURGE BRAKE WHICH I THINK IS A MUST FOR HEAVY LOADS DOWN-HILL--

ANY IDEAS?
LCDiesel60
Oregon

 

[se2000]

When I got my M101A2, I had read about the banging so was looking for a non ball type.
Well I put an add wanted on craigslist and I get a reply from someone who doesn't need his. His has a 2 5/16 ball which I did not have anyways so I got it with an adjustable hitch mount for $40 and the guy even delivered it to my house.
I only used it once but it was no noisier than any of my ball mounts. Maybe the larger ball is the reason

 

[LCDiesel60]

Thanks SE2000-I do have that size and the first tow with the trailer on smooth pavement was just as you said with that size--then, needed the 2" for another trailer, left that smaller ball on and did towing through a neighbors field to haul some compost for the garden and really knocked about--so was concerned about back road trails--sounds like I need to try the larger ball off-road to really get an accurate test--
Thanks!
LCDiesel60
Oregon