Rear bumper towing point

[harveya]

Does anyone know how string the rear bumper is on a '93 80 series.

Mine has a mounting point for a pintle hook, not sure what sort of strain it can take, whether it is worth buying a pintle hook as a recovery point just in case I need to pull anyone out of anywhere or whether it is very low strength.

Cheers

 

[Gold Finger]

3.5 KG towing.

I have a NATO pintle also and use it for towing and recovery. The rear cross member is built comparatively strong but that is a contentious statement here, this subject has been covered in depth recently and some of the issues rose. The US has different legislation covering towing points and the answers that you may get here will not necessarily by applicable to us in the UK though common sense is universal

 

[Scamper]

I belive it has been stated here repeatedly that the only reason the rear bumper mount is not used in the US is because of US regulations--as such, Toyota does not recommend towing via this mount. Probably for liability reasons.

However, as you have noted, it's quite capable of towing, and was designed by Toyota to do just that.

 

[Gold Finger]

I thought that it was in use by some members in the US and that is seen on some threads, that it was not prohibited, but had only a low towing lbs rating

 

[semlin]

I still can't get over that 3,500 kg rating. Are you sure that's not the max rating of the pintle itself rather than the truck? Also, what is the tongue weight it can handle?

Toyota does not officially condone using the pintle hitch in north america so they don't supply any information about its capacity here. I am sure this is a legal liability issue.

I do not know if it is illegal to use it but I doubt it. Many people fabricate their own bumpers with tow hitches.

North Americna trailer hitches have class rating system which limits the maximum capacity of a tow hitch that bolts horizontally to a vehicle to 3500 lbs (provided the hitch also uses a removable hitch receiver). I believe the rating system is the reason Toyota limits towing capacity on an 80 to 5,000lbs to a frame vertically bolted hitch, which, by no coincidence I think, is the maximum capacity of a "class 3" hitch without a weight redistribtuion system.

The 5,000lb north american rated towing capacity of an 80 is the same for all models. It takes no great leap of faith to conclude that a 93-97 with a more powerful motor and better brakes and better tranny and an identical frame can tow more than a 91-92. The north american rating is thus not reflective of the true towing capacity of the truck, but of Toyota's concerns about legal liability.

 

[LX_TREME]

Is that what it looks like?

 

[NorCalDoug]

Yeah Endless -- the pintle looks almost like that, but not as chromed and shiny

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

EnDless,

That is too bling bling for a pintle hook. Is that on the back of your rig?

 

[IdahoDoug]

Where did the "3.5KG" rating for the 80s center bumper come from? I'd be curious to know that as I don't think that point is well reinforced for more than mild towing.

I would not use it as a recovery point under any circumstances. Recovery puts FAR more strain on than towing does. Why not use the factory supplied rear recovery points, which bolt directly to the frame ends for proper longitudinal recovery strength?

DougM

 

[Brentbba]

I thought the OEM full blown hitch was 3500kg/5000lbs and the pintel was only 1500lbs in the US of course - thanks to the damn lawyers and bleeding heart juries and a country that is too quickly becoming one of 'it's got to be someone else's fault! Off soap box now.

 

[LX_TREME]

Yeah Endless -- the pintle looks almost like that, but not as chromed and shiny

EnDless,

That is too bling bling for a pintle hook. Is that on the back of your rig?

Its CA Doug, what can i say, hardly rain and rust free....always shiny

4x4CPOSEADOG, no its not my rig that pics from '94black LC80 in Aussie

 

[e9999]

3500 kg is about 7000 lbs...

 

[LX_TREME]

3500 kg is about 7000 lbs...

Sorry wrong 1kg = 2.2 Lbs so,
3500kg = 7700 Lbs to be exact

 

[e9999]

Sorry wrong %$#@^ 1kg = 2.2 Lbs so,
3500kg = 7700 Lbs to be exact %$#@^

what part of "about" do you not understand, ?
point was, it sure ain't 5000 lbs...

 

[PHAEDRUS]

Well I cut the cross member off of my truck and am in the middle (trying deperately to find more time) of making a new bumper for it. the preliminary steps are using a class IV hitch receiver tube that will stick out about where the pintle hook used to be. I will post up some pics once I get done. hopefully this weekend.
Dave

 

[nakman]

to the good people of this thread, I give you this units converter. May you never estimate pounds & kilograms again..

 

[IdahoDoug]

heh...

 

[harveya]

Sounds like I started a war there almost, sorry guys, anyway it sounds like it would do the job. To be honest I wasn't expecting it to be full strength and I'm not sure it would be legal here in the UK for that use either as Toyota probably didn't put it through for testing on construction and use regs - I've never seen anyone actually using one here either.

However I don't want to use it for serious towing, just thinking about getting a pintle hook/tow ball unit and then using it to mount a bike rack off most of the time and then using the tow ball, I could either use it as a rear recovery/towing point for helping other people get out of the brown stuff or also use it for a dismountable towball mounted winch fitting.

Thanks everyone for all the replies, thought it must be usefull for something, can't imagine Toyota going to the expense of building that big solid rear bumper and drilling holes and fitting captive nuts, just for the looks.

 

[Gold Finger]

Sounds like I started a war there almost, sorry guys, anyway it sounds like it would do the job. To be honest I wasn't expecting it to be full strength and I'm not sure it would be legal here in the UK for that use either as Toyota probably didn't put it through for testing on construction and use regs - I've never seen anyone actually using one here either.

However I don't want to use it for serious towing, just thinking about getting a pintle hook/tow ball unit and then using it to mount a bike rack off most of the time and then using the tow ball, I could either use it as a rear recovery/towing point for helping other people get out of the brown stuff or also use it for a dismountable towball mounted winch fitting.

Thanks everyone for all the replies, thought it must be usefull for something, can't imagine Toyota going to the expense of building that big solid rear bumper and drilling holes and fitting captive nuts, just for the looks.

I tow with one of these pintles from that point and I have seen an other 80 also
you will also see A fair number of Landover’s at trials with them on and very nearly every 4 x4 in the British Armed forces and the same bolt pattern can also be found on many 4 x 4 that supply NATO forces.

I have towed with this kind of mount for many years on Landover’s and used it for heavy snatch recovery with KERR kinetic recovery rope, the Landover cross member in my opinion is less strong than that found on the 80.

Part Number FV987958

NATO Stock No: 2540-99-825-6119

http://www.dixonbate.co.uk/html/pintles.htm

 

[harveya]

I tow with one of these pintles from that point and I have seen an other 80 also
you will also see A fair number of Landover’s at trials with them on and very nearly every 4 x4 in the British Armed forces and the same bolt pattern can also be found on many 4 x 4 that supply NATO forces.

I have towed with this kind of mount for many years on Landover’s and used it for heavy snatch recovery with KERR kinetic recovery rope, the Landover cross member in my opinion is less strong than that found on the 80.

Part Number FV987958

NATO Stock No: 2540-99-825-6119

http://www.dixonbate.co.uk/html/pintles.htm

Excellent, I'll have to look on ebay and see what I can find - I'd like to get one of those 4 bolt combined Pintle Hook and receiver hitch combos.