School me on pintle hooks.......

[nat]

I need a pintle for my FJ55. I found a guy that has one used, its 30 years old and made in the USA. He towed his John Deere 450 with it. Its the kind that bolts to the bracket which fits in the 2" hitch receiver.

The price is half of what it would be to buy the combo new.

What should I know or be wary of?

I have a bumper I made which has a 2" receiver.

 

[psfpilot]

I picked up a bolt-on unit for the 80 rear cross member's existing holes from Amazon with free super saver shipping; might compare the price there. I like having it permanently affixed to the cross member so I can use the class III receiver tube with a recovery point, ball hitch or bike rack without removing the pintle hitch. Make sure the pintle is large enough that there isn't excessive play btw it and the lunette ring. According to opinions of some on ExPo, this can lead to excessive clanking noise, so I bought a unit with larger weight capacity because it would be thicker and reduce the amount of free play.

 

[MANUCHAO]

If made in the USA it should be ok...
and as stated above.. yeah get something that's thicker to avoid the clunk once in a while..

 

[Brian in Oregon]

You may be able to slide an old radiator hose over the lower pintle jaw to keep the lunette from clunking around so much. I have the combo pintle and did just that with a 2" ID radiator hose.

There should be a tonnage rating on the pintle. Likely it will far exceed any kind of off road trailer you'd ever contemplate using.

Remember to use Grade 8 bolts and nuts.

 

[e9999]

pintle hooks are typically very sturdy indeed, with the little ones having capacities well in excess of what the cruisers can do. My little guy is an 8tons one. The smallest one I've seen is a 5. So even an old one should likely be plenty strong if in good condition. Have a quick look and see if any crack etc. Check that the safety lock works.
I like the pintle hook mounted on a vertical plate mount. Nice to have the height adjustment for different trailers, trucks etc. My mount has a *solid* 2" bar to fit in the receiver and a 10,000 lbs rating. I'm not hesitating to use it for reasonable pulls.
The pintle hooks with a built-in cast ball are interesting.