Limitations of the ball hitch

[jwiereng]

I was unable to find data on the grade of the bolt that is used. I found out that Category 4 three point hitch lower arms use 2 inch diameter lower link pins.

I am not aware of published data on the strength of the standard ball hitch with is also utilized in single shear.

A shorn coupling of any type would have disastrous consequences. It seems to me that the socket part of the coupler is also likely to fail in the even of suddenly stopping such as in a collision.

 

[java]

My ball is stamped 5k lbs.

I have had a latch fail. It wasn't the socket but the latch itself. Possibly due to the point using a 2" ball or something. The latch pin has multiple holes in it. It sheared at one of the holes. Half the break was rusty, so it had obviously been working on it awhile.

 

[jlandon]

It's permanent as I have a cross bar welded to it for my tire carrier. But yes it's a standard hitch, it just has some buts welded to it and bolted to the frame rail. So it's hard to remove.

Sorry, I'm not following you... You have a removal ball mount that was welded into your receiver? Or you have a ball mount.converted to a tire carrier that's braced on the frame?

As for that 'AG pin' shown above, there are multiple grades/sizes. The hitch ones I've used were rated at 11k, but I can't remember if that's WLL or SWL
..

 

[Martyn]

After a ball reaches 15' off vertical it is likely to come unhitched.

Not hard to do when the trailer and vehicle are leaning in different directions.

 

[java]

An 11k wll sounds good to me. I have a cross bar welded to the hitch. It's still removable, just requires unbolting the other side from the frame rail.

 

[java]

After a ball reaches 15' off vertical it is likely to come unhitched.

Not hard to do when the trailer and vehicle are leaning in different directions.

Have you seen this happen? I'm person? I wouldn't highly evaluate your opinion here.

Mine has been named well past 15' and it looks like Phil' has been also. Not saying doing it a few times will cause it to pop. But it sounds like you may have experience there.

 

[jlandon]

An 11k wll sounds good to me. I have a cross bar welded to the hitch. It's still removable, just requires unbolting the other side from the frame rail.

The problem is the pin holding the joint down. I would go with a 1 7/8" ball vs. the AG connection. Them to have a much great movement than a 2" or 2 5/16" while retaining strength enough to handle most loads you could safely apply with a 4Runner.

 

[RagnarD]

I have witnessed a few ball couplers letting go on flat land. No thanks.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

After a ball reaches 15' off vertical it is likely to come unhitched.

Not hard to do when the trailer and vehicle are leaning in different directions.

What size ball did you use in your testing?

I found testing different size balls give different results. 1 7/8 produced the best with more then 15°

 

[java]

I have witnessed a few ball couplers letting go on flat land. No thanks.

Details?

 

[highdesertranger]

hey phil how did you get the little degree mark on your 15 degree. I kinda assumed that is what others meant when they put the foot(') mark up. highdesertranger

 

[jlandon]

I have witnessed a few ball couplers letting go on flat land. No thanks.

I'd like to know as well. Stuff happens, its a fact of life... But properly torqued and attached ball systems have always done me right. In fact... Have never had an issue out of the dozen or so trailer setups we have, but the first offroad trip I guided for had a lunette failure for 'no apparent' reason, which was really 'owner never retorqued bolts'. Lots of time and energy wasted for a 2 minute job.

 

[Martyn]

My experience is with 2" and 50mm ball couplers.

I am not saying that anything greater than 15' will result in the ball coming out of the coupler, I'm saying that the ball starts to be more likely to release after 15'.

It will depend on the design of the ball coupler. Some just have a tab under the ball holding them in place, others capture a large portion of the ball.

Ball couplers release when the angle between the trailer and the vehicle become too great. It's a great system for on road travel. If you expect to exceed 15' of movement it may be best to go with an off road coupler.

 

[highlandercj-7]

The main reason a hitch ball fails is operator error. The jaring and slamming of a lunette is far more harsh on the tow rig and trailer than a ball set up. Especially in a lighter, bouncy, trailers while off road. Folks bring up the fact that heavy equiptment folks use lounette hitches all the time, yeah they do, however there is severe weight on them that causes them to stay planted in the pintle and not slam and bounce around. If I'm going to exceed the degree of safe operation of the hitch ball, I'd go with a multi-axis coupler like a lock n roll.

 

[rnArmy]

I've been happy with my lunette ring and pintle hitch set-up. A lot of the noise I originally had was the lunette ring banging around in the tongue receiver (pivoting ever so slightly on the hitch pin). A nut welded to a hole on the underside of the receiver tube (forward of the hitch pin) with a nut bolted through it to snug up the lunette ring solved that problem. It's actually fairly quiet; I don't have the "banging" sound everyone seems to complain about. And as far as up-and-down range of motion, I've got 180 degrees of movement. If the trailer tongue starts to hit the spare tire on the Jeep we've got a problem....

Trailer build: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/...ype-trailer-ultimate-build-up-thread-1180456/

I like it because it is inexpensive, and so easy to hook-up and unhook. Having said that, I'm sure a Lock-and-Roll hitch would ride nicer and quieter, and would have even more "twisting" range of motion.