Class 2 receiver and pintle hook---suitable for recovery use?

[bsmith123]

I have a 92 Jeep YJ and a Garvin ATS front bumper with a class 2 receiver I plan to equip it with a pintle hook --does that seem suitable as an alternate recovery point or to pull someone else out with appropriate equipment otherwise?

The bumper does have d-rings but i have a few semi rig tow ropes with thick loops at the ends and for a quick job its convinient to use in the pintle---ive done this with a class 3 before on the back.

Thoughts?

 

[Joe917]

A pintle is suitable, avoid the pintle and ball combination for recovery.

 

[billiebob]

NO, a trailer hitch is NOT designed as a recovery point. It is designed to handle 10-15% of the trailer weight.

Sure for a quick little pull it is fine but if you are mired in mud, do it correctly, use the frame mounted recovery points.

 

[Joe917]

Pulling a 26 ton fully loaded bus with a pintle hitch. The hitch is strong enough.
The weak point will be the class 2 hitch, but that will be stronger than d rings on the bumper. A solid connection to the frame is key. When I give someone a pull I make sure they hook to their vehicle. I tell them whatever they hook to is coming out, hopefully with the rest of the vehicle attached.

 

[gatorgrizz27]

Pulling a 26 ton fully loaded bus with a pintle hitch. The hitch is strong enough.
The weak point will be the class 2 hitch, but that will be stronger than d rings on the bumper. A solid connection to the frame is key. When I give someone a pull I make sure they hook to their vehicle. I tell them whatever they hook to is coming out, hopefully with the rest of the vehicle attached.

Yes. I had an F-250 CCLB diesel on 36” super swampers that I used to stick past the frame rails and to the point of water coming into the cab. It was generally pulled out by a buddy’s F-350 CCLB DRW diesel on 35” M/T’s, and 60’ of strap. After 1 or 2 light snatch attempts, it was “back up as far as possible and hold the pedal to the floor.”

The link was a pair of 4” straps and some pintle hitches.

 

[MOguy]

I have a 92 Jeep YJ and a Garvin ATS front bumper with a class 2 receiver I plan to equip it with a pintle hook --does that seem suitable as an alternate recovery point or to pull someone else out with appropriate equipment otherwise?

The bumper does have d-rings but i have a few semi rig tow ropes with thick loops at the ends and for a quick job its convinient to use in the pintle---ive done this with a class 3 before on the back.

Thoughts?

Your YJ has a frame. Why not mount your recovery point to your frame.

 

[1stDeuce]

NO, a trailer hitch is NOT designed as a recovery point. It is designed to handle 10-15% of the trailer weight.

Sure for a quick little pull it is fine but if you are mired in mud, do it correctly, use the frame mounted recovery points.

BillieBob, I'm sure this is well meaning, and it seems to be oft repeated, but it's ENTIRELY incorrect.

To clarify, the bumper in question is directly mounted to the frame and well built, as are most 2" receiver hitches. It is in effect a front mounted receiver hitch.

This idea that a hitch is only designed to handle some small fraction of trailer weight is totally and completely false. Dynamic loads when towing often equal or exceed the actual ratings of the hitch by several times, both in tongue weight and in total capacity.

The lightest of pintle hitches are rated for a 20,000lb trailer and up to 5000lb of tongue weight. NO factory "frame mounted recovery point" is that strong. Even the forged tow hooks on a YJ are only rated at 10,000 lbs.

Finally, pulling from a reciever hitch (or solidly built bumper in this case) distributes the pull over both frame rails. This is always better for your vehicle than pulling from one rail, especially in hard pulls.

In general, with a solid receiver hitch or bumper mounted receiver, there should be no problem at all pulling from a forged pintle hitch properly pinned in. Your large dia Bubba Rope will likely appreciate the larger radius of the Pintle vs. a tow hook or shackle. I will agree that staying away from the ball type pintle for this sort of use is a very good idea.

That said, a pintle is a very HEAVY way to achieve a pull point unless it's all you have. I would recommend a straight 2" insert with a 3/4" shackle as a very good lightweight option. The shackle mounts that pin in are also far lighter than a pintle... You are not likely to do any damage to your rope with a shackle, and weight adds up, and is seldom helpful to the average wheeling or expo rig.

Good Luck!

 

[Metcalf]

Use as few connection points as practical. Adding 5-10lbs of steel with a pintle hitch adapter and pintle doesn't sound like the most streamlined solution possible for a recovery with a receiver. If at all possible, I will hook the strap/rope directly to the pin in the receiver hitch.

The forces that can be generated with modern recovery ropes/straps are pretty extreme. I have seen factory receiver hitch tubes start to bend doing mild to medium recoveries. When in doubt, use more shovel.

 

[billiebob]

BillieBob, I'm sure this is well meaning, and it seems to be oft repeated, but it's ENTIRELY incorrect.

To clarify, the bumper in question is directly mounted to the frame and well built, as are most 2" receiver hitches. It is in effect a front mounted receiver hitch.

This idea that a hitch is only designed to handle some small fraction of trailer weight is totally and completely false. Dynamic loads when towing often equal or exceed the actual ratings of the hitch by several times, both in tongue weight and in total capacity.

The lightest of pintle hitches are rated for a 20,000lb trailer and up to 5000lb of tongue weight. NO factory "frame mounted recovery point" is that strong. Even the forged tow hooks on a YJ are only rated at 10,000 lbs.

Finally, pulling from a reciever hitch (or solidly built bumper in this case) distributes the pull over both frame rails. This is always better for your vehicle than pulling from one rail, especially in hard pulls.

In general, with a solid receiver hitch or bumper mounted receiver, there should be no problem at all pulling from a forged pintle hitch properly pinned in. Your large dia Bubba Rope will likely appreciate the larger radius of the Pintle vs. a tow hook or shackle. I will agree that staying away from the ball type pintle for this sort of use is a very good idea.

That said, a pintle is a very HEAVY way to achieve a pull point unless it's all you have. I would recommend a straight 2" insert with a 3/4" shackle as a very good lightweight option. The shackle mounts that pin in are also far lighter than a pintle... You are not likely to do any damage to your rope with a shackle, and weight adds up, and is seldom helpful to the average wheeling or expo rig.

Good Luck!

never one to argue, I sent an email to Reese Hitch for their answer,,, I'll let ya know.

 

[calicamper]

This tow company in Utah has a off road recovery service they use XJs and his approach is always snatch strap via pintle hitch. He beats the crap out of the XJ. The hitch seems fine

 

[calicamper]

Yeah don’t hook to the pin. Use a proper hitch attachment and strap. If you damage a hitch bracket which is typically through bolted in multiple places to both frame rails, chances are you probably have bigger problems than the tweaked hitch. Most damage on both ends happens with pulls that aren’t strait.

 

[rayra]

Seconding the 'not a strong recovery point, regardless of pintle or shackle rating. The trailer hitch is a weak point.

Too, getting a pintle on a Class II might lead to the mistaken attempt to drag a too-heavy mil trailer with it, on that class II.

 

[Binksman]

My own experience is that I have hitches on my personal vehicles and I have to put shackles or hooks mounted to the frame on race trucks I've helped build. I've driven commercial vehicles that had both. In 20 years of working with trucks, I've broken two recovery hooks, and witnessed two other frames bend using the frame mounted recovery hook. I've NEVER broken a hitch or a pintle. The only time I saw a hitch break was due to frame rust, not the hitches fault.

The main thing is don't break something by doing something dumb. That's the hardest thing in the world for some people. Use good judgement with your recoveries, recognize when it's time to call a bigger truck or wrecker, and you will be fine.

 

[shade]

class 2 receiver

Many of the earlier examples given appear to be using stronger-than-Class 2 receivers. It would be easy to exceed the load rating of a Class 2 hitch doing a recovery.

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• Class II hitches are weight carrying (WC) hitches rated up to 3500 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 300 lbs.
• A Class II hitch usually has a 1-1/4" square receiver opening.
• A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch.
• Class II hitches usually attach to the bumper or vehicle frame.