Overland Journal: Discovery I, 5-speed

[Yorker]

Any details on the rotating loop (lunette ring)? Never seen one.

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Just, the idea of using a pintle hook as a recovery point intrigued me.

The British Military Sankey trailers- at least the smaller ones have a fixed lunette so the pintles on military Land Rovers etc must be able to rotate. This is the opposite of the smaller US and Canadian military trailers which have fixed pintles and lunettes that rotate. There are rotating pintle hooks available fron Dixon Bate and surpluus dealers in the UK- and there are rotating ones available here in t north america- though they may have different mounting patterns- the British ones have the standard 4 bolt pattern IIRC.

You can use pintles for recovery if you use your head- use common sense though. F+R pintle hooks can be pretty handy too, except I find you tend to walk into them and gouge the crap out of your shins and knees with the front ones for some reason...

 

[Scott Brady]

Since you'll have the hubs off to do the brake conversion, I also suggest installing RTC3511 double lip seals instead of the stupid OE Disco seals.

Thanks! I will add that to the list.

 

[Crookthumb]

I was just checking on the brake lines because I thought the D1s use female fittings on the flex lines for the front calipers and the Defenders use male fittings. So when you get new extended lines you don't buy extended female flex lines when you need a male fitting for the Defender calipers. Is this not true?

 

[benlittle]

I did the D90 conversion on my Disco a couple months ago. I was fully expecting to be disappointed and I was completely off-base.

The swap is extremely easy. If you can change a rotor you can do the swap. No clearance issues, no alignment issues. Bolt on. I know most of you know that, I'm just putting it out there to dispel any thoughts others may have in the future.

I used 94 D90 Calipers, Greenstuff Pads, 10in Female (European Style, 8in is the minimum that would work) brake lines and slotted, vented, drilled rotors from BritPac. The difference is dramatic and I highly recommend it to any disco owner.

 

[Antichrist]

I can easily get a pintle hook setup, but, I don't think they're rotating? The one pictured can swivel? Interesting. I'm pretty sure the ones I've seen are fixed.

Probably. While you can get swivel ones here, the ones I've seen are much larger.

How can these be used as recovery points? I can see clipping a strap in there, but I'd think it could pull into the gap in the jaws? Or do you put a shackle in the jaws and the strap in the shackle?

No shackle. I've never tried it with US pintles, but I've never had an issue with the loop wedging in the pintle. It closes really well, and if you latch it, it stays.

How noisy is a pintle hook trailer coupling? I'd only use it off-road, but I'd fear the rattling could drive me insane.

If the lunette is matched with the pintle they aren't too bad, but I've been driving series rovers for 35 years, so YMMV.

The MSRP for the one pictured is $340, but I've seen them used/surplus on ebay for as little as $50. They are very easy to rebuild.

 

[benlittle]

I'm not sure if the dixon bates will even work on the ARB winch bumper. Will you be able to get the pin out from the top or would you have to mount it upside down? I run the shackle mounting brackets from EE. I know the dixon bates are tight but I hate having anything rattling on my truck. I could just see those chains rattling and driving me crazy.

Loves me my EE shackle mounts too Simple and strong.

 

[michaelgroves]

How can these be used as recovery points? I can see clipping a strap in there, but I'd think it could pull into the gap in the jaws? Or do you put a shackle in the jaws and the strap in the shackle?

I'm not a fan of using a single central point for recovery - a long bridle attached to two chassis mounts is far better IMO.

My "nato-style" pintle, shown below, could rotate, or be locked in one position. There was never an issue with ropes or straps pulling over the (tiny) gap - but then I was using pretty hefty ones, so it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

As you can see, I didn't just bolt the hitch to the rear crossmember!




I used the Defender 130 mounting "box", which allowed me to install supports at a decent angle back to the chassis members in lieu of a bridle, but it would have made towing a heavy trailer a bit trickier with the extra sway. (The 6x6 configuration makes this much less of an issue in any case).

 

[R_Lefebvre]

My the same token, what if the pintle were bolted to a very stout beam, which is bolted to the frame rails? Actually, I don't even know if that's possible, because I need to accomplish a pretty substantial drop to get down to the hitch height. My truck frame is 27" high, and the trailer is only 20".

 

[michaelgroves]

just mount the Pintle on a reciever insert, most are adjustable for height so the trailer can be leveled.

thats the advantage of the revolving part being on the tongue not having the revolving pintle.

If it's to be used as a recovery point, you'd have to make sure the receiver insert itself is well designed and doesn't rely unduly on the rear crossmember. Most tow hitch assemblies I've seen here in the UK (receiver types are very rare) are not ideal for recovery points. Oddly enough, they are often better when the pintle is mounted low, because then most of the force acts on the struts that go back to the chassis rails.

I have seen some truly awful Defender drop plates that bolt solely onto the crossmember, with just a big backing plate on the far side for reinforcement. Then the ball or pintle is adjusted low on the drop plate, six inches or so below the level of the bottom of the crossmember...

Like this:

 

[muskyman]

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[R_Lefebvre]

Interesting. Well, the horse is already out of the barn on this one. Pretty much too late, but I could have done something like that if I set out from the beginning. Also should be noted that I also want it towable with a minivan so... I had a number of compromises to deal with.

I also have a flat bottom so it can be dragged.

 

[timmy!!!!!!!]

I have used the recievers on rovers as a recovery point but I dont prefer them. The factory reciever on the D1 and RRC have always made me nervous.

I have never heard you say this before. Why is that? I always have liked having a reciever mounted shackle for recovery purposes.

 

[jabber]

No shackle. I've never tried it with US pintles, but I've never had an issue with the loop wedging in the pintle. It closes really well, and if you latch it, it stays.

I beg to differ on this.... It can be done, but I've seen a strap get pulled partially through the small gap in the jaw. It would be safer to use a shackle.

Cheers,
Jabber

ps.. Beautiful rig and an excellent write up in OJ...

 

[Michael Slade]

because they are welded on and some not as well as others

I dont trust those hitches for the rated tongue weight either, they just dont have enough meat in them for my taste.

The DII hitch was a vast improvement over the D1/RRC

That's pretty interesting. I always appreciated the stoutness and construction of the RRC/D1 reciever. When that DII reciever came out it looked a little wimpy to me. I know that when I was shooting for WARN, we bent the shiat out of a D2 reciever, and I have reefed and yanked and recovered much harder on my RRC reciever with nary a mark or bend.

Personal experience not backed by hard scientific data.

 

[Antichrist]

I beg to differ on this.... It can be done, but I've seen a strap get pulled partially through the small gap in the jaw. It would be safer to use a shackle.

Maybe mine closes better than most, but I stand by my statement about my personal experience.