Pintle Hooks

[ken richardson]

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere but I could not find it.

I bought a pintle plate and hook today from Harbor freight. The hook is a 5 ton model.

I saw in another post that "Slosurfer" had trouble with this pintle hook due to the size of the m416 lunette. (It was a 5 ton)

I do not have my trailer yet to compare it, but needless to say will have a long trip when I pick up my trailer (1200 miles round trip) and dont wnat any oh ****s along the way.

Anyone with the skinny on this Im all ears. What about it Slosurfer??

Thanks

Ken

 

[Willman]

Here is a great thread about hitch connections

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5875

I would go with the Lock N' Roll for offroad and highway use.

 

[ken richardson]

thanks

Thanks for reply Willman. Im affraid the lock and roll while a nice product is not in my future. I just dont nedd the extra cost for my needs. No serious off road stuff here. Im sure the military spec luna will be more than I will ever need.

Im just looking for someone to give me some feedback on the proper size pintle hook. I bought a 5 ton but if I need to step up a size to reduce friction then I will.

Thanks again.

 

[slosurfer]

I can go measure the diameter of my lunnete ring on my trailer. Are you getting a M416 or M100? I believe the M100's have a smaller diameter ring. Hold on, I'll go measure mine.

 

[ken richardson]

Thanks

Thanks Slosurfer. I meant to say Northern Tool instead of harbor freight. Its the Buyer brand ???

Anyway Im glad I saw your post cause it could be a bum deal to have the wrong one for the long haul I need to make.

My trailer is an m416

I appreciate your help.

 

[slosurfer]

It looks like the diameter of the ring material on mine is 1.75" and my 15 ton pintle appears to have an open diameter of about 2".

The 5 ton one that I originally had did work fine on the open road, it was just on really tight turns that it didn't work smoothly. Instead of the pintle sliding around the ring, it would bind slightly and then pop through as I was turning. It also probably depends on the brand of pintle, some 5 ton ones could be bigger, it just so happened that this was the only trailer store locally that actually carried pintle hooks so I just upgraded to their next biggest size.

Here is a great thread about hitch connections

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5875

I would go with the Lock N' Roll for offroad and highway use.

While I think those are great, I'm still sold on the old pintle and lunnete combo. I've used them just about everyday, during my time in the marines, towing and pushing 26ton+ amphibious assault vehicles through all types of terrain. (Mine rarely had to get towed ) I have also put over 6,000 miles on my m416, one was a trip that was 5,000 miles plus and never a bad wobble from it. I've even had it up to 40 mph+ through the Oceano dunes and while it does handle different in the sand it still tracked wonderfully.

 

[ken richardson]

yo surfer

Thanks bro. Ill step it up just to be on the safe side. The differnece in cost is minor.

Looks like the Uncle Sam solution has been good for ya so far. :wings: Glad to here the good and free report.

Thanks again.

Ken

 

[KevinNY]

These NATO style Dixon Bate rotating pintles are the bee's knees, super pricey though. I was lucky enough to work a trade for one to pull my Sankey wide track trailer.

http://www.dixonbate.co.uk/product_image.asp?PartNo=FV987958

 

[Willman]

While I think those are great, I'm still sold on the old pintle and lunnete combo. I've used them just about everyday, during my time in the marines, towing and pushing 26ton+ amphibious assault vehicles through all types of terrain. (Mine rarely had to get towed ) I have also put over 6,000 miles on my m416, one was a trip that was 5,000 miles plus and never a bad wobble from it. I've even had it up to 40 mph+ through the Oceano dunes and while it does handle different in the sand it still tracked wonderfully.

That is great!

I use the pintle and lunnete combo at work. It's a great setup don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of both but like the solid feel of the Rock N' Roll.

It's all about what you what from your hitch.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[MoGas]

These NATO style Dixon Bate rotating pintles are the bee's knees, super pricey though. I was lucky enough to work a trade for one to pull my Sankey wide track trailer.

http://www.dixonbate.co.uk/product_image.asp?PartNo=FV987958

Those are great. My buddy's Pinz has one of those. The problem here is the application. M416s have a lunette eye that rotates infinitely too.

Mine is 8 ton rated.

http://www.ballmounts.com/PintleBallCombo.html

 

[Clark White]

Why is a lock and roll better then a pintle? I keep seeing that mentioned on different threads and am curious since I'm looking to get a pintle.

 

[ntsqd]

I don't think it's necessarily better. Some complain or worry about noise with the pintle-lunette system. I've no experience with either, so no idea about that.

The thing I don't like about the L-n-R is how the "wrist" is built, essentially a big slightly loose rivet. Seems to work from the posts by those who've used & liked them, but not how I'd do it.

 

[Tucson T4R]

Another Option

The Tregg hitch is another fully articulating offroad hitch you might consider. I have one on my KK trailer and it works great. Solid proven design and queit with no slop movement.

Very common in Aus but may be challenging to find one sold in the US.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Someone please correct me if I'm off base here, but should you be careful using these types of pintles for recovery due to the trailer ball design? I've always understood that trailer balls are a bad idea to use as a strap point and one nice thing about a pintle is that it's easy to rig up recovery points. Would putting on something like this negate the downside of a trailer ball? It would for certain be less ideal than a real pintle because of the discontinuity of the ball and shoulder compared to the smooth surface of the real deal. And I would be very mindful of putting a bow shackle or other rigging on the ball, that certainly seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Just thinkin' out loud.

 

[ntsqd]

Good point!

To me the issue in using a trailer ball has been that the strap could pop off the ball, which this could avoid IF the 'latch' is closed. Though that doesn't address the ball coming off.
It seems odd to me that a ball can fail in a rescue situation when it should have more than enough Factor of Safety to deal with the impulse loading, yet I have seen pics of where a ball (?) went thru the back of the driver's seat & continued thru the windshield. Definitely better safe than sorry.