To pintle or not to pintle?
- Thread starter tx-jeremy
- Start date
I don’t mind it. I have a M101 army trailer and just left the pintle and surge brake for simplicity sake. It’s a little loud if you take off suddenly or brake suddenly, as there is some slop in it, between the pintle ring and hitch, but it doesn’t hurt anything.
One advantage is less likely for someone to steal it as most people probably wouldn’t be ready to just hook up and go. Once you are on the highway, I don’t think there’s really any difference in how it goes versus a standard ball and hitch.
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One advantage is less likely for someone to steal it as most people probably wouldn’t be ready to just hook up and go. Once you are on the highway, I don’t think there’s really any difference in how it goes versus a standard ball and hitch.
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ThundahBeagle
Well-known member
Had to move a relatively small generator across an electrical substation yard. Backed my truck up to it and realized a had a ball and the generator trailer had a ring. Hooked the ring over the ball and someone stood on the tongue while I slowly drove across the yard.
If I'm not wrong, a pintle can pull more weight than a ball, and it is also more articulate in an offroad scenario.
I dont tow much but thought I would buy one of those combination ball/ pintles, as it seems like the best of both worlds?
If I'm not wrong, a pintle can pull more weight than a ball, and it is also more articulate in an offroad scenario.
I dont tow much but thought I would buy one of those combination ball/ pintles, as it seems like the best of both worlds?
billiebob
Well-known member
I've had both, the pintle many years ago on an M38.... and several on commercial trucks. For light duty I prefer the regular ball hitch because it is soo much quieter. The ball fits much tighter and can be adjusted. The pintle hitch has tons of slack.
I've never damaged either so I would not say either is more durable.
But every pintle hitch I've seen is at double the weight of a ball hitch.
I've never damaged either so I would not say either is more durable.
But every pintle hitch I've seen is at double the weight of a ball hitch.
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mep1811
Gentleman Adventurer
I've used a pintle for over 20 years. Many people claim the pintle is noisy ,I have yet to encounter that issue. People want the "cool" look of an "off-road hitch" .
One advantage of a pintle is you don't have to be aligned to hitch up. You can be at 90 angle or any angle and as long as the ring is in the hitch you can hitch up.
One advantage of a pintle is you don't have to be aligned to hitch up. You can be at 90 angle or any angle and as long as the ring is in the hitch you can hitch up.
I haven’t towed my max coupler very much, maybe 4-5000 miles at this point, but I am starting to think that a pintle would be easier to live with. Certainly hooking up is a pain when you aren’t on a hard surface that you can easily roll the trailer on. My kids aren’t old enough to be decent spotters yet, so I have to connect and disconnect solo. I might make a new coupler with a pintle just to try it out.
I have both!
I have this on my xterra
And my scout trailer has a lunette eye
or 2” ball hitch so I can swap out as needed
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I have this on my xterra
And my scout trailer has a lunette eye
or 2” ball hitch so I can swap out as needed
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ThundahBeagle
Well-known member
I have both!
I have this on my xterra
And my scout trailer has a lunette eye
or 2” ball hitch so I can swap out as needed
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That's exactly what I was talking about! And it can handle more weight than my truck is rated to tow.
billiebob
Well-known member
Definitely one of my favourite rigs on Expedition Portal.
billiebob
Well-known member
That looks like a nightmare with way too many moving parts, I wonder how well it works below freezing. I wonder why they retired the DO45.
Sorry but both the ball and pintle hitch are wayy better designs.
Alloy
Well-known member
Pintle is easier to use but needs more hitch weight to keep it from rattling. I have a 1000lb trailer for my dirt bike with a 2" ball that rattles horribly because there isn't enough hitch weight. Even the ball mounts shakes in the receiver.
rnArmy's trailer has the axle further back plus a storage on the front which increases weight on the hitch.
rnArmy's trailer has the axle further back plus a storage on the front which increases weight on the hitch.
rnArmy
Adventurer
Thanks for the compliment!
Like one of the previous posts above, I also use this in the front of my trailer's 2" receiver hitch for the lunette ring:
Buyers Products Company Tow Eye Receiver Mount, RM1225E at Tractor Supply Co.
So listen up... you want the best of both worlds? You want a pintle hitch for convenience, but also want the 360-degree rotation of a multi-axis hitch? Then what you want is a Nato Hook Assembly, also known as a Dixon Bate Hitch, or an NRC2051. Two places I had bookmarked a while back:
NRC2051 - Land Rover Military Tow Jaw (johncraddockltd.co.uk)
NATO HOOK ASSEMBLY oe - NRC2051 (lrseries.com)
Google it and you'll probably find even more places that sell them. Mostly in England. Prices vary widely. They don't really sell them here in the states. A Land Rover dealer here might be able to get them, but it'll be at a premium price.
If you look at the picture from the first post above (NRC2051...) you'll see it shows a pin at the base of the pintle hitch that either holds a latch or lever up or down. Up it locks the pintle in place (see the tab on the jaw the lever's notch goes in?). Down (as shown) it allows the pintle hitch to rotate 360 degrees.
£351.22 (from lrseries.com) converted to US dollars is $398.45. Doesn't include shipping. Before Covid hit (and I quit my job) I was in contact with lrseries.com about this hitch, and shipping was going to be 44.99 Via fedex economy (which I thought was reasonable considering... but don't know if it has changed since then or not).
So figure about $450 delivered. That's not too much more than what you'd pay for compared to something like the Lock N Roll (which for my application would be about $383 with shipping), but would be really nice to find the NRC2051 cheaper. I've seen the Lock N Roll up close. They're nice, & not a bad option (it would be tops on my short list if this NRC2051 wasn't an option and I wanted a multi-axis hitch), but not as easy to hook-up as a pintle hitch. I just like a good pintle hitch - it just looks right on a Jeep. And so easy to use.
Lock N Roll | Articulating Trailer Hitches
And of course, with this pintle (any pintle hitch) you'd still need the adapter plate to allow it to slide into a 2" receiver hitch (if you don't already have one). Although some vehicles are designed with the four mounting holes to mount a pintle hitch (some Land Rovers, I think some Mitsubishi SUVs, etc.). Something like this adapter (a common item found in many places and height options):
Buyers Products 2" Pintle Hook Mount - 1 Position - 9" Shank Buyers Products Pintle Hitch 337PM84 (etrailer.com)
So that's my recommendation for having the best of both worlds - a pintle hitch with 360 a rotation. On the old WWII trailers, it was the lunette ring on the trailer that went 360-degrees, and the pintle stayed fixed in place.
What we need is a group-buy on these things if we can find them cheap enough.
Or if anyone finds a place that sells these NRC2051 pintle hitches cheaper, let us know. I still would like to get one.
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