4x4not

I just picked up a used trailer from a local guy in my Jeep club, and it needs a little bit of work. The trailer was used to haul equipment for landscaping and has a pintle ring on the trailer. The tongue on the trailer is a tiny bit bent so I am toying with the idea of cutting it off and welding on a new one. I already have a combo pintle hitch w/ 2 5/16" ball but my question for you guys is, do you think I should just keep the ring, or change this over to a standard 2 5/16" coupler when I rebuild the tongue? I'm more interested in what will tow better, as this trailer is only a 7K trailer and will NEVER see the kinds of loads that a pintle hitch is needed for. I've never towed with a pintle and I'm not sure if they bang around a lot, since there is a big gap? I know in a big dump truck you aren't going to notice that, but in my "little" 2500, I wasn't sure. Thanks!

Here are some pics for s&g





And one all hooked up with the Jeep sittin on it:

This is the max load I'll be hauling, plus a tongue toolbox loaded with stuff. I figure well under 7K.

John Faughn

Except for the noise its just what you like, but it would seem to me that if there isn't something on the market like a shaft with maybe a neopreem coller it might be time to make one. then you can still hall heavey if need be , or don't fix what isn't broken.

4x4not

OK, so I've had some other guys tell me to either get a real pintle hitch (not the hybrid-ball style) or to get a ball sleeve. I'm kinda new to towing, what are you opinions?

torquefan

A definite advantage of the pintle is better articulation than a ball. If you ever have to take your trailer over some rough terrain, I imagine the pintle would work better.

bmoeller

What tf said. I've seen the standard ball coupler on trailers spread out from being twisted too far, and it popped off the ball.

Fat Framer

If it were mine, I would change the ring to a ball coupler. Pintle rings beat the snot out of a truck, especially with a light load like yours. Heavy trucks dont have a problem with the beating because they have a heavier frame and suspension so you cant feel the trailer jump, are noiser so you cant hear the trailer jump and they really dont have a choice because I dont believe they make a ball coupler with a rating higher than 15k. I have the same pintle on my truck and use the 2 5/16" ball with no problems. I just moved the mounting bar in closer to the truck and drilled a new hole for the hitch pin. Less weight cantilevered = less of a chance of bending/breaking the receiver.

Ripper406

I have the same trailer type, but my reciever off the truck isnt a hybrid, just a pintle hook and their inst that much gap as the hybrid has. I rented one a few months back and it was really really annoying and too much jerk whenever I started from a stop or was slowing down. So my hitch now is a single purpose pintle reciever and I dont have too much jerk, just very lightly but I want to sort that out aswell. I plan on welding a small 1/8" bracket to the front of the Trailer RING to close the gap. Just small welds, no long continous bead, dont want to overheat the ring and weaken it.

turbo dreams

i would keep the pintle. and would just get a regualr pintle hitch. my next trailer will be pintle.

TxDiesel007

Agreed

I have pulled ball trailers over rough terrain, and not enough flex, the pintle allows for flex and articulation, but it comes at the cost of the sliding when you take off and brake... I have nothing but bumper pull trailers, yet i have no complaints with a pintle, I have pulled one around serveral times, and i like them, i plan to add a light duty pintle one to the fleet soon, and a sixteen foot cattle gooseneck...

Anyways back to topic, if it is gonna be a highway only trailer that will not see off the road alot, then couple it, much smoother ride, if it will see the occasional trail, or serve recovery purposes, keep the lunnete eye on there... and pintle it.. good luck!

Tx

4x4not

Well this trailer is (obviously!) being used to haul my Jeep, so the parking lots of the places I wheel can sometimes be kinda rough. I guess maybe I'll try it out, see how I like it, and then maybe get myself a standard pintle hitch and sell this one, or at least get a convert-a-ball (though I haven't seen any in 1 1/4" shank)

durasmack

I would keep the pintle because you do not have trailer end problems of couplers getting stuck. I will post up here later if I get a chance, a picture of a 2 5/16 12500 lb ball coupler that got over extended . the mobility range of a pintle is second to none. that is why they are so good for military uses.

I agree that if you will be pulling it on a lot of stop and go, you should get a dedicated pintle ring (i have combo, but typically dont pull pintle very far, and if i do, its all highway and doesnt matter). if you travel all highway to the trails, then go offroad throgh parking lots with it, the combo should work fine. also, make sure you have enough tongue weight. a lack of tongue weight will cause the trailer to bounce up and down in the hitch. and make sure the sync on your brake controller is setup right, better yet, get a proportional brake controller if you dont already have one. that will cause the trailer brakes to engage the same as the truck brakes and cause less slamming into the front of the pintle hitch.

just my $0.05

-Trey

durasmack

Looking at the trailer again, I would even leave the tongue alone unless it is pulls bad or looks twisted to the point of damage... but do yourself a huge favor and put a good heavy drop leg jack on there. much easier and more efficient than the A-fram jacks.

--Trey

4x4not

Most of my towing will be highway 95% of the way, then on some back roads to the trails. Of course I will probably hit stop-and-go traffic here in the DC area until I get to the open road I have a Prodigy brake controller, so I think I'll be OK there.

I plan on getting a new jack. The one on the trailer is in pretty bad shape. A drop leg sounds like a good idea, because I want the jack to be able to come up real high (for driving into the trails) but also not take me 10 minutes to crank it down!

durasmack

Sounds good. You should enjoy that trailer. I am looking for one just like that, so if ya see one....

Pintles seem to behave themselves on the highway where you are not stopping and going alot. When you are moving, there is resistance to keep the ring pulled against the rear of the hook, thus making it pull as smooth as any ball coupler. I think you should be fine with it. It seems like it would certainly be more trouble to replace with a different hitch. If you do opt to switch it, put a channel style coupler on there so that you can adjust it, remove the coupler for security, or switch back to pintle all in a matter of minutes.

Just $0.02 more.

Trey

4x4not

I'm in the process of refurbing the trailer now. I have the wood ripped off the dovetail, and plan on removing the rest tomorrow. I'm going to wire brush the frame and hit it with some fresh paint (it is REAL rusty - zero paint left). I'm going to redo the wiring, and fix some minor metal problems here and there, like the ramps. I want them to be held straight up so I can move the Jeep back a bit. I'm also toying with the idea of recess-mounting a large tool box at the very front. It is a metal truck box, so I'd recess the smaller part and have the part that sticks above the bed sit on the deck. I need to make some measurements of that tomorrow to make sure it won't hang down too low or interfer with the Jeep.