Pintle Hook Assy - tow ball

[HelluvaEngineer]

For some reason the tow ball is missing on my pintle hook assembly in my m1009. I'd love to put a 2" ball on there. Has anyone had any luck finding a good match? The shank diameter is pretty close to 1.25 inches but not quite for some reason.

I tried this model and it doesn't quite fit in the bore. http://www.curtmfg.com/part/40090

I am considering trying a cylinder hone to clean it up just a bit but want to make sure I'm not missing something obvious.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Well, they didn't come with a ball so yours has been retrofitted. The 4 bolt pintle balls combos are not costly so you could replace it. Give it a real close look, you might find a mfrs name or a number to search. This would help in finding a replacement ball.

 

[HelluvaEngineer]

Thanks. That's helpful. I was able to track it down. Buyers 8 ton. They sell replacement balls.

From the looks of it someone overloaded this thing a little. I'm not sure what the stock config looks like but there's some reinforcement bar behind the mount and it's very slightly bent.

 

[marchplumber]

Well, they didn't come with a ball so yours has been retrofitted. The 4 bolt pintle balls combos are not costly so you could replace it. Give it a real close look, you might find a mfrs name or a number to search. This would help in finding a replacement ball.

Agree with Kenny. Yet, doesn't mean Uncle Sugar didn't add one later for a particular reason. Or, could easily have been P.O...................... I would think you would want the shank to be as snug through the hole as reasonably possible. Check with mfg.

 

[cucvrus]

That mount is overloaded empty. I have torn the entire assembly off 2 M1009's from using a bubba rope. I also swelled 2 and bent the bumper on a few using it to pull trailers. I am not very trusting of a stock M1009 pintle hook. It looks nice. It is held on by 4 3/8" bolts and 2 7/16" bolts that are bolted thru an 11gauge steel tube that is filled with rust. I opt to put a class 3 receiver and use a slide in pintle hook and ball. I like the look of the stock pintle on the M1009 but not very strong. I had one that came from GL that had a sticker inside that said do not tow with this vehicle. The M1008 and m1028 on the other hand indestructible pulling anything.

 

[Mainsail]

From the looks of it someone overloaded this thing a little.

Then it's garbage- replace the entire thing, not just the ball.

 

[HelluvaEngineer]

Then it's garbage- replace the entire thing, not just the ball.

Nah, sorry. I don't mean the hook assy. I mean the plate it's mounted to and some tubular steel behind it. I'm not familiar with the mounting system obviously.

The bumper already has a crack and I was thinking about fabricating a new one when the weather cools down. When I do that I'll get in there and figure out how to attach something sturdy to the frame or rather attach the bumper to the frame and make it strong enough to mount directly to.

 

[corelokt]

A pair of braces, welded from the hitch plate to the step bumper fat will help a little. A real tow hitch is best. It takes some fabrication to work around the military stuff, and you can weld them into one unit.
The 1009 is not a heavy frame no matter how you try it tho.

 

[cucvrus]

I have had the experience with the weak M1009 pintle hook. Pulled my friend out of the mud and when the hitch left loose on the last pull this is what I found. He came driving out. The Bubba Rope held up well and the hitch fell about 10 feet from the back bumper. if that would have been a chain. I think someone would have been hurt. The nylon recovery strap works but it needs something tough to attach it to. I told them the lower hitch and never went back to look. I fixed it all up. It tore the rear cross member on the frame.

 

[The FLU farm]

That mount is overloaded empty.

That's unfortunately only a slight exaggeration. Yes, the departure angle suffers a bit by installing a receiver, but that's a small sacrifice.
Not that the M1009 is a great tow vehicle, but at least a properly installed receiver should be used if towing with one.

 

[HelluvaEngineer]

Yeah, that little 1" square tube is the one that's deformed on mine. Please tell me that's not the only thing supporting that mount.

 

[M813rc]

Here's another picture (I don't remember whose) of a stock M1009 after pulling a trailer, just in case you are not convinced yet.

The military restriction on M1009s to tow M416 trailers only was not based on the vehicle's towing capacity, but on the weak hitch mounting.

Cheers

 

[cucvrus]

I want to add. I rebuilt my pintle mounting on the back of my Mule M1009 and I replaced the draw bar and with a new bar 3/16" thick tube. I added 1/2" grade 8 bolts vs 7/16" stock. I welded a plate on the rear cross member and added 1/2" grade 8 bolts vs the 7/16" stock. I could do nothing to reinforce the small 3/8" flange bolts that attach to the bumper. All in all the hitch is sturdier. But still lacks any real strong mount to do Bubba Rope recovery's. I have the draw bar / rear bumper bent and the mounting plate is swell out in the center from 2 winters of pulling vehicles from snow. I still swear by the M1008 M1028 as being virtually indestructible in the pintle hitch area. Keeping the hitch spindle greased and a got spring and lock on the latch of the pintle is a great help also. But I don't think I would tow a trailer with my M1009 pintle ever again. The class 3 has twice + the strength.

 

[corelokt]

When you add a hitch, weld it to the step bumper and add the two braces to tie the step to the pintle plate. Then you've got a bubba rope tie down and a good point for a brake safety switch cable to attach to. I like the d rings and longer chains for the safety chains. Having everything attached to the hitch makes me picture a trailer with all it's safety stuff attached to a hitch that's attached to nothing, bouncing down the road.

 

[cucvrus]

DO NOT HOOK A Bubba Rope to the D rings. They have No angular pull strength at all. They will be straight like a grab handle when you pull. They will fly and bend things. That D ring is for straight up and down lifting and tie down. They are not strong. I have pictures somewhere where the tube tore out of the back of my M1028 and the D ring was never found. Zing it was gone. The big pin ripped out and was found 10 feet away the 1/2 inch bolts sheared and the tube stayed in the hole with the 1 back bolt barely holding it. Pulling a Ford F450 out of a mud hole with chains and a large nylon strap. The truck was still stuck and I removed the chains and used the strap only on the pintle hook. Lesson learned. Plow frames have a tendency to get stuck in mud and make the whole extraction a mess. I had a guy stuck one night in the snow while plowing. I backed up he hooked up the strap tooted the horn I drove away the truck came along for a while and the lights on his truck went out. I was thankful he turned them off. And when I got to the road all I had was the plow frame and all. Funny stuff. He was the one that hooked it up. Needless to say we worked all night to get it welded and bolted back on. When we looked close it was amazing it stayed on that long.

 

[corelokt]

Duly noted. I've got to have in welded after all the changes mounting the hitch.