Hitch Fabrication

[shadowdd]

Was able to finish up the receiver hitch so we can pull civi trailers. We no can head out with the RV next weekend!!



Both the receiver and the pintle are fully functional!

 

[Artisan]

There is a-hundred ways to skin this gerbil.
You did good. Looks stout. My submission is
several months back in this thread. I added a
towbar bracket off mine.

 

[ke5eua]

It looks great. Can you post some more pics to give an idea of how you made it.

 

[Artisan]

It looks great. Can you post some more pics to give an idea of how you made it.

Who ya talkin' to?

 

[ke5eua]

Who ya talkin' to?

Op

 

[shadowdd]

More hitch pictures as requested

It looks great. Can you post some more pics to give an idea of how you made it.

I used 1 3/4" x 6" channel iron backed by 1/4" plate steel for rigidity. Then welded on the 2" receiver tube and gussets with 1 3/4" square tubing both in bottom and going up on diagonals. The 6" channel iron is welded along the sides of the pintle both on the front and back. Here are some more pictures from the hitch.



I hope this helps a little. I can say it is strong as heck, we pull our 32' toy hauler and it has a tongue weight of 1503 lbs and a total weight of 12,000 loaded.

Works like a charm even with trailer breaks.

Thanks, Bryan

 

[jeepzilla47]

Is the pintle hitch cast or forged? Seems like a simple solution

 

[shadowdd]

The OEM Pintle hitch is forged.

Bryan

 

[davo727]

Is it attached to the truck anywhere other than the welds along the rear of the pintle mount? You should run your safety chains through the pintle hitch eye.

 

[Shotgun]

Bryan in photo #3 it looks like the 1 3/4" square tubing going up on diagonals is welded to bed cross frame? Little hard to tell on my monitor as the image is dark? I like the way you did it, I have a small trailer I need to pull and been thinging about how to fabricate something to pull it. Got rid of the pick up and now my M923 A2 is my new pick up truck. Thanks Shotgun

 

[shadowdd]

Is it attached to the truck anywhere other than the welds along the rear of the pintle mount? You should run your safety chains through the pintle hitch eye.

It's welded all the way around the pintle hitch along with around the rear cross member. It doesn't flex in any direction and it was tested by pinning a hook hitch in the receiver and lifting the whole back end of the truck off the ground (I think I might have pictures of that somewhere) with a neighbors crane. If I ever notice any movement on the hitch I will be the first person to weld diagonal gussets up the the frame rails and I always run chains up to the tie down clevis' on the back just for safety's sake.

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[shadowdd]

Bryan in photo #3 it looks like the 1 3/4" square tubing going up on diagonals is welded to bed cross frame? Little hard to tell on my monitor as the image is dark? I like the way you did it, I have a small trailer I need to pull and been thinging about how to fabricate something to pull it. Got rid of the pick up and now my M923 A2 is my new pick up truck. Thanks Shotgun

Yes, the diagonals are welded from the sides of the receiver tube to the 6"channel which welded to the sides of the pintle hitch and rear frame cross member. It is very stout and doesn't flex at all... We hauled our RV aroun which has a 1503 lbs tounge weight and had the GoPro watching the hitch and nothing moved.... You can read how we tested the hitch when we first finished with the neighbors crane in one of the above posts. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanks, Bryan

 

[rosco]

You won't be able to use the top hitch with some trailers. The new one is too close below & to the sides, when the trailer swings, especially in off-road conditions.

 

[shadowdd]

You won't be able to use the top hitch with some trailers. The new one is too close below & to the sides, when the trailer swings, especially in off-road conditions.

Knock on wood but we shouldn't have a problem.... I have pulled about 6 different pintle hitch trailers and they all seem to do great even on the rough trails around here. I think that side view is a little deceiving with the angle the picture was taken. Hopefully nothing comes up.

Bryan

 

[Shotgun]

Thanks for taking the time to respond to all the questions. Shotgun

 

[redrustyhill]

What do you do for lights and brakes on
a civilian trailer?

 

[shadowdd]

What do you do for lights and brakes on
a civilian trailer?

I use a ruggedized harness from XM381.com.... Works great!

 

[Artisan]

5 Ton Trailer Hitch Artisan

The OP did a fine job. No doubt!

There are many ways to skin this cat. I looked at it for days and then I
decided to do things a little differently for my 5 TON. I considered the space and
laws and decided I should go w/ a much wider hitch assembly
to try to help prevent beheading folks who might rear end me and
to make a decent way to carry safely a Medium TowBar.

I am not perfect, nor are the law(s) but here is what I found to work very well
trying to take all issues into consideration.

My way is not perfect, it is just another way.

You can buy the main crossbar you see in my pics online, all welded up,
then just add my drops and gussets and sometimes adjust other parts
and then just weld things up and paint!. I used a certified welder just to make sure
I was doing things per code / the law to the best I can, trying to not leave any
stones unturned.

(Insert Shameless Plug Here) ;
FWIW, I sell the 4 brackets you see below. I do not sell the cross bar or hardware
nor the towbar or it's holder or hardware et al. My parts are all water jet precision cut and sent to you,
so you can have a certified welder weld / fit it all up and use it off road only, and
under 1 MPH MAX! (there, I appeased the law-gods)
HA! (Personally I have abused mine tremendously and no failures anywhere on it! )

NOTE the added TowBar and it's bracketry and U-Bolts I made so I have a
Towbar with me always wherever I go for me or others.

 

[Plugugly]

I have a hare brained idea to build a hitch that attaches using the shackle mounting points and the pintle itself. I think doing that would make it easy to take on and off, but it's a bit down the list of priorities as I don't really have any need for it. If I do build one, I'll post it for sure.

 

[Bonzai30]

I apologize if this is a dumb question, but I am getting my first MV this week, an M923A2, and I want to be able to pull civilian trailers, which is why I'm reading this thread. I was assuming I could buy a combination hitch ball and pintle hook in whichever ball size I need and swap that out for the pintle hook on my truck. I'd then get the military truck to civilian trailer wire harness and use that. Would that work, or can you not detach the pintle hook from the military trucks? Other pictures make it look like the pintle hook bolts on, but I'm perhaps being dumb in assuming that.