M1009 Pintle Hitch Strengthening?

[LastFbody]

Is there a good way to strengthen the internals of where the pintle mounts on these trucks? I've heard all kinds of horror stories about other people seeing military trailers along the side of the road with ripped out pintles and bumper mounts still attached near army bases in the 80s and 90s, and I don't want that to be me. The max I would ever haul would be 2,000 lbs, but most of the time it'd be less. I do have an everyday truck for hauling heavier loads, but it'd be convenient to be able to use the Blazer in a pinch. Before hearing (and seeing) how weak the bumper mount is I had planned on bolting on a pintle/ball combo and painting it up with carc and making it look correct. I don't want to mess around with a class 3 hitch so as not to take away from the departure angle.

Any answers for what I'm looking to do?

 

[Barrman]

Take the pintle and the plate it bolts to apart. If they are all original I doubt you will get it all apart without breaking some or even all of them. Don't forget the long square tubing underneath. Look at the long bolts and see if they are actually still all there. They probably will be corroded away some on the shanks.

The bumper mount bolts will probably be good and strong still.

Put it back together with new grade 8 bolts torqued to whatever is proper for the bolt size. You now have a pintle as strong as it will ever be and probably not ready to fall off if you look at it wrong. How strong is that? The military said 500 pound max. Yet GM had bumper mounted hitches in the same basic bumper rated at 5,000. That leaves you in test pilot land.

You didnt mention what kind or size of trailer. M416, go for it. M101a2 or a3 with the surge brake is around 1,200 pounds empty and maxes out at 2,700 full. The truck will pull it down the highway just fine. Except the trailer is almost as big as the truck and handling can get tricky if the road is iffy. I have done what I suggested to my pintle and pull both of the above trailers regularly. I drive nice though.

What you do is up to you. I don't go heavier that a modestly loaded M101a2 with the pintle and will not yank anything with the pintle. I did put a receiver hitch on and have pulled heavier with it. But the short M1009 wheel base makes me shy away from that unless I am going short distance and low speed.

 

[cpf240]

Disassemble the pintle hitch components from the M1009, clean them up, then bolt them to an M1008. Done.

 

[LastFbody]

The only trailer of mine I'd feel comfortable with is the 4x8. Roughly speaking I'd guess the trailer is 700-800 lbs empty and pulls easy enough where you'd forget it's there with a 2nd gen Tahoe with a class 3. I don't know anything about military trailers, so not sure how my trailer stacks up weight wise vs. the M416 or the M101a2. Most times I'm hauling more bulk than weight, like push mowers, pressure washers, or brush for burning a county over. Total load on average would be in the low 1000s with at worst 100 lb tongue weight.

Figured my worst enemy would be the crappy old bolts. Wasn't sure if anyone had done anything like adding supports to the hitch.

 

[Chief_919]

Get a commercial hitch receiver and bolt it on. Run a pintle hook in the hitch.


Like this one.


You will spend more in material and time trying to rig something that probably still won't be a strong.

 

[LastFbody]

Get a commercial hitch receiver and bolt it on. Run a pintle hook in the hitch.


Like this one.


You will spend more in material and time trying to rig something that probably still won't be a strong.

No doubt that that's a way stronger design, but I want to avoid making my departure angle worse.

 

[corelokt]

I bolted one in and welded it to the pintle.

 

[The FLU farm]

As I recall, the stock pintle hook setup is rated at a measly 600 lbs. That didn't keep me from using an M1009 to move Class 8 trailers with a con gear on the property (upwards of 20,000 lbs. combined weight).
Later I installed a receiver, which necessitated removing the lateral bar stock supporting the pintle hook, making it weaker yet. Kept using the pintle hook since most ball mounts in riser position would interfere with the pintle hook and couldn't be used.
Did anything break? No, but I also used that pintle with some caution. Some people are capable of breaking almost anything.
And I agree with those who feel that the M1009 is not a good tow vehicle, mainly because of its short wheelbase. Yet, on a few occasions I hooked up two 8-foot HF trailers behind mine and drove into town for supplies, just because I could. Legal? No, but in CA only due to the fact that the 1009 was registered as a car, not commercial.
I'll dig up some photos of these what-not-to-do activities if anyone needs negative inspiration.

 

[dilligaf13]

.

 

[dilligaf13]

View attachment 666241
D'oh....

 

[LastFbody]

I bolted one in and welded it to the pintle.

So you modified a class 3 hitch so it was poking out from where the pintle used to be instead of underneath? If so thatd be a great solution for me. I'd be interested in seeing pics.

 

[computer54]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Idon't know because I have a 93 Chevy Truck K1500 4 by 4 with a 6.2lthat I got from the army and I used it to get a M105a2 trailer fromKy. to Nashville,TN. and it pulled it fine.[/FONT]

 

[M813rc]

A lot of people don't get the bit about it being the hitch that is the weak link when towing, not the truck. That 1009 picture sums it up though.

I agree with the comments about the 1009 not being a great tow vehicle for heavier trailers anyway, because they just plain get squirrely at times. I tow the HSTRU trailer and M101's behind mine for parades and such, but the trailers are empty, and my pintle has the "Barrman Upgrade". Besides that, I am Mr Milktoast when I'm driving MVs, so anything higher than 55 is seldom seen by me.

Cheers

 

[computer54]

ok by me

 

[Barrman]

Thank you Rory. I have never had an upgrade named after me. Cool.

I didn't suggest a receiver above because the op said he didn't want one. But as others have posted. That is the best option in my opinion. I regularly pull a lot hooked to the receiver. But drive like your grand mother going to a hair appointment and have brakes on the trailer.

 

[LastFbody]

Yeah i think just not towing with it at all is the best option for me. Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[Tinstar]

Sounds like a great excuse to get a M1008/M1028.