M101A2 Hitch question

[mrfishaholic]

Tractor Supply Pintles are CRAP, wondering if he has a substandard / chinese mfr'd pintle. Cheep crap will often fail on us even though it feels heavy and looks like a good piece of Amrerican Steel, if it isnt stamped "made in the USA" I wouldnt tow with it.

 

[KsM715]

Does anyone have any suggestions or does anyone know the pintle hitch opening on a M1008 or M1009 truck to compare to?

The CUCV pintle is roughly 2" opening front to back. Same for the tractor supply hitch and I even looked at the pintle on my deuce....... still 2"

Can you get some pics of your pintle with and without a trailer hooked to it?

pic 1 CUCV pintle.
pic 2 is my TS pintle that I use on my tractor and on the back my civy vehicles to pull my 101 with.
pic 3 is the deuce pintle.

 

[dodgedougak]

pintle problems?

I just recovered two M101A2's from Anchorage. Pulled them 750 miles over potholes and frost heaves, no problem! Check out my album for pictures. Go to member list, I found my info on page 46 of the D's. I had two trailers, I turned one over and stacked it on top of the other one. I Used a straight, fixed pintle in my square tube reciever and the military lunette on the trailer.

 

[mrfishaholic]

will a duce pull a 101 series trailer with that pintle?

 

[KsM715]

Yes, but it will not be level, it will tow tongue high.

 

[KsM715]

Don't the 105 trailers have a swiveling lunette, or do they just flip to get different heights? The point is, something in the link has to swivel. The ball set up works to a point because the ball can accept a certain degree of L/R twisting. This is probably why the BIG rig pintles swivel, ever seen you local electric co or excavating trucks with theim. AW direct and many other distributers offer them, but if your Ram is using a 2" receiver then I don't know what to say. Maybe a larger pintle or smaller lunette.

The 105 lunette has "flats" on the top and bottom right next to where it attaches to the frame to keep it from swiveling.

 

[Cummins guy]

Here are the pictures...

 

[doghead]

Interesting hitch. I don't like it, at all. Too many components(chances for failure) and as you have experienced, not designed well(to take side load when backing up and turning).

I bought a drop/raise hitch from E trailers.com(great place to buy) and it is much more simple in design and has not failed yet.

http://www.etrailer.com/Ball-Mounts/Tow-Ready/63058.html

 

[Cummins guy]

I think that is the mount I will have to try. I have a lot of miles on this hitch with the ball adapter, I also have a friend with the same set up & he tows a 8500 lbs travel trailer. I just don't think it is set up for this type of use....

Or talk the wife into a M923...

 

[nk14zp]

I built mine.

 

[jimmy-90]

Tractor Supply Pintles are CRAP, wondering if he has a substandard / chinese mfr'd pintle. Cheep crap will often fail on us even though it feels heavy and looks like a good piece of Amrerican Steel, if it isnt stamped "made in the USA" I wouldnt tow with it.

I chose my hitch solely on the fact that it was american made. They say Chinese steel is full of lead. That may very well be the problem here.

 

[quickfarms]

You need to use a solid shank for an offset pintle mount.

 

[koolex11]

What did you decide to go with?

 

[Cummins guy]

I am going to go with a drop/raise plate & the same pintle I have, or I may try a ball pintle combo (because the opening is larger) not 100% sure what one I should use??

 

[K9Vic]

I am going to go with a drop/raise plate & the same pintle I have, or I may try a ball pintle combo (because the opening is larger) not 100% sure what one I should use??

I would get the ball pintle combo as I know it works well since that is what I use. Towed my M101A2 back 200 miles from Hooks to Fort Worth and will be doing it again Friday.

 

[harleyhouse]

I like my cast ball / pintle combo hitch, I bought it on ebay several years ago.
Sand blasted the years of paint off, primed painted and lubed it.
Mounted it to a custom made mount and heavy walled receiver tube.
works great! and it is a great Prius catcher!

 

[koolex11]

Harley's type is good, but be careful which combo you choose. If sized wrong, the lunette catches in the neck of the ball and can twist things up.

 

[MDSA]

CHAINS?? How short are your safety chains? We had the exact same problem. My son pulls our M101 behind his Rranger - too low. So we bought one of those hitches with the plate and it worked fine until...one day I came home from work and he said, "Dad, I bent the hitch." No way but it is bent to this day. We finally realized that the original safety allow slack, but the large hooks can bind big time and thus the bend.

 

[PeterD]

Just to raise the dead (thread) the other day I bent my adapter (identical to the one in post #35)! There is this thread, and another (I think on SS, I'm searching...) about bending these things. The other thread the guy posting says "doesn't know what happened" and I though, that's very odd, he must have noticed something.

Well I did it (exactly like him) and I have no idea why it bent. Was moving my M-200A1 with a MEP-004, and did hit a snow bank but not hard. Only hard enough that I thought, "Perhaps easier to just drive out and pull is forward so I can have some momentum." Did that, and drove right through the snow. Later I looked and it was bent--a six inch wide piece of 1/2" steel, bent without me feeling a thing.

I'd swear off those adapters (it is the one that gives the maximum lift) but without it I can't easily get the trailer on the truck or the Hummer.

 

[koolex11]

Yeah it apparently doesn't take much. I went out and bought a taller truck to solve the problem. My receiver is now 2 feet off the ground! I sold my 14-hole pintle plate to someone who needed it, but I wouldn't recommend using it for any heavy duty application!

Welding on some support gussets on each side might be the only way to go.