Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong

[steve tym]

Recently at the office, we changed everything over to either 2 5/16 or pintle. I had my guys set all their hitches to the same height so the trailers would always be dropped at the same height and we weren't adjusting trailers all the time to hook up.

 

[deezler]

As long as there is good tongue weight, a smooth road and a bit of luck they can get away with hooking that 2 5/16" coupler to a 2" ball. When you lose any of those then things get messy.

Yep. He primarily hauled in horse manure from the stables up the road, to amend his garden soil. So not that heavy a load, flat asphalt to get there and back. The trailer itself is still 3k lbs though.

Funny addition to the story, he first hauled his 10k dump trailer with a ford ranger, until he bent the frame and had to step up to a v6 F150 (that surely isn't rated much beyond ~7k lbs towing).

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Those things look wonderfully convenient for the rare person who's truck and trailer are near the same height. I've never been that lucky, and run drops of 4" to 6" between my current truck and various trailers.

There are adjustable versions and I have a few, I just don't like using them.

Instead, making the trailer match the height of the receiver minimizes the torsional stresses on the receiver.

 

[lilranch2001]

I’ve only got a 7K car hauler, but I’ve been considering going to pintlehook and ring, just to alleviate the pain in the arse of hitting the ball on socket just perfect, I’m by myself and it takes four or five shots at getting at it just right since I don’t have a back up camera.

For those of you that use the pintle hook, does it help that much in hooking up?

 

[Too many Kubotas]

For those of you that use the pintle hook, does it help that much in hooking up?

I'd say it absolutely does. You still need to be close, but nowhere near as precise.

It's especially helpful when grabbing a trailer with the tractor, just back up to the trailer and hook it. I often do not latch the pintle hook since the tongue weight keeps it in place while moving the trailer.

 

[4570Man]

I’ve only got a 7K car hauler, but I’ve been considering going to pintlehook and ring, just to alleviate the pain in the arse of hitting the ball on socket just perfect, I’m by myself and it takes four or five shots at getting at it just right since I don’t have a back up camera.

For those of you that use the pintle hook, does it help that much in hooking up?

I don’t love a pintle hitch behind a pickup. The slop isn’t really noticeable on a medium duty truck but it is on a pickup. Hooking up is maybe slightly better but not a big difference. A backup camera is worth its weight in gold for hooking up a trailer. One nice thing about having a pintle ring on the trailer is there’s no delicate latch to damage if you use equipment to move the trailer around.

 

[sixdogs]

Okay, just guessing here:

He probably had a 2" ball mounted, but trailer coupler was 1-7/8". So instead of buying a new ball, he bought that coupler and bolted it to the trailer.

Yes, to shorten them. Usually done to keep them from dragging on the ground, but here just out of poor judgement.

That must have been quite the sensation when the trailer came loose and was punching holes in the back of his vehicle. It's sad on my part to laugh but it's hard not to when karma is involved.

 

[ning]

I’ve only got a 7K car hauler, but I’ve been considering going to pintlehook and ring, just to alleviate the pain in the arse of hitting the ball on socket just perfect, I’m by myself and it takes four or five shots at getting at it just right since I don’t have a back up camera.

For those of you that use the pintle hook, does it help that much in hooking up?

I have one pintle/lunette setup and it allows for about an inch more slop side-to-side, though it's still going to depend on the weight of the trailer whether or not you can wrestle it into place if you're on the edge.

Probably cheaper to get a back up camera tbh, then you don't have to worry about it for any trailer.
I've been "planning" to get one for my truck for about 6 years now...

 

[BigBlue1]

I’ve only got a 7K car hauler, but I’ve been considering going to pintlehook and ring, just to alleviate the pain in the arse of hitting the ball on socket just perfect, I’m by myself and it takes four or five shots at getting at it just right since I don’t have a back up camera.

For those of you that use the pintle hook, does it help that much in hooking up?

For what you'd spend to change the trailer coupler and get a pintle hitch you could probably get an add-on backup camera. You'll be happy you did.

 

[lilranch2001]

I have never considered an add-on camera, my truck is 10 years old and they were only coming in the high-end trucks back then.
I suppose you can find them on Amazon?