Pintle receiver Danger

[nobull1]

Twice in the last year I have had my pintle ring come off my trailer while driving down the road. Both times I did not hook up or check that it was properly connected which makes it my fault. The problem is when you drop the lock down to secure the ring there is a pin that goes through a hole on both sides and through the lock lever. The problem is if a person pulls forward on the lever you can install the pin behind the lever and make it unlocked but closed to make it appear it is locked. I thought it was just my receiver that could do that but today I was at a dealer and showed him what could happen and his eyes just about bulged out. I can't believe these are legal anywhere. Have you checked yours lately.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Do you have a picture showing what you mean? I have an idea but am curious if its just the particular brand you have or if its a common design issue since I don't currently have a pintle hitch but have contemplated them in the past.

 

[crazyal]

I always check, not just pintle receivers but all of them. I've had too many different style ball hitches look like they were latched but weren't. At least with the Pintle hitches you can easily see if it's in the open position.

 

[nobull1]

I always check, not just pintle receivers but all of them. I've had too many different style ball hitches look like they were latched but weren't. At least with the Pintle hitches you can easily see if it's in the open position.

You can see if it in the open position but not if it is the unlocked position and closed

 

[nobull1]

I will post a couple of pic's tomorrow as I have it hooked up for tomorrow anyways. Pictures make it a lot easier to explain what i mean. I prefer the pintle as they are easier to hook up imo.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have never had one come open but for that matter I do not use many Pintle Hitches.

As for guys having ball mounts coming open, never had that one either and I have a trailer behind my truck well over 60% of the time. I probably have 5 different trailers hitched up during the week. Maybe I am just luck. I have broken a hitch before but that was my fault for overloading it by 5,000#

Chris

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I have never had one come open but for that matter I do not use many Pintle Hitches.

As for guys having ball mounts coming open, never had that one either and I have a trailer behind my truck well over 60% of the time. I probably have 5 different trailers hitched up during the week. Maybe I am just luck. I have broken a hitch before but that was my fault for overloading it by 5,000#

Chris

We never had the hitch come unlocked on our trailers with 2 5/16 ball hitches but did have the trailer come off before. One of our employees was backing my father up to the trailer and by the time my dad got out to the truck to help hook up the employee already had the trailer lowered down and it was all locked. So my dad was coming through the town and the trailer hit a bump and came off the hitch. The safety chains did their job and kept the trailer behind the truck and the only damage was the road and the jack stand. The hitch was still locked, the employee never unlocked it when he lowered it down so it sat on top of the ball and my dad never noticed it since this employee pulls trailers all the time. He later said he didn't know you were suppose to pull the pin and lift the latch to allow the trailer to sit down over the ball then lock it down :ashamed: So no harm to anyone thankfully and it was a lesson for us to always double check our hitches to make sure their attached (triple check if its someone else lowering down and attaching for us).

 

[Diamondpilot]

It may be overkill but I always stop at the first light/stop sign and jump out and check everything. Hitch, chains, load, ect.

Chris

 

[psj12]

I am aware of what he is saying. If the locking lever is able to move longitudinaly enough to allow the safety pin to be installed behind the lock then your pintle is very worn or defective. The lock lever should also be spring loaded in the down or locked position so it shouldn't allow the pintle to open even without the pin (always use the pin).

 

[powerstroke444e]

It may be overkill but I always stop at the first light/stop sign and jump out and check everything. Hitch, chains, load, ect.

Chris

I have a 1/4 mile drive way that is a little rought I always stop at the end and check everything and there is always atleast one chain/strap that is loose.

I am trying to figure out the OP statement on the pintle coming loose as I have several trailers that are Pintle and would trust them over a ball any day.

 

[RobertN]

No matter the trailer, I always hitch, latch, chain, breakaway cable and walk around myself. Check tires, check lights. I have had people try to help; it breaks my routine, and I have found problems during my walk-around. During my walk-around I also double check chain/binders, ropes/knots ect.

We never had the hitch come unlocked on our trailers with 2 5/16 ball hitches but did have the trailer come off before. One of our employees was backing my father up to the trailer and by the time my dad got out to the truck to help hook up the employee already had the trailer lowered down and it was all locked. So my dad was coming through the town and the trailer hit a bump and came off the hitch.

 

[jonyyuma]

We always had to pull up on the pintle hitch arm to check it. They are on all military equipment, plus always use safety chains and never any persons in a trailer being towed. All the pintle has the long cotter pin there on a chain..

 

[DanD78]

The Pintle hitch I use is pretty dummy proof with how it latches then you can insert a long cotter pin through the latch.

I never trust anyone telling me I am hooked up and ready to go. I have had people I thought should know better latch the coupler while sitting on top of the ball and telling me it is ok to go.

You get what you inspect not what you expect.

Dan

 

[nobull1]

Ok here are two pictures of the lock lever locked open. The other picture is lock lever locked closed and the other without the clip installed (locked closed)

 

[nobull1]

I am going to weld a bar across in front of the lever so it can release the arm but not give enough room to be able to slide the pin behind it to lock it unlocked. Then it should be idiot proof.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Don't just look at the pintal, grab the latch and try to pull up on it.

A couple of suggestions for walk around checks: If you are going to let your truck "idle down" a bit before you shut off the engine, make use of the time for your check.

If you are going to be stopping for any length of time such as for a meal or overnight. Definetly do a walk around before you take off. In addition to the usual such as a tire leaking down, someone may have helped themselves or played some games.

 

[crazyal]

Neither of my two pintle hooks can have the pin put in it unless the spring loaded latch is in the locked position. Both will either lock it open or closed. But it's still not hard to see that the latch is open. You could paint the sides of the latch red or orange so if you can see the paint it's not securely latched.

If you weld it be careful what you weld as it's most likely either cast steel or ductile iron. While you're not going to be welding the hook part you are still welding a part that is integral to the hitches function.

 

[psj12]

NoBull1, Looking at your pictures it appears the safety pin is inserted under the lock lever thus holding it in the Unlocked position. Remove the pin, Push the lever down and reinsert the pin so it passes through the hole visible in the lock lever.

This lock lever should be spring loaded to the down position.

 

[jimmysisson]

Think that's what he meant - locked open - on the posted pix.
Jim

 

[nobull1]

Think that's what he meant - locked open - on the posted pix.
Jim

Correct

As I said to start the pin should not be able to be inserted to make the lever "look" locked when it is not, to the untrained eye.

I would never pull the lock lever up and install the pin but two different employees of mine did.

I would think as a safety issue they would not be able to sell a receiver that being used by an untrained person, could by accident, cause a major accident. It serves no purpose I can think of to lock open.

At the end of the day it is my responsibility to make sure the trailer is securely attached and I am the one who will get in all the trouble if something goes wrong. I know this and I just give some people too much responsibility at my peril. At the end of the day it is just one more job that I am the only one capable of doing

This above is an example of how uncommon common sense is and why you have to make things idiot proof. Ever wonder why they have to have three pages to tell you how to use a toaster?

Next year we will start the pre-employment test of walking and chewing gum at the same time.