Trailer hitch types

[vanhack]

Hi folks, about to pickup a used camper trailer here in Dubai, which are rare as hens teeth. It is an offroad version of trailer. The current owner of it is towing with an LC100 series. The trailer has a offroad treg hitch, where the vehicle needs to accept 2" X 2" tongue, which the owner will supply.

I was wondering if I can replace the factory pintle hook with the 2" x 2" receiver as seen below.

nissan safari.png (466.09 KiB) Viewed 4500 times

An then for recovery use a d shackle tongue


Or do I really need a full mount to chassis tow bar

[Tinus lotz]

I would go for option 2 the pintle hook one is not great for towing Dawid had his come of in Mozambique i think . The problem is the up and down forces when trailer comes up and down .this is my opinion only lets hear what others has to say.....how big is the trailer??

[vanhack]

Some details of the camper trailer.

Made by Camper Trailers WA of Australia and dry weight is estimated at 520kg. Has a pull out drawer/sink plywood cabinet. 40l water tank, and a battery for water pump and electrics. Would add a spare wheel as it is now legal requirement in Dubai and gas bottle holder with a stove.

Hitch is interesting, as it is one of these, which are good for rough terrain, although the below one is newer version.

[Tinus lotz]

The problem with first one is that your trailer is going to be hooked very high or you must use a drop plate and that makes a lever that brake the metal of trying to find the thread where dawidt had hassles

[Herrie]

All of this looks good!

[Peter Connan]

On the older Patrols (with rear bumpers that form a step) the four bolt holes holding the standard pintle hook are drilled into the rear chassis cross-member, and this setup is pretty strong.

But in your later-model car with the deeper rear bumper they added a box bracket. This is plenty strong for rope recoveries, but to my mind not ideal for towing a single-axle trailer off-road, especially in sand. My limited experience says that towing a single-axle trailer in sand puts heavy up-and-down loads on the towbar, which this bracket is not designed for.

Also, as Tinus said, this is probably too high as a hitching point and you would probably have to add a long drop plate, greatly increasing the load on the bracket. I definitely wouldn't do that.

Therefore I recommend the the bottom photo in your first post.

Even better is that with a plate reaching up to the pintle hook mounting plate. This is the strongest option available. The other advantage is that it gives you double hitching points for snatch recoveries, one for the strap and another for the lanyard.

[vanhack]

Hi just forgot to mention that all patrols here, y60 and y61, are fitted with NATO PIntel hooks from factory. Many quad, motorcycle, polarised razor and even boat owners replace the NATO pine with a tow ball in the same location.

For some reason South African and Australian models come with the eye loop, which looks weak.

I looked at the box section, and it is same thickness steel as rear cross member, welded on all 4 edges to cross member, and of course drilled for accepting the bolts. Interesting the torque is merely 50ish Nm on all bolts from factory manual...much lower than yota pintle hook I have on wife''s prado.

[Peter Connan]

South African Y60's were also fitted with the pintle hook.

Only the Y61's here have the loop. Interestingly enough, the loop has a higher load rating than the pintle. I suspect that because this is rated only for recoveries, not towing, they have used a lower safety factor because there are less impact and multi-directional loads when attached to a rope rather than a rigid towbar.

Towing boats and things on made roads will put far less non-linear loads on a towbar than pulling a camping trailer through soft sand.

[Tinus lotz]

Failed tow bar

[Tinus lotz]

Damage and emergency repairs