Towing a M105 with my Chevy Suburban 1500

[juddspaintballs]

This past week I built a beefier hitch to attach my pintle hook to so I could be a bit safer towing the 105's. Robert (M816_someday) helped me out quite a bit and we did the work in his shop. He taught me how to weld during the process, so some of the welds are his and some are mine. All of the square tube is 1/4" wall, the pintle plate is 3/8" by 6", and the hole through the vertical tube is sleeved to preserve strength. I need to clean it up and paint it and then make chain extensions for the safety chains still, but you get the idea.

 

[Stan Leschert]

What are you doing for brakes?

 

[RodUSMC1962]

My buddy made one for his 105 recovery,I pulled it with my Chevy z-71. No problem ,but I did drive about 40mph and slowed down real early and did not crowd my stops. It was all 4 lane except the last 4 miles country roads.We did have a duece pintle and real heavy steel construction. Go slow and leave lots of room between vehicles.

 

[Karl kostman]

remember that YOU HAVE NO TRAILER BRAKES so keep your speeds DOWN!!!
KK

 

[juddspaintballs]

The 105 is pretty light when it's empty and it's well within the capabilities of a full size vehicle to tow safely unbraked. I've hauled them many times with this vehicle at speeds 65+ MPH and even had a few panic stops. I'm just showing off my newly built hitch with is far stronger than what I was using and it also tows the 105 level instead of nosed down. I did a few hundred miles towing 105's with my other hitch which was only 12" rise where this one is capable of a 20" maximum rise.

I use the 105's for hauling firewood from my parents' house to my house. I haul the empty trailers from my house to my parents' house with the Suburban and haul the full trailers back home with a deuce. I don't need brakes with an empty 105. While I feel confident that this hitch is strong enough to handle the load and my Suburban is rated to tow it unbraked (it's labeled a 1/2 ton but since it's a diesel it's made from all 3/4 ton parts), I don't feel comfortable doing so. In a pinch, I might try it, but its unlikely.

 

[Sephirothq]

The m105 is under 3000 lbs empty
So if you are towing the trailer empty brakes shouldn't be an issue anyway. It seems like you are using something reasonable to tow with.

Just make sure everything is connected right

it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Ironwood]

I agree, reasonable, loaded, would be a different matter.

Ironwood

 

[swiss]

I like the angle reinforcement back to the bumper. Very nice job and it sounds like you got some experiance with the welder.

Thanks for sharing it reminds me to beef up my hitch assembly.

 

[DeucesWild11]

Looks good, I was trying to find a hitch that made the pintle higher, found one at Tractor Supply but it was not as high as yours.. Nice work!!

 

[xiongy]

Looks good, I was trying to find a hitch that made the pintle higher, found one at Tractor Supply but it was not as high as yours.. Nice work!!

Northern tool has the highest one that I could find.

 

[tennmogger]

Northern tool has the highest one that I could find.

Please take this in the way I intend, to hint of unsafe conditions. With such a high offset, 2 " tubing will bend easily, especially with that heavy trailer. Those two thin braces will hold practically nothing in compression. If you make a hard stop, your rear door will be wearing the hitch and the trailer tongue. Imagine a minor or worse accident. "Driving safely" is not good enough or there would be no accidents.

If you make a hard stop while turning, the whole hitch will twist sideways.

Flame away, but this and many other similar threads show what are, IMHO, unsafe highway towing practice with heavy unbraked trailers attached to too small/low vehicles. I wouldn't want my family on the road with that setup in the next lane.

Nothing personal......

Bob

 

[harleyhouse]

This one hits close to home!

Accident on Rte. 8 shatters 'miracle' family

 

[xiongy]

Please take this in the way I intend, to hint of unsafe conditions. With such a high offset, 2 " tubing will bend easily, especially with that heavy trailer. Those two thin braces will hold practically nothing in compression. If you make a hard stop, your rear door will be wearing the hitch and the trailer tongue. Imagine a minor or worse accident. "Driving safely" is not good enough or there would be no accidents.

If you make a hard stop while turning, the whole hitch will twist sideways.

Flame away, but this and many other similar threads show what are, IMHO, unsafe highway towing practice with heavy unbraked trailers attached to too small/low vehicles. I wouldn't want my family on the road with that setup in the next lane.

Nothing personal......

Bob

Not to nitpick, but the one at Northern Tool is a solid piece of metal, not tubing like the OP's.

 

[Bcurtman]

1/4" wall tube of that length will be difficult to bend if at all with a 3000 lb trailer, unless the trailer is rearended by something. It would be different if the trailer were smashing into the hitch, but being attached to the hitch, it has very little force to extend other than the rolling force. Think about a guy pulling a 50000 lb truck on flat pavement-we all know he didnt exert 50000 lbs of force to get it rolling.

Anyway, with any homemade hitch, you open yourself up to liability issues. In an accident, your insurance will "probably" pay off up to the limits of the liability, and then you are open for a civil suit. If you use all factory components, use as directed and within the limits of the components, and obey the laws, you have probably avoided the civil suit and passed it on to the manufacturer of the components.

Most of us in the farm belt have done this sort of thing. Homemade trailers, home made hitches, imperfect welds, incorrect bolt sizes and shear designs, etc, etc, etc. I strongly suggest safety chains, crossed like they are intended to be. Your hitch beats the angle I pulled mine at!

 

[aaron379]

Heres mine

 

[therealsundance]

This one hits close to home!

Accident on Rte. 8 shatters 'miracle' family

I work for a county that had 3 trailers do that in a couple years time. I was at the last accident scene ans it hit a suburban head on. The suburban saved his life.


Sad story.

 

[therealsundance]

This past week I built a beefier hitch to attach my pintle hook to so I could be a bit safer towing the 105's. Robert (M816_someday) helped me out quite a bit and we did the work in his shop. He taught me how to weld during the process, so some of the welds are his and some are mine. All of the square tube is 1/4" wall, the pintle plate is 3/8" by 6", and the hole through the vertical tube is sleeved to preserve strength. I need to clean it up and paint it and then make chain extensions for the safety chains still, but you get the idea.

Looks like my suburban