Trailer hitch

[Thompsona3]

I know not many people are gonna like this idea but I'm thinking about takeing a 2 inch square tube and welding it to the bottom of my bumper to substitute a trailer hitch. I figure these bumpers are plenty strong for the 17 ft boat I'm towing. Any thoughts?

 

[Warthog]

What type of vehicle?

 

[Recovry4x4]

If it's a pickup, you can get a nice one from harbor freight. I have one bolted to the underside of mine and it was initially for a hitch haul but I've used it for plenty of small trailers without incident.

 

[Thompsona3]

1987 cucv m1028 and this is about $100 cheaper.

 

[Thompsona3]

Do you guys think this will hold? That bumper is tough as nails and tied into the frame pretty we'll. I also feel like if the military use to tow off these bumpers with the pintle hitch then why wouldn't this work? What are your thoughts

 

[Warthog]

Depends on the welding skills. I suck at welding so I do not trust my welds to tow a boat. The liability is too great.

 

[Thompsona3]

Ok thanks for your input. I'm probebly going to go through with it.

 

[the skull]

My bumper has this. I've used it a couple times. My brother in law is
an equipment torture specialist, he approved the work and I used
his trailer. Bumper with pintle hitch? No problem. Check your welds
and reinforce if you can. PM me, I'll text you a pic.Tow the boat at
your own risk.

 

[evldoer]

I did the same thing with one of my trucks. Cut off a receiver from a hitch that was made to bolt to the frame of some other truck. Then I welded it to the bottom of the flat plate on the bumper directly below the pinte hitch. I pulled my 18 foot fiberglass bass boat. It worked ok but the bottom flange of the bumper bends down from the tongue weight. If I hook up to a car trailer it really bends down.
If you will only be pulling 17 foot boat I would say it will be fine as long as you know how to weld.

 

[the skull]

Um, wait. How big is the boat?

 

[Warthog]

17ft

 

[Keith_J]

I know not many people are gonna like this idea but I'm thinking about takeing a 2 inch square tube and welding it to the bottom of my bumper to substitute a trailer hitch. I figure these bumpers are plenty strong for the 17 ft boat I'm towing. Any thoughts?

Too much bending stress on the bottom flange where you are welding. Better to put the stress in the stinger for any drop you need.

What I did was weld via GTAW a 2" receiver to a plate replicating the bolt pattern of the pintle, then weld a gusset to the bottom of the receiver and a flange plate match drilled to the two vertical bolts in the bottom plate of the bumper. Then a buckling gusset to keep it all together. 1/2" bolting plate for the pintle, 3/8" plate for the rest. All ASTM A-36 steel so it has good ductility. GTAW is far superior to ER70-S6 GMAW with 100% CO2 shield, don't ever use that process for a hitch. Dual shield with 75/25 or S6 with 75/25.

So 6 bolts hold my receiver to the bumper. All bolting is grade 8 with nylock nuts. Held 8k with 900 pounds tongue.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Here's mine! No issues whatsoever.

 

[the skull]

Keith_J, very nice. That's way better than mine. Thompsona3,
you should go this route.

 

[Keith_J]

Keith_J, very nice. That's way better than mine. Thompsona3,
you should go this route.

All welds are full penetration V, either double or single V. 1/16" land, 1/16" root gap. The pintle plate welds were an issue to keep away from the bolt heads. So I had to compensate the weld profile, putting less leg on the plate and more on the tube. it still is full penetration.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Tow the boat at your own risk.

No, he'll be towing the boat at the risk of everybody on the road.



And if it goes south, well, the lawyers will have a LOT of fun with a home-brew trailer hitch. He probably won't be able to find a lawyer to defend him once they find that out.

Not that it will do him any good.

 

[tbearatkin]

Why not just swap out your pintle hook for one that also has a ball hitch on it? I have one on mine and it works great. Looks something like this.

http://www.etrailer.com/Ball-Mounts/Draw-Tite/63012.html

 

[Drock]

No, he'll be towing the boat at the risk of everybody on the road.



And if it goes south, well, the lawyers will have a LOT of fun with a home-brew trailer hitch. He probably won't be able to find a lawyer to defend him once they find that out.

Not that it will do him any good.

Agree why not just take the time to do it right? Buy ah correct , (already tested), receiver, that bolts to the frame and can hold 16,000 LBS. That way you'll never have to worry about it again. This is the one I installed on my M1028 ( B&W, HDRH25122) $154.00 to your door on Ebay.

 

[98G]

Too much bending stress on the bottom flange where you are welding. Better to put the stress in the stinger for any drop you need.

What I did was weld via GTAW a 2" receiver to a plate replicating the bolt pattern of the pintle, then weld a gusset to the bottom of the receiver and a flange plate match drilled to the two vertical bolts in the bottom plate of the bumper. Then a buckling gusset to keep it all together. 1/2" bolting plate for the pintle, 3/8" plate for the rest. All ASTM A-36 steel so it has good ductility. GTAW is far superior to ER70-S6 GMAW with 100% CO2 shield, don't ever use that process for a hitch. Dual shield with 75/25 or S6 with 75/25.

So 6 bolts hold my receiver to the bumper. All bolting is grade 8 with nylock nuts. Held 8k with 900 pounds tongue.
View attachment 558327

Why not 7018 rod?

 

[ODFever]

Here's my + tax: I don't put a price tag on safety, no matter what the situation. When I tow a load, I double and triple check that it is secured correctly. I make sure the safety chains won't drag on the pavement or bind going around corners. When I secure a load, I make sure that the straps are so tight that I can hear a high pitched twang when I pluck them. A few months back, I loaded one of my MV's on my 18 ft steel flatbed trailer. I got out my ratchet straps and went through my normal procedures of tightening them down, alternating between the two a little at a time. When I got the driver's side ratchet tight, I pulled it one more click. The mechanism disintegrated. Thankfully I wore leather gloves and it pinched the gloves and not my hand. I was so thankful I tightened it one more notch. I'd much rather experience a strap failure at the house than on the road at 60 MPH. An unsecured load or an improperly installed hitch are accidents looking for a place to happen. My life is worth far more than $100, and so is yours. Lawsuits and tickets cost far more than $100. Peace of mind is priceless. Please take this into consideration before you build a receiver.