Pintle Hitch...Oh My god!!!....

[AndrewKing]

Hey All,



I just bought an older 12 ton Miller 20' Tilt top equipment trailer with pintle Hitch... When I tried towing it home using my 1993 Dodge W250 4x4 with Cummins Diesel... Lets just say around 30 mph it felt like it was going to shake the truck apart!!... . What gives or is this just how a heavy equipment trailer tows (at least one with a pintle hitch)?... The hook has plenty of room around the ring so I guess this causes alot of play as opposed to a ball coupler?... Is it OK to wrap or stuff something in the eye to talk up some of the slack?..... I looked at the sidewalls on the tires and it says cold tire pressure is 115 PSI... I think I will air them down a bit to get home (8 Tires)... . The trailer sits level (thanks to a huge adjustable plate on the hitch) but it pulls horribly... I did notice that the wheels are placed about dead center on the trailer... . Maybe not enough tongue weight? (I will chain 2 exmark 48" walkbehinds on it tomorrow to see if that helps)... . Any other ideas? Oh... The tires appear as new... plenty of tread and not cupped.



Thanks in advance for any and all help.



Andrew

 

[Rman]

It might be because it's empty, perhaps the hinges are loose causing the vibration. I wouldn't think it's because of the hitch. Does it feel like the trailer is pulling up on the hitch, or is it just vibration? Is it dual tandem axles?

 

[AndrewKing]

HI,



Thanks for the reply... . when you say loose hinge you mean the tilt top vibrating against the main trailer frame?... . I think there is a little play there so when I go back out I will bring some chain binders to cinch the two together..... the owner rigged a little bit here... . appears the factory system must have gotten ,messed up somehow and they welded their own mechanism on... . not the best but seems to work for the most part..... I am going to bring 2 walkbehinds with me (probably about 1100 lbs or so (exmark 48") to put up front... . I have had some people suggest that the vibration (makes the truck seesaw back and forth pretty violently), is caused by the trailer itself seesawing back and forth because of the lack of tongue weight... . my other tilt top I bought new (only 14K gross) does this to a certain extent but not nearly as bad as this one..... I guess because it is lighter and because it has the regular ball hitch and not as much slop as the pintle loose connection..... One person also said I should lower my hitch a bit to make the trailer sit a little lower in front which he thought would keep it from seesawing too much... . I guess I'll try anything because I cant drive all this home on the highway at 20 MPH...



Andrew

 

[AndrewKing]

Oh... It is a dual tandem setup.



Andrew

 

[troll3193]

I have a regular ball hitch trailer that will do this when unloaded and it is because the trailer doesn't have enough tongue weight when empty.



When it has a load on it, it pulls like a dream. .



I suspect yoru trailer is exhibiting the same issue. Not enough tongue weight when empty. .



Bryan

 

[JDailey]

I agree, sounds like not enough tongue weight.

 

[Rman]

Try binding that top down, if that doesn't do it it may just tow poorly unloaded (bad design, or bad repair job). Good luck!

 

[abdiver]

Sounds like the Miller I have that I used to pull behind my Ford 9000 Dump I can post a picture of the setup used to hold the deck down it is a tapered large screw. I would always end up building the area that wore with a few passed of the welder as even when screw was tight there was a bit of play so a little movement up and down if there was no load on Trailer. I pulled that trailer with a small dozer on it with an old military Jeep real slow 10mph (in a bind)

 

[abdiver]

Thats a pretty heavy trailer I would be interested in how it works out for you As I recall mine called for 80 psi tire pressure