Trailer Towin'

[RowdyRebel]

pulled the rear section out to build a trailer hitch....also put a new airbag on the left rear:

cut a hole in the rear section and welded in a piece of 2" receiver tube:

welded some angle iron to the inside to reinforce and help strengthen the hitch:

some D-rings bolted...then welded...so safety chains can be used with any trailer:

looks good...just gotta bolt it in:

all done:

I have the pin on the inside of the rear section...keeps the hitch closer to the truck and gave me more to weld on the inside...figure it'd be stronger this way:

Now I either have to get a bigger drop on the hitch or lift my little beater truck:

[other dog]

looks good, done right, and nice welding!

[HK Trucking]

I would be cautious about using a receiver type hitch with any more of a drop than what you have in that photo!

What you could have done to eliminate the need for a severely dropped receiver hitch is to custom cut a steel plate and fit it into the rear of the frame, like this one in the photo:

Instead of mounting a pintle hitch to the plate, you would cut a square out of the plate near the bottom and weld in the female section of your hitch receiver.

The one pictured is 1" steel plate, but for what you're towing 3/4" would be plenty, just put an angle gusset on each side from the bottom of the frame to the hitch plate (allowing enough clearance next to your air bags of course).

(Edit to add)

I've also got a photo of one of these type hitch plates laying on the floor prior to install.

This one is also 1" plate, and as I said, just eliminate the pintle hitch and put your receiver near the bottom:

[RowdyRebel]

I would be cautious about using a receiver type hitch with any more of a drop than what you have in that photo!

What you could have done to eliminate the need for a severely dropped receiver hitch is to custom cut a steel plate and fit it into the rear of the frame, like this one in the photo:

Instead of mounting a pintle hitch to the plate, you would cut a square out of the plate near the bottom and weld in the female section of your hitch receiver.

The one pictured is 1" steel plate, but for what you're towing 3/4" would be plenty, just put an angle gusset on each side from the bottom of the frame to the hitch plate, allowing enough clearance next to your air bags of course).

I could have welded the receiver tube to the bottom of the rear section, too...and was going to originally until I got to looking at it....but to go lower than I did would have involved replacing the tail light assembly...finding new mounting points for the tail lights, back-up light, and back-up alarm....and the wiring for those would no longer be neatly tucked into a housing.

...so what would the big difference be between a 3/4" piece of flat steel dropping down 15" and a 15" drop-hitch built from square tube that's 3/8" thick? Seems to me the square tube route would be stronger....as long as the removable drop hitch part is sufficiently reinforced, I doubt the hitch is going to break free from the rear section.

Besides, it isn't pulling much...just a '92 Ranger...3000# max. Worst case scenario, I'll put a 5" lift on the Ranger and upgrade the 215/75/15's to 235/75/15's....that oughtta help take away the need for such a large drop hitch

[Underdog]

Nice handiwork there, RowdyRebel. I plan to add a receiver to my cabover and this gives me some ideas.

To expand on the subject a bit, can anyone offer some ideas on towing a trailer with electric brakes using an air brake tow vehicle? What type of brake control is needed for this?

[Gambi80]

I worked for IDOT over the winter and half of their trucks had electric trailer brake controllers in them. Maybe I can find out how they're rigged up.

[HK Trucking]

I worked for IDOT over the winter and half of their trucks had electric trailer brake controllers in them. Maybe I can find out how they're rigged up.

Here's the electric brake controller you need.

http://www.hayesbc.com/energizer3.html

No connection to the air brake system is necessary.

I used these in my trucks to control the brakes on the 10 ton tag trailer.

Also here's a PDF on the installation process.

http://www.hayesbc.com/PDFs/ENERGIZE%20III...on%20Manual.pdf

.

[paccarnut]

Nice handiwork there, RowdyRebel. I plan to add a receiver to my cabover and this gives me some ideas.

To expand on the subject a bit, can anyone offer some ideas on towing a trailer with electric brakes using an air brake tow vehicle? What type of brake control is needed for this?

We used the Kelsay-Hayes on our Petercar for our 8 ton drag....

http://www.southwestwheel.com/store/p-45-h...irelectric.aspx

Easy to install, works as smooth as air brakes.

[Underdog]

Thanks for the info guys. I figgered there were some sort of controller on the market. Just now starting to put the pieces together on my F-model and would like to be ready for anything!