Thread: Tow Pintle and Ebay

Ouch!

I see your point. I would now be concerned about the quality of the casting, as it does not appear to have reliability considered anywhere else in the deisgn...

eBay sucks at times, i dont my much from it anymore, actually at all now as i dont have paypal lol.

Also note, you cannot snatch off a Tow ball, they have been known to shear in half

There are proper versions of that pintle at Carasel towbars Liverpool (Just off the M5 at Moorebank) - whilst they might be more expensive, they have proper ratings -

and,

I know you might not like this, but standing in as the devils advocate for a sec: Did you not receive what was pictured, and did the advertisement say it was certified to ADR's and the like?

Buying on Ebay goes a lot smoother if you approach it as you would a Paddys market - I bought a ten dollar watch one time, and it worked well. But I knew it was a cheap copy, and when the outer ring fell off the next day, I wasn't surprised. The watch ended up keeping good time thru floods, fires and rough and tumble for ten years. But it was still a cheap watch.

Originally Posted by garrycol

I saw this combo pintle hook on e-bay and thought it would be a alternative to an additional towbar to the pintle hook I already have on the rear of my 101.

Well it arrived today - what a safety disaster.

First - the bolt that holds on the the top pintle arm does not have a locking nut and could vibrate off. A nyloc nut will fix that.

Second - the pintle cannot being locked into the closed position - the locking mechanism will have to be ground a fair bit to make it work. Alternatively a different tow ball may fix the problem.

Third - most pintle's have a pin attached by a chain to stop the locking mechanism accidently opening when towing - there is none on this - again mods will be needed to make this safe.

Fourth - the tow ball is not rated and will have to be replaced with a rated tow ball with the safe working load stamped on it.

This item is a sub-standard Chinese item and would not meet safety standards and the Australian Design Rules for motor vehicles and associated equipment. How can such stuff be allowed to be sold and not meet any safety standards.

The tow ball is supposedly rated at 3500kg and the pintle at 6000kg - with a proper rated tow ball - I don't think I will be towing anything over the rating of the ball . I don't see how this type of pintle that relys on the tow ball can have a tow rating higher than the tow ball.

I will leave negative feedback but the seller will probably bag me as well and stuff up my impeccable score - ebay sucks at times.



Garry

Contact the seller, explain as you have here and state that the product is not of usable quality and can you return it for a full refund, this way you may avoid a Neg. feedback against yourself, which you will most surely get if you Neg. him, you will do your postage, but it will probably be safer not to use it, Regards Frank.

Originally Posted by garrycol

I will leave negative feedback but the seller will probably bag me as well and stuff up my impeccable score - ebay sucks at times.

I thought eBay changed the feedback rules so sellers couldn't leave negative feedback - ie, their options were limited to positive feedback or none at all.

Ben, how are you mate, I believe you put some pics up of Cooma, are they in your Gallery.
As far as eBay goes if what you said is correct then I won't be using it again, I was ripped off on 2 occasions by Non Paying Bidders, I left Neg feedback for them, which thet thoroughly deserved and they left Neg. feddback for me as Payback.
The idea of Feedback is so other users can see the history of who they are dealing with, if you cant leave feedback for NPB then what's the protection offered by eBay against thieves and mongrels, they have lost me, Regards Frank.

Well I contacted the seller and of course they are happy to take it back but not postage or the cost for me too take it back.

My main beef is that the thing does not actually work unless I grind away some poor casting. I am sure it is OK for 3 tonne and I will not be towing anything more than that but it is advertised as 6 tonne. Interestingly the shank on the tow ball is actually a few mm less in diameter than a standard 3.5t towball.

So I guess I keep it and make it lock correctly and provide a safety mechanism in addition to its spring locking mechanism to ensure the pintle stays locked.

Garry

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The way to go all these are pintle hook set ups I use and all have the safety pins etc.
I use the miltiary hooks as they easier to back on to and hook up than hayman reese off road set ups.
Old very good quality series three ex army pintles are cheap to pick up second hand as alot of civie owners take them off.
The dual purpose hooks are used alot on telstra vans etc.
The last dual purpose one I purchased a few years ago cost about $100 new from a trailer shop.
I never had a problem with the dual purpose items , but you must use a eye on the trailer which can rotate in roll for off road work.