Hi Guys, I recently bought a 1998 F800 Dump Truck...5.9 Cummins, 6 speed, 25,500 GVW, 22.5 tires, 14' dump bed w/ tool box behind the cab, juice brakes, 189" wheel base. Somebody welded brackets to the frame to mount a Reese type hitch (square receiver)....Looks to be made of 1/4" plate (I'll have to bring a tape measure to be sure but it could be 3/16 plate)...There are 4 bolt holes to mount a Pintle type hitch to the truck. My concerns are three fold.... First, does the set up look "beefy" enough to carry / pull my case 680E backhoe? Should I do everything over w/ bigger (thicker) materials or add to the existing or simply leave as is? Secondly, the current hitch location worries me a bit....It is about 3 feet under the rear of the dump bed (i.e. the pintle hitch on the truck would be 3 feet back towards the tires) The bed overhangs the hitch by about 3 feet....Given that most dump trucks have the pintle bascially at the end of the dump bed I wonder if this would drastically affect my ability to do tight turns? Lastly, while the pintle location is 3 feet back from the end of the dump....it is still another 2 or 3 feet from the axle centerline as well....this basically means, the hitch is about 5 or 6 feet from the axle centerline (I'll have to use a tape to measure it to be more exact than my eyeballing.....Is this too much sway inducing leverage (like a tow behind trailer VS a goose neck setup). I have included a few pics (hope I can get them on here) of my truck, my trucks hitch set u, and then I took a couple pics of a more "traditional" pintle hitch set up.... My last question is this....The bed comes down and rests directly on the steel frame of the truck on 6 or 8 "built up" plates of steel on the bottom of the dump bed....I don't see any undue wear on the truck frame itself but I have seen other dump trucks w/ wood on the truck frame rails (I guess to distribute the dump body load over a greater area than just 6 or 8 points)....is this setup OK or should wood be added? HERE IS THE LINK FOR THE PICS....... http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/hvo/4306443718.html Truck is not for sale I just had to post an ad so I can get the pics for you to look at .....The first pics of the hitch is what is on my truck....the "plate" hitch was on another truck.....Truthfully, I like how the end plate ties the frame together on the other truck I may try something like that on my truck since the hinge is near the open end of the channel and I think boxing the end would add a lot of strength (boxing the end) . Thanks in advance for your input. Andrew PS - I just tried uploading pics BUT can't seem to get them to upload...I think my files are too large to upload....I may try putting the pics on a Craigs list ad and then put the link here for you to see the pics (that is about all I can think of how to get the pics viewable....I think there is a way to re-size them on the computer but a friend of mine needs to do that....I'm not that good w/ the computer).....I hope my issues can be at least somewhat addressed w/o the pics BUT I will try to post them either here or somewhere else and post a link......Thanks again
My 1 ton truck has a 1/2" thick hitch plate, most bigger trucks have 3/4" steel plate. I think that overhang of the body is going to be a problem for you as you suspect, hanging the hitch back like you have suggested is going to reduce it's strength. If it were my truck I'd put the gitch plate directly to the frame as you have pictured in the example and shorten the overhang, or get a body of the proper length.
Looks liket he previous owner welded that with bubblegum, i would have it redone. My international had a hitch located like that. Its not the end of the world. Without seeing it im guessing the dump bed dumps low to the ground and the hitch has to be there. Just watch your head when youre hooking it up
It's an old trimmer truck the heaviest thing they anticipated pulling was a grinder, so they may not have gusseted it to haul a heavy load, the plate itself and the side steps reminds me of a factory one that i've seen in places like truck-n-tow or some place i just cant remember where looks fine to me, from the pics it looks to be at least 1/2" thick ?? make sure it's gusseted properly and roll on with it. pj
Looks like the tool box was added and thus the dump body was placed 2 feet or so further back without adding on to the frame which is what we do here.The way it is now is shaky at best. If your towing anything you should lengthen the frame,add a 3/4" plate to the added frame and brace it properly. Then add the pintle and you'll like the way it tows without worrying about when the trailer is going to fall off and you will be able to turn tight with the trailer also.
oh holy crap i see it now. what is the 3rd picture ( the one i was looking at with the pintle)..... i didnt even click on the one in question, yeah cut that crap off and start over. pj
here, maybe this will help
HI, Thanks for the replies so far ....just curious but how did you post the pics on here....I tried everything I knew how to do before just posting a CL ad and putting a link so people could see it? I will get a tape measure to see what the actual sizes of the metal used in the construction of the hitch are and the actual distances to the axle center line where the pintle would be if left in the current position. Also, how high are pintle hitches generally off the ground when on a dump type truck? Thanks Andrew
Here's a link to the handy dandy tutorial Willie wrote up: It's a sticky at the top of the "Support" section of the forum. Also, what's the capacity of the pintle pictured there? (Assuming that's like the one you intend to mount.) I'd make sure it can handle pulling that hoe as well...
For a 680 backhoe I don't like either of those hitches. They might be fine pulling a skidloader trailer but not a 20 ton lowboy. I prefer to use a swiveling hitch like this. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/171194898869?lpid=82 That is whats on the back of my ford f-800
I think my pickup has it at 19" and my dump is at 21" if i remember correctly but they are all adjustable, so is the trailer
You are in a tight spot, cut off that rear curb stop, if you length the frame back you have to move the hinge, then it won't dump a load of bowling balls even if you parked it up a tree. Remove toolbox, slide body up, install 7/8 hitch plate and under body tool boxes.
HI Guys, My truck is getting inspected and I was working all day today so I did not have a chance to get the measurements. A couple extra things that crossed my mind though.... 1) For state inspection purposes, the truck shop said the brake shoes were low and needed to be replaced....they also said a wheel cylinder was leaking...I asked them how much it would be and I heard a mechanic comment that it was a Lucas Girling brake system so he thought it may run a few bucks.... I have read a few threads about these brakes on this site and it has me a little concerned....How much are parts for this system?....Are they really that bad in price? What is a good source of parts for this size truck?....The local Advance Auto does not carry stuff for vehicles this large....Are the brakes on this truck something a good DIYer can do?....My helper is really pretty mechanically inclined and has changed out many parts (including entire engines etc on his own truck as well as one of mine so I think he could probably mess w/ these brakes if the shop is too high. Where can I find a good book on this truck....Like a Chiltons type guide so maybe it can help w/ repairs, adjustments, fluids etc...? 2) I was thinking, it may not be too difficult for me to remove the behind the cab tool box, slide the dump bed forwards towards the cab and maybe that would take care of multiple issues at the same time..... 1) Removing the large amount of overhang over the end of the truck frame (there fore allowing a more "conventional" pintle location by the end of the frame and possibly helping to prevent the towed trailer from hitting the rear of the bed in tight turns etc.....Also 2) Possibly allowing the dump bed to lower faster because more of the bed would be forward of the lift point (I'll have to look more closely at this) 3) Possibly allow for a "better" weight distribution if filling the bed full and "heavy" (per the pics it looks like the way the bed is placed now if the dump bed was filled full and evenly, the weight would be "centered" over the rear axle....thus the rear axle would bear all the added weight and may limit the overall load in the bed since the front axle wouldn't "share" in holding any extra weight (since the bed is centered over the rear axle and not skewed forward. As a side note I ran across a fella today that offered a trade of some really nice side mounted tool boxes in exchange for my behind the cab tool box (that is what got me looking more into the possibility of doing the above bed move). Last question, If I simply "beef up" the current location of the tow point is it close enough to the rear axle to be OK to tow with? ( I have towed as much as 8,000 total weight behind my 97 Dodge Dually and it seems fine to me although I have read plenty of posts that say towing w/ a gooseneck (with the hitch point over the rear axle is much safer and better from a towing perspective BUT I have never used a gooseneck so I have not felt the difference for myself). I am trying to get a "feel" if this much bigger / heavier truck (F800 towing a 680E....assuming the truck is about 13K towing about 22K ) would tow "approximately" as stable as my current 97 Dodge 4x4 extended cab diesel Dually w/ cap (weight unknown) towing a skid steer (bobcat 843 weight about 6300 lbs) on a trailer that weighs about 2100 lbs)...... Hmmm actually now that I look at the relative weights, my F800 would be outweighed considerably by what is it towing in comparison to what I currently tow w/ my dually......does that make it even more important to put the pintle closer to the rear axle or are there others out there towing similar weights relative to the tow vehicle w/ the hitch that far from the axle? Thanks again for your help....and thanks for the info on how to post pics! Andrew
HI, Thanks for the input overworked...you posted while I was slowly typing my letter. Also, I'll look into the rotating Pintle hitch for the truck....I have to get something anyways so I guess it might as well be a good one! Other comments and help still appreciated! Thanks Andrew
raise the toolbox 5 inches
HI, Good suggestion...it's like they made the tool box a little too short for whatever reason ( Side note: I saw an International truck similar to my set up at the shop and a similar toolbox was also a little on the short side height wise to match up w/ the cab)....only thing I can think of is, if I raise the box up more it may make reaching up a tad more difficult into the top box and reaching in for stuff... (BTW I am 6 foot tall in stocking feet so maybe 6'2" or so w/ work boots on.....maybe they made the box shorter for people to get up into the box easier?....of course while they were building the box from scratch, they could have made it taller and lowered the heigh tof the top shelf and lock mechs also for easier access and a better more matched up look. I will probably look into this if I don't take off the box altogether to move the dump bed. Thanks! Andrew PS - I wonder if there is a cab that the heights do march up on?....I know not on a F series medium duty or on a newer International medium duty from what I have seen.
Looks like that tool box came off of a one ton dump truck. Maybe a Ford F-550, 450, 350. That truck you bought looks to be the exact same setup as our f-800 roll off truck. I think you will be happy with it, i have had three of this vintage trucks now and they arent too bad. About the only thing i can think of thats a real problem is the brake lines and fittings like to rust off the truck, cheap fix though. I have an F-700 bucket truck that sits quite a bit. Had a small repair job to do one day so i went out and fired the truck up and looked the boom over real well (not the truck)....... Got about a mile down the road and realized i couldnt stop! I came about the thickness of a piece of paper away from driving through the dining room of a restaurant!!!
at first sight it looked like a rollofff truck unloading