Towing a Ben Hur

Half-ton trailer series and larger, Wanted, For Sale(NO EBAY ITEMS), and Knowledge Base
Post Reply
Tim Shanteler
G-Second Lieutenant
G-Second Lieutenant
Posts: 520
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:20 pm
Location: Tyngsboro, MA

Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Tim Shanteler » Thu May 18, 2017 6:58 am

I'm thinking of towing my Ben Hur to a show a few hundred miles away. Any tips on this? (i.e. how it tows at 60 mph and how it handles when breaking). I've never towed that far with a pintle hookup before.

Thanks

Tim
Tim

1945 WC-57 81674456
1944 WC-52 81750129
1945 MB 430629
1943 Ford GPW133609
1943 Ben Hur 0347395 (Gertstenlager)


Joe Gopan
Jeep Heaven
Posts: 49841
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:37 pm
Location: Proving Ground

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Joe Gopan » Thu May 18, 2017 8:34 am

What are you using for a tow vehicle? Jeep? An empty Ben Hur is too much for a Jeep (brakes). 60MPH? How's your canvas?
2011 MVPA PIONEER AWARD - MVPA #1064
HONOR GRAD-WHEELED VEHICLE MECHANIC SCHOOL 1960 - US ARMY ORDNANCE SCHOOL(MACHINIST) ABERDEEN PG 1962 - O-1 BIRD DOG CREWCHIEF - 300,000+TROUBLE FREE M-38A1 MILES
LIFE MEMBER AM LEGION-40/8-DAV
7 MIL SPEC MAINTAINED MV'S
COL. BRUNO BROOKS (ARMY MOTORS) IS MY HERO

User avatar
W. Winget
LTC, U.S. Army
LTC, U.S. Army
Posts: 4445
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2002 10:37 am
Location: USA, Virginia, Carrollton
Contact:

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by W. Winget » Thu May 18, 2017 8:53 am

When I set out across country with a M416 Jeep trailer set up with pintle hitch on my F150, I made it about 10 miles before I stopped, grabbed a 1" nylon strap (rather thick type, not thin) and wrapped the lunnette opening around and around, shrinking the space between the metal pintle and the lunnette hole. This totally eliminated the oscillation I was getting at 70MPH behind the pickup truck for the remainder of the trip, but left the lunnette free to turn and wiggle as it needed.

No brakes on the trailer means your vehicle has to stop the whole mass of what you have on/in your vehicle and the trailer pushing you along.

A loaded jeep trailer fit well behind my F150 load wise, a Ben Hur would be the max I'd tow with an F150, opting to tow a loaded M100 series pushes the limit on an F150, having to move up to an F350 perhaps for braking safety, or put the load on a trailer with brakes.

Check your bearings for lube and lights, the rest is physics involving mass and rate.
V/R W Winget
Looking for 1918 Standard B 'Liberty' truck parts

timsresort
Sergeant Major of the Gee
Sergeant Major of the Gee
Posts: 386
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2010 10:05 am
Location: South Lake Tahoe CA

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by timsresort » Thu May 18, 2017 5:56 pm

I agree it depends on the tow rig. If it's a full size pickup, I wouldn't think twice about it. The Ben Hur has a pretty good tongue weight as compared to a 1/4 ton, and I doubt you'll notice any clunking on the pintle. If it's loaded, make sure it's tongue heavy. Pack those wheel bearings and go for it.
41 WC-16
41 Lavine Gear !-ton trailer
51 M37
53 CJ3B
65 CJ5A
(2) 67 CJ5
46 Bantam T3-C #2376
67 M416
68 M274A5
MVPA #20343

Joe Gopan
Jeep Heaven
Posts: 49841
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:37 pm
Location: Proving Ground

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Joe Gopan » Thu May 18, 2017 11:35 pm

Have towed many GI trailers, and towed equipment behind 1/4 Ton thru 10 ton 6X6 and not once have been annoyed by clunking lunettes. Never heard of any GI being declared "4 F" due to being bugged by Lunette clunking. :wink:
2011 MVPA PIONEER AWARD - MVPA #1064
HONOR GRAD-WHEELED VEHICLE MECHANIC SCHOOL 1960 - US ARMY ORDNANCE SCHOOL(MACHINIST) ABERDEEN PG 1962 - O-1 BIRD DOG CREWCHIEF - 300,000+TROUBLE FREE M-38A1 MILES
LIFE MEMBER AM LEGION-40/8-DAV
7 MIL SPEC MAINTAINED MV'S
COL. BRUNO BROOKS (ARMY MOTORS) IS MY HERO

Tim Shanteler
G-Second Lieutenant
G-Second Lieutenant
Posts: 520
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:20 pm
Location: Tyngsboro, MA

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Tim Shanteler » Fri May 19, 2017 6:32 am

Thanks for the information and opinions. I would be towing it with a Ram 1500. If I do it I'll need new tires, tubes and flaps as the ones on it are probably at least 50 years old and pack the bearing as mentioned. They'll probably be a couple of hundred pounds in the trailer. Just wish it wasn't such a long haul on the first trip and I had some local drive time. Putting it on my trailer is not an option at the moment.

Thanks again....

Tim
Tim

1945 WC-57 81674456
1944 WC-52 81750129
1945 MB 430629
1943 Ford GPW133609
1943 Ben Hur 0347395 (Gertstenlager)

Joe Gopan
Jeep Heaven
Posts: 49841
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:37 pm
Location: Proving Ground

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Joe Gopan » Fri May 19, 2017 6:51 am

Full size Half Ton trucks should be OK with near empty Ben Hur. The Ben Hur weighs around 1300#. Towing one at 60MPH takes a bit of planning should there be a panic. 45-50 MPH is a bit wiser.
2011 MVPA PIONEER AWARD - MVPA #1064
HONOR GRAD-WHEELED VEHICLE MECHANIC SCHOOL 1960 - US ARMY ORDNANCE SCHOOL(MACHINIST) ABERDEEN PG 1962 - O-1 BIRD DOG CREWCHIEF - 300,000+TROUBLE FREE M-38A1 MILES
LIFE MEMBER AM LEGION-40/8-DAV
7 MIL SPEC MAINTAINED MV'S
COL. BRUNO BROOKS (ARMY MOTORS) IS MY HERO

Tim Shanteler
G-Second Lieutenant
G-Second Lieutenant
Posts: 520
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:20 pm
Location: Tyngsboro, MA

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Tim Shanteler » Fri May 19, 2017 10:49 am

Thanks Ben
Tim

1945 WC-57 81674456
1944 WC-52 81750129
1945 MB 430629
1943 Ford GPW133609
1943 Ben Hur 0347395 (Gertstenlager)

User avatar
Farrell Fox
banned
Posts: 4847
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 2:17 pm
Location:

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Farrell Fox » Sun May 21, 2017 10:19 pm

[Post Deleted By Author]
Last edited by Farrell Fox on Fri Oct 25, 2019 8:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division
M1A1 Main Battle Tank Mechanic
M88 Armored Vehicle Recovery Operator
AVLB Operator

Tim Shanteler
G-Second Lieutenant
G-Second Lieutenant
Posts: 520
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:20 pm
Location: Tyngsboro, MA

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Tim Shanteler » Mon May 22, 2017 11:47 am

Thanks Farrell...
Tim

1945 WC-57 81674456
1944 WC-52 81750129
1945 MB 430629
1943 Ford GPW133609
1943 Ben Hur 0347395 (Gertstenlager)

Joe Gopan
Jeep Heaven
Posts: 49841
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:37 pm
Location: Proving Ground

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Joe Gopan » Mon May 22, 2017 12:33 pm

If you plan to have a substantial load in your Ben Hur and your pintle height is too low, heavy braking will lift some of the load from the front wheels of the tow vehicle.
2011 MVPA PIONEER AWARD - MVPA #1064
HONOR GRAD-WHEELED VEHICLE MECHANIC SCHOOL 1960 - US ARMY ORDNANCE SCHOOL(MACHINIST) ABERDEEN PG 1962 - O-1 BIRD DOG CREWCHIEF - 300,000+TROUBLE FREE M-38A1 MILES
LIFE MEMBER AM LEGION-40/8-DAV
7 MIL SPEC MAINTAINED MV'S
COL. BRUNO BROOKS (ARMY MOTORS) IS MY HERO

User avatar
lt.luke
G-General
G-General
Posts: 9899
Joined: Fri May 09, 2003 7:56 am
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by lt.luke » Tue May 23, 2017 3:43 am

Ben Dover wrote:Full size Half Ton trucks should be OK with near empty Ben Hur. The Ben Hur weighs around 1300#. Towing one at 60MPH takes a bit of planning should there be a panic. 45-50 MPH is a bit wiser.
I have no idea what year your truck is. So the lowest row capacity listed on a 16 F150 v6 is 7600#. 7600-1300 = 6300 pounds. Live the bearings and tow the trailer. Leave some distance to stop if it's loaded & quit worrying.

Tongue weight aside, you could put a jeep in a Ben hut & tow it with s 1/2 ton.

My car hauler is 1300 pounds. I have towed it loaded (another car) with a Ford Ranger. I had trailer brakes on one axle. No issues.

Joe Gopan
Jeep Heaven
Posts: 49841
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:37 pm
Location: Proving Ground

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Joe Gopan » Tue May 23, 2017 3:52 am

I have a few "told you so's" in my long list of those hauling trailers, hindsight is 20/20.
I only wish I could have taken before and after pics.
It might not apply here, but I have witnessed front wheels of little Jeeps hauling a cargo trailer come of the ground when brakes were applied. This was on the Interstate and the driver had to constantly apply the brakes to overcome the crown of the road.
And Luke, you gotta sometimes think out of the box when it comes to what people do.
2011 MVPA PIONEER AWARD - MVPA #1064
HONOR GRAD-WHEELED VEHICLE MECHANIC SCHOOL 1960 - US ARMY ORDNANCE SCHOOL(MACHINIST) ABERDEEN PG 1962 - O-1 BIRD DOG CREWCHIEF - 300,000+TROUBLE FREE M-38A1 MILES
LIFE MEMBER AM LEGION-40/8-DAV
7 MIL SPEC MAINTAINED MV'S
COL. BRUNO BROOKS (ARMY MOTORS) IS MY HERO

User avatar
lt.luke
G-General
G-General
Posts: 9899
Joined: Fri May 09, 2003 7:56 am
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by lt.luke » Tue May 23, 2017 4:30 am

Ben Dover wrote:I have a few "told you so's" in my long list of those hauling trailers, hindsight is 20/20.
I only wish I could have taken before and after pics.
It might not apply here, but I have witnessed front wheels of little Jeeps hauling a cargo trailer come of the ground when brakes were applied. This was on the Interstate and the driver had to constantly apply the brakes to overcome the crown of the road.
And Luke, you gotta sometimes think out of the box when it comes to what people do.
I've had one wag me for a 1,000 mile trip too. But nothing about the advertised haul leads me to believe it's anything except a guy with a trailer, asking if he can tow it with a truck that has ample capacity, as advertised by the manufacturer, to do so. If he said he was hauling something stupidly heavy in a 70+ year old trailer, then maybe there would be cause for concern. An F150 should tow and stop 2000# comfortably with or without trailer brakes.

Drew M.
G-First Sergeant
G-First Sergeant
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2003 8:07 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Towing a Ben Hur

Post by Drew M. » Tue May 23, 2017 12:48 pm

Pulled empty Ben Hur trailers with a Ford Escape for hundreds of miles w/o problems. I turn off the od on hills b/c I fear breaking 5th gear.


And yes, a stripped wood Ben Hur trailer and generator trailer w/o the generator do go air borne on bumps. Also, tires with flat spots make for bumpy ride until they go round.


Post Reply

Return to “Trailers 1/2 ton +”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 48 guests