Pit Bull trailer restraint installation

I love the concept of it, but not too thrilled on how loose the floor mount was. I have an open aluminum trailer, and it made a lot of noise. I ended up using one forward strap to add pressure to the mounts, and that seemed to help.

Probably going to try some lower reinforcement and making some shims. Those plates are a little pricey, and I already have to get a second one.

Question directed for PitBull: Any reason why the main arm couldn't be made out of aluminum? Would be a lot easier to deal with a lighter arm when loading and such.

 

I didn't like the thin washers for the underside. I cut two 6 1/2" pieces of 1"W x 1/8"T flatbar. Drilled two holes to match the top plate and bolted it together. Works great and there is no movement. Be careful about over tightening the lock nuts using this setup, you can over stress the bolts making latch removal very hard.

 

The floor latches were loosened up for ease of use when lining up the bike to go into the restraint. Our first pre-production versions were very snug BUT they were EXTREMELY hard to get lined up properly. That little bit of looseness is not enough to cause any safety issues although as you noticed it does create a little bit of "rattle" noise.
***I just thought of this...make sure your mushroom spacers are flange-side UP. If they are flange-side DOWN, you will get more rattle and also create a major safety concern***

As for lower reinforcement, you'll notice the floor plate has two rectangular cut-outs in it. I have thousands of those in the shop and will gladly send them to anyone who wants them...before or after the sale. If its after the sale, you just cover shipping. Drill 4 holes and you have two giant double hole washers.

As for the restraint frame being made out of aluminum, we've always erred on the side of caution when it came to things like that. We could make it considerably lighter by using thinner wall steel tube...but it would not last as long or absorb nearly as much force without bending. The current frame can absorb well over 1,000 pounds PER upright bar in a ductility test. Especially when used in a van, during a major collision the motorcycle makes a nasty projectile. It may be overkill, but we'll keep using thick walled steel so we can sleep at night

 

That is correct. We did some testing and included a torque recommendation on the more recent instruction sheets to help with that issue.

 

this thread is making me want to buy one... what about truck beds? i'd have to mount it forward of the rear wheel

 

http://forums.13x.com/showpost.php?p=3449704&postcount=70

 

is install similar? any tips in dealing with the truck bed or is it pretty cake?

 

It depends on the truck bed because you need to find a spot where you can access the underside of the bed. Another option is to mount a sheet of plywood in the truck bed and then bolt the plywood through the bed wherever you can get easy access. The plate is 24" x 6" so you'll need to find a place where you can get bolts through and still access them from underneath for the washers and nuts. http://www.pit-bull.com/restraint_bolts.html

I believe Mongo has one mounted in his truck...might be able to give you some insight.

 

I mounted one in the bed of an 06 Chevy truck with an 8' bed. Bike facing forward, restraint behind the wheel, worked great. Like George said, make sure you have access to the underside of bed, it would be a bummer to drill into a gas tank or brake line.:up:

 

When I load 2 bikes in my 5 x 10

I have the right side bike just up to the side door and the left side bike about 2 ft further up. That helps with interference between bikes and allows me to load stuff through the side door still.

I'm probably going to mount my single Pit Bull restraint on the right side and use the left for all my gear to balance the weight out.

 

My order went in this afternoon. My Baxley works great in my truck bed and in the garage but I think the straps and my utility trailer are pounding the crap out of my fork seals.

I'm sorry if I'm being redundant, but is there any value in positioning the mounting plate so that there are two bolts on each side of a frame cross rail? I've got an enclosed 5x8 Load Runner with 3/4" flooring. Also, how tight is tight enough on the bolts? Is there a torque value?

Thank you for your help, Mark.

 

Hitting a cross member with a couple bolts might help, but I don't think it's neccessary. 3/4 plywood is plenty strong. Don't know of a torque number....40 lbs maybe :up:

 

I have a 5x8 open trailer with 2x6 slats for the trailer floor. The width of the slats meant that I was drilling the holes for the restraint mounting plate exacly between slats. I was worried that the nuts and washers might pull through so I simply bought a 2nd mounting plate from put bull and put it on the underside of the floor, sandwiching the floor between the plates. I did a bunch of trackdays last year and the bike was solid, no worries.

 

The instructions call out a torque value that won't seem tight enough but is the result of considerable research. If you go 40 lbs. you will warp the plate and it will be hard to quick release the latches. I'll check when I get to the shop and post that torque spec.

 

I'm looking at the instructions now and they specifically state 8 ft pounds.

I'm sure I'm going to look like an idiot here, but can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong (see photo)?

I've got the left pin square onto the axle shaft as though it were a socket. On the right the threads on the axle are into the cup hole and the cup is against the axle nut but the pin hole is ~3/8" from being able accept the safety pin.

I've got an '01 F4i, by the way.

EDIT: The safety pin will go thru if I take off the silver cup on the right but then there's ~1/8" of play between the bike and stand which can't be right.

 

are you saying there is an 1/8th inch of side to side play when its mounted through the axle? If so that is normal. It wont sit perfectly tight, I would assume that 1/8 is to accommodate variances. I can slide the restraint about an eighth on my GSXR but once its locked in the base plate there is no wiggle room.

 

That silver cup replaces your axle washer. Then the pin on that side will go INTO the silver cup that now serves as your axle washer/trailer restraint pin receptacle. I wish I had some photos but if you take your axle washer out and replace it with that cup piece, it should fit in there relatively snug. I apologize for the directions not being more clear. If you have any more questions, you can call us: 877-533-1977 or email info @ pit-bull.com

Edit: That silver cup is intended to stay on the bike at all times...so it's easy to get set up for transport quickly. Hope that helps

 

Ohhh (said the village idiot)!

That makes perfect sense. Cool design! Thank you for the help.

 

Yea, the rattle is not just the restraint mounts, but it also makes a ton of noise else wear on the trailer. If it was a close trailer, there'd be no issue. Just with an open aluminum trailer strapped with gear, the movement of the bike just makes the trailer shake a lot more.

No safety issues, just something that gets annoying after an hour of driving. But again, a single strap tugging the bike forward does the trick.

I like the idea of the extra spacers. Should i just contact PitBull directly?

Regarding the strength of the unit, there's no doubt that it's built like a tank. Just that the unit is 10 times stronger than the swing arm of my bike, and 100 times stringer than the trailer it's mounted to. If something where to happen, the Pull Bull unit would remain while half my bike flys down the road

Nice to see a company willing to go stronger than weaker (are you listing Powerstands ). Just that for my little 360lb. bike, i'd be happier with a lighter mount, and would pay extra for it.

I don't have a Pit Bull trailer unit for my motard, but at 240lbs, the Pit Bull unit would add 50% more weight. Kind of like using a Hummer to tow a wheel barrel.

I know there's aluminum trailer mounts and stands out there, but the quality of Pitt Bull is SOOOO much better. not just the thickness of the steel, but with the overall quality of design, welds, and hardware.

Hey, you guys ever considering a portable work table?