Buyers Products 2-1/2" I.D. Forged 4-Bolt Mount Lunette Ring - Black

Video Transcript for Buyers Products Forged 4-Bolt Mount Lunette Ring Review

Randy: Hey guys, it's Randy here at etrailer.com. Today we're going to be taking a look at the Buyers Lunette Ring. Now this one's rated for 42,000 pounds of gross trailer weight, so that's the total weight of your trailer and whatever you've got loaded up, and 7,000 pounds of tongue weight. So that's the maximum downward force we can put on our hitch with this ring.Now you're going to see these rings used on a lot of trailers. Construction companies, landscaping companies often like to use these, heavy-duty equipment operators like to use these, and these also come in really handy when you need to connect a trailer to the back of a larger truck, maybe like a dump truck or something like that. Basically this is going to be a pretty easy way to connect when you compare it to kind of a coupler and a ball, those have to be a little bit more in line.

These can be off a little bit, they kind of guide it in a little bit better. Overall, these don't give you the best ride quality in the entire world. Just by nature, there's a little bit of play side to side and front to back in them. So if you're looking for a really nice, smooth operating trailer/truck combination, this isn't your guy. This is that heavier-duty operator that needs a lot of structural integrity and doesn't care so much about the overall ride quality.Now the bolt pattern's 4 1/2 by 4 1/2.

That's going to work out with most of these setups. 5/8" diameter hardware is what we're looking for here, that's what the holes are going to be. This one again, like we said, rated for 42,000 pounds. These go all the way up to 90,000 pounds. A lot of times, those are going to use 3/4" hardware.

So just keep that in mind if you're unsure what the capacity is of yours, whether it's worn off or whatever the case may be. Take a look at that hardware size and that's going to get you pretty close to what you need.Now, overall we're looking at 5 1/2" total diameter on the outside. Our hole opening is going to be 2 1/2". Now this is what they call a forge lunette ring, so it's going to come around, it's all one piece. See here, all one piece, all the way around.

Now Buyers does offer one very similar to this with the same weigh rating, but instead of it being forged, we're going to have a ring that's welded to the plate. Here's what that one's going to look like. You see we've still got the forged ring all the way to this point, and then it's been welded onto the plate. Uses the same bolt pattern, again, it has the same weight rating, so I think in this case it's just going to be a matter of looks, which one you like the best. And if we put them side by side, well again, same weight rating on both of them. I like the way this one looks more than this one, but that's going to be up to you.Now when working with customers, the main reason that you're going to replace a lunette ring is because of wear. On this bottom side here as it rests on that hitch going down the road, back and forth, side to side, it starts to lose some of the metal here on the bottom side. It's really not like a ball and coupler where they just kind of work together. These will definitely wear out over time. And working with most customers, they say this one tends to hold up really well when used in moderate kind of situations. If you're maxing it out, still holds up pretty well, but you will get some wear there on the bottom.Now as far as the installation goes, of course you'll need your old one removed. We'll take the new Buyers, we're going to be using 5/8 diameter hardware, slide it through, and get it aligned with whichever of the settings. Generally on a trailer like this you'll have several to choose from, and of course you want to use a lock washer on these just to ensure that they're never going to back off on you without you wanting them to. You get all four of them in place, and then just get them tightened and torqued.Overall I think for a lunette ring replacement, this one has a really good look to it. I think it's constructed really well. I like how nice and heavy it is, and overall if I we're a lunette ring trailer kind of guy, I would definitely own this one.