Thread: Snapped Hitch Receiver

Maybe - so the new plough rather than the old plough.

Doesn't matter, my point is still valid and applies to both - both hang down and are vulnerable to hitting something solid where a fatigue crack can start.

Cheers

Garry

You would have to be doing something not very smart to hit the new type on the ground as it no where as long as the joke of D3 hitch , my old D3 plough is in the shed and now have a D4 hitch on my 2007 sport .

I would be very interested to know what happened to the OP hitch , wonder if there was a casting fault in manufature as appears to parted where the locking bolt is ? .
Toyota prado,s had a fault where the hitch broke off on certain models but not sure why .

All being equal i can not see a reason if used normaly why it would fail it is one solid peice of metal .

I’ve managed to bang my hitch twice coming out of a shopping centre turning onto the main road as there was a bit of a dip, it really didn’t take much and I was surprised that it happened. I raise the car now anytime I need to cross a dip.

I ended up buying a new hitch as I no longer trusted the one original and a year later a guy rear ended me straight into the tow ball, no damage at my rear but his bumper/radiator was totalled. Looks like the tow assembly took all of the force of the truck hitting me.

So yet again another replacement but this time I think I’ll go with the Mitch.

Cheers
Mike

Hi Brian, it’s John the D5 owner than pulled the van out, hope you are sorted now and enjoying the rest of your holiday

I used to leave mine fitted without the tongue but it gets very dirty and hard to remove. I've also dragged it in the sand a few times while crossing creeks on Morton and Fraser Is .... so if you were on a rock surface I imagine you could give it a reasonable smack. But that would be at lower speed thus reducing the impact force.

Originally Posted by mike7

I’ve managed to bang my hitch twice coming out of a shopping centre turning onto the main road as there was a bit of a dip, it really didn’t take much and I was surprised that it happened. I raise the car now anytime I need to cross a dip.

My factory D4 hitch also hit the ground on a number of occasions when towing over gutters and rough tracks so I decided to replace with the Mitch Hitch and have not bottomed it out since. So I too think that the original D4 hitch has had a knock sometime that's taken a while to break through.
Now I have more peace of mind with the Mitch Hitch than I did with the factory hitch.

Jaybee MY12 D4

Originally Posted by disco4now

I just measured from that lug where the standard D4 hitch receiver plugs into the chassis ie where it broke and it’s 17.5 cm to centre of the towball hole on standard D4 tongue. The D035 puts the weight and pivot right there. If the McHitch has it out another 10cm it does make some difference to angular force applied to where it broke. I have towed with D035 hitch on 3500kg van and standard D4 setup for 60,000km over 8 years, cape York, Savannah’s way, Gibb river. I have no argument that Mitch Hitch does the job. Maybe some questions with the McHitch and the standard D4 setup. Who is using that combination?

My rig runs the std D4 plough and a Mc Hitch setup. The van is a tandem about 2.6t. No dramas so far and i have had the entire rig airborne on a whoopdee doo around Mt Augustus.

Originally Posted by Celtoid

I used to leave mine fitted without the tongue but it gets very dirty and hard to remove.

I recall reading that was a no-no (both the receiver hitch and the cast ball) because it'll rattle around and wear both the hitch and the socket in the chassis. I certainly take mine out when it's not in use. Is it ok to leave them in?