Thread: Hitch advice

AT35 was our first offroad hitch and found it way easier than a treg block type for instance. Now have a DO35 and is way better/easier again.

Jc

Originally Posted by ADMIRAL

The 'pin' on top actuates the drop bar. Even if your were 'clod ' enough to break it off, and that would take some doing, the main locking pin ( for the transverse hole in the pic ) would hold the hitch coupling in place. I understand the uni is off a 7 tonne Toyota truck. Durable enough for me.

NAY_3141.jpg

Your picture shows a McHitch "automatic", not the HitchMaster with the retaining nipple that I was talking about.

I have never actually seen the "automatic" version of the McHitch, so I cannot comment on it generally. I do not know the original use of that particular needle roller u/j unit, but my experience of them is that they are normally used to transmit rotational drive at limited angles. They do that very well (many years ago we used them in grass-track racing Mini's), though the loading is limited to the force that can be produced by "dropping the clutch". How that relates to a 2 tonne trailer in push/pull I cannot say. However when they start to wear/fail they go from minor issue to major failure quite quickly - that is in "rotational" use, I imagine they behave the same way in a "push/pull" environment. Some needle roller u/j's are basically disposable items in there entirety, but I suspect the McHitch may have screw caps to allow bearing replacement? If that is the case, and the job does not require a shop-press (bets?), then carrying a spare set of bearings probably solves the problem.

I still think that needle rollers are a sledgehammer to crack a nut, adding complexity to what effect?

A well adjusted and greased 50mm ball hitch does not rattle or bang, and so is perfectly suited for on-road towing. It does lack some articulation, so that - and possibly some extra load capacity - is really all that needs to be added for off-road use. The Oz Hitch, with crossed pins using greased nylon bushes and (as with all these u/j style hitches) a rotating shaft, adds articulation in the simplest possible manner.

Don't get me wrong, all these hitches will do the job and I would bet that nobody could tell, from the drivers seat, which one was fitted!

A couple of quick questions, if you have time. I have, as I said, never seen the McHitch automatic. It would appear from the pictures that the "tongue" would hang down on the u/j when not hitched. In the video on their web site, they have what looks like a removable plastic mechanism to hold the tongue level and straight. If that is so, how do you hitch it up when you are at an angle (both horizontally and vertically) to the trailer? And is the speed of the system not lost when you have to stop 4" away from hitch engagement to adjust the height of the hitch because you've changed the loading of the car or adjusted the height of the jockey wheel to level the trailer/caravan?

I know the design has changed since this happened - OZ Hitch failure. - but it kind of leaves you doubting it a bit in my mind. They look like a PITA to connect as well - something that is echoed on other forums from users of it.

The McHitch parts are forged one piece items and I like the ease of connection too.

I know where my money will be going.

I honestly don't know if the design has changed, but equally I don't know the true conditions under which that happened. We have all seen trailers/caravans that have been so poorly loaded that there is about 700kg downforce on the hitch, and we've all seen people who reverse and jack-knife the trailer. I know people who can in minutes destroy things that I've been using for years! I find it hard to get excited about a breakage
without genuinely knowing whether it was a design/material/construction failure or abuse - and people will rarely admit they abused it, even if they actually make the mental connection between a brutal jack-knife and a failure possibly 1000's of kms and weeks later.

The construction of this part is much the same in the Oz Hitch and the Hitchmaster. The McHitch uses what looks like a forged driveshaft, and so should be stronger. However the increased number of "moving parts" and relative complexity of the McHitch create their own issues!

As for ease of hitching, I know exactly why people complain - it's because they haven't read the instructions! The process is that you position the receiver somewhere under the hitch. Then use your knee to adjust the trailer left/right as required, and lower the hitch on to the receiver which then self aligns in a slot. This results in the hitch resting at the base of the slot (by design), which is below the final position. Now you need to lift the trailer, with the jockey wheel, a couple of mm or so to allow the pin to be inserted. If you do this, the process is easy. If you don't, then you are trying to use the taper of the pin to physically lift the trailer.

One thing that did occur to me is that with all the drop-on style of hitches it is easy to level the trailer. We can release the hitch and raise the nose of the trailer without moving the vehicle. Re-hitching, presuming the vehicle hasn't been moved, is simply a case of lowering the trailer. This would appear to be impossible with the "automatic" McHitch (and certainly the Treg), where the vehicle must be moved forward before the nose of the trailer can be raised. For our typical use (nightly stops with no vehicle use) having to move the vehicle to level the trailer would be an unnecessary overhead, though for a caravan park where the tow vehicle must be moved and parked separately, or for longer stays it wouldn't make any difference. Horses for courses!

All these hitches can be destroyed under the right (wrong?) conditions, and all have advantages and disadvantages. The McHitch and Hitchmaster are certainly far flashier looking than the Treg, OzHitch or 50mm ball. Like I said, it's personal choice. I'm simply outlining the process I went through when deciding on a hitch for my camper.

As was I . The design has changed - the rod is now threaded and screwed into position before welding. Ozhitch have been very good about this whole situation - offering anyone who has one of the original designs, a new one at no cost. These were also the new owners of the company as well aparently so they walked right into the **** storm and sorted it, so cudos on them for this.

There after sales service is obviously first rate.

The story about this failure was that a WDH was being used and the vehicle was executing a u turn when it happened.

Originally Posted by bacicat

The story about this failure was that a WDH was being used and the vehicle was executing a u turn when it happened.

Seems odd to being using a weight distributing system with a high articulation hitch, don't you think?

WDH's act like a big lever, using the hitch as a fulcrum to try and straighten the link between the trailer and vehicle - "levering" the back of the towing vehicle upwards and therefore the front of the towing vehicle downwards. Unfortunately this actually increases the downward force on the hitch itself, a situation which becomes worse as the vertical angle between the vehicle and the trailer increases - as happens with abrupt changes in slope off-road as the vehicle levels out at the bottom of a steep hill when the trailer is still on the slope.

Of course the worst case is when people overload (vertically) the hitch with too much nose weight in the trailer, overload the back of the tow vehicle with luggage, and then use a WD system to attempt to crank the front of the tow vehicle back down to the road. Oh, and then go off-roading!

And "U turn"? Or 3 point turn with a jack-knife?

I suspect that a fair amount of abuse, stupidity and overloading went in to creating that failure!! But this is the internet, so we never let the truth get in the way of a good story!!

It must be galling for the manufacturers of a product to see their good name being trashed because someone abused a product and then posted pictures of the "failure".

Not sure what else went on, that was Ozhitches official response to the issue. Just one line, but I suspect you're right about the failure being caused by things other than normal use - if you look at the pictures, you can see about 5 shackles being used as a chain - who ever is the brainiac behind this vehicle clearly is no engineer.

EDIT - this is the exact quote from Ozhitch - "we believe the problem has occurred in the use of a weight distribution system when doing a U turn"

Despite what you may think, I'm not having a go at Ozhitch directly here - everything I've posted is in the public arena and acknowledged by the manufacturer themselves, who (as I mentioned before) were very pro active in how they dealt with this and I applaud their after sales service.

As you have said yourself, you were just posting things that swayed your decision to buy one. I'm just posting mine as well. The design has changed, and although I'm sure they are a lot stronger now, the Mchitch has forged parts, not welded parts. That and the ease of connection (also as mentioned, im going for the drop over hitch, not the auto hitch).

Sorry if I came across as just bagging them out for the sake of it - I was more pointing out the method of construction. I've actually said some nice things about them if you look at my posts.

Originally Posted by Warb

Your picture shows a McHitch "automatic", not the HitchMaster with the retaining nipple that I was talking about.

I have never actually seen the "automatic" version of the McHitch, so I cannot comment on it generally. I do not know the original use of that particular needle roller u/j unit, but my experience of them is that they are normally used to transmit rotational drive at limited angles. They do that very well (many years ago we used them in grass-track racing Mini's), though the loading is limited to the force that can be produced by "dropping the clutch". How that relates to a 2 tonne trailer in push/pull I cannot say. However when they start to wear/fail they go from minor issue to major failure quite quickly - that is in "rotational" use, I imagine they behave the same way in a "push/pull" environment. Some needle roller u/j's are basically disposable items in there entirety, but I suspect the McHitch may have screw caps to allow bearing replacement? If that is the case, and the job does not require a shop-press (bets?), then carrying a spare set of bearings probably solves the problem.

I still think that needle rollers are a sledgehammer to crack a nut, adding complexity to what effect?

A well adjusted and greased 50mm ball hitch does not rattle or bang, and so is perfectly suited for on-road towing. It does lack some articulation, so that - and possibly some extra load capacity - is really all that needs to be added for off-road use. The Oz Hitch, with crossed pins using greased nylon bushes and (as with all these u/j style hitches) a rotating shaft, adds articulation in the simplest possible manner.

Don't get me wrong, all these hitches will do the job and I would bet that nobody could tell, from the drivers seat, which one was fitted!

A couple of quick questions, if you have time. I have, as I said, never seen the McHitch automatic. It would appear from the pictures that the "tongue" would hang down on the u/j when not hitched. In the video on their web site, they have what looks like a removable plastic mechanism to hold the tongue level and straight. If that is so, how do you hitch it up when you are at an angle (both horizontally and vertically) to the trailer? And is the speed of the system not lost when you have to stop 4" away from hitch engagement to adjust the height of the hitch because you've changed the loading of the car or adjusted the height of the jockey wheel to level the trailer/caravan?

Hi Warb,

First off, I use a rotating hitch as much for the fact that it will rotate if the van tipped over, as for off road flexibility. I am not sure it would stop the vehicle being rolled if the van went, but it makes me feel better.
The only plastic I can recall on the auto coupler video, is a marker for use with a reversing camera. The uni has to be pushed down quite firmly. I store mine this way. There has been comment that as the uni wore, it would get sloppy and fall down. They can be adjusted and greased. Only time will tell if this is to become an issue.

I tried marking the jockey wheel to get the exact height, but even that doesn't work perfectly. I give the other half a portable UHF, and have her stop me when the coupler and tongue get close. If there is an adjustment required, a quick wind on the jockey wheel fixes it. In my experience so far, the coupler opening and tongue do not have to be perfectly aligned, either side to side or vertically. As the tongue is tapered, it soon centre's itself. I haven't used the D4 remote height adjustment as yet, but that is always an option.

It's not so much the speed as the ease of hitching up that sold me on this coupler, and it has been true to that so far. ( once you get the idea though it is pretty quick ) No more stuffing around trying to line up a ball or pin without marking up the bumper panel. Once the coupler and tongue are lined up, it is just reverse up until the clunk. The rear drop bar comes down when the tongue is properly in. Slide the safety pin in, and your are away.