Thread: Hitch advice

Originally Posted by ADMIRAL

The Weight Distribution System ( WDH ) is essentially an anti articulation device.

It works simply as a sprung lever connecting a point in front of the hitch with a point behind the hitch. As you say, it resists further downward articulation of the hitch. Unfortunately most people seem to use them as a means to prevent the rear of an overloaded vehicle sagging under the weight of a nose heavy trailer/caravan. Easy to do, just chain 'em up whilst the caravan is jacked up high on the jockey wheel and when you lower the jockey wheel the car doesn't sag. The result is that the entire tow bar system is overloaded, and as the fulcrum of the lever the hitch itself carries all the extra compression of the system. But the vehicle is no longer scraping it's rear on the ground, so the owner is happy. Until something breaks!

Originally Posted by ADMIRAL

Common sense fly's out the window, when some people get behind the wheel.

Very true. I live in a rural area frequented by "grey nomads" - don't get me started!

Originally Posted by bacicat

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.

I actually never thought anything different!

But I do find it sad that the internet allows an idiot (and when I said this earlier I wasn't referring to you, but to the guy who originally posted the pictures) to abuse a product to destruction and then publicly trash it. The "power of the internet", together with the willingness of people to avoid any kind of reasoned analysis and simply repeat the trashing, means that there is little recourse for the "trashee", and in any case what company would choose to stand up and say "he's a moron"? This kind of thing can kill a small company, when they have in all likelihood done nothing wrong. So what you are seeing from Oz Hitch is basically the only thing they can do to try to stay alive. And for the rest of time, or until all the posts about it are deleted, anyone researching hitches will find those pictures and...? The same applies to the posts from people who haven't read the instructions yet say that the hitch is hard to connect.

Originally Posted by Chops

Well, with all the great info you guys are supplying,,, Thanks boys,, I still don't know which I will choose yet, but the DO35's looking good,

As you will have gathered, I use an Oz Hitch coupling but I did build my camper trailer on Cruisemaster suspension which, like the DO35, is from Vehicle Components. I was very pleased with both the suspension and the service from VC, so I can recommend the company!

I have no experience with the systems mostly mentioned here, but do have and recommend the Hyland hitch as a very good fully articulated hitch with no difficult hitching up and if your vehicle needs a day off, as land rovers occasionally do, your mate or the tow truck can tow the trailer on his standard 50mm ball.

Its an interesting point you make Harry,,
if your rock solid LR dies,,
and they have been known to do that on occasion,,
and you are covered by RACQ-V-SA-WA-NT,,

will the towy in uppercumbuctawest be able to tow your
Mc-hitched trailer?

A valid point indeed, but one would assume that he would at least have a spanner on hand to change tow hitches over. So take his off the truck and replace it with yours off the LR.
Realistically it shouldn't matter what you were towing with, I guess even if you had a ring feeder type.

will the towy in uppercumbuctawest be able to tow your
Mc-hitched trailer?

I have to admit that this is a good point .
My D2 fuel manifold sprung a leak at El Questro while I was towing my camper trailer.
The local Kununurra contractor to NRMA had a truck but no 2 inch receiver , but had a 4 inch receiver which was beat up dented etc.

They managed to completely strip the thread on the Mc Hitch "cone" and also broke the bolt off in the top.
This was pretty good going.
It took a week to get the new "cone" after I contacted Mc Hitch who were very helpful.
I now carry a spare as they are pretty cheap.

Regards Philip A

How do you guys find the hitch receivers on your cars.... I've noticed the slop in the receiver .... maybe 1/2mm becomes 3->4mm by the time you add a long tongue. They also rattle like buggery. I reckon the tongue being able to be moved a few millimeters in any direction effects stability of the caravan too.



Eg: this tongue I can move around a couple of millimeters in any direction. My brothers modern pajero I can hear the tongue rattling around in when it's just sitting there idling (he has the bolt on the bottom of it done up so tight it's now stripped. Stupidly the anti-rattle bolts in forward of the pin so will carry the tongue weight when the Pajero is towing, it also won't stop side to side movement as it's only pushing the front of the tongue up.



To get around this with a grinder disc in a 4" grinder I notched the old Range rovers receiver deeply, and then drilled it through. I welded a sleeve nut above this, and screwed a bolt into it with a big washer welded to it's head so I don't need to carry spanners.

Now because this touches the very back edge of where the tongue slides into the receiver, it wedges the thing upto into the top back corner of the receiver. so carries no weight, yet locks it in super tight. Being on the corner it stops both side to side and up 'n' down movement. Why don't all receivers have something like this

seeya,
Shane L.

Hi Shane,
I've seen this on hitches before, and even seen them with two bolts on the edge of them, one near the front and one near the rear. They were however on the top corners, not so much underneath. This would help hold it down when there is already weight on it. It would only be an issue on an up cycle, so I'm guessing the bolts would hold it down better than up maybe (??).
On one I had, I placed a shim (a section of tin can) in the hitch to quieten it down a bit. It was a bike rack which could be swivelled down,, a total pain in the butt due to its bad fitment.
Thanks for your suggestion, info and pics, good to see.