Looking to replace my standard cup type hitch to a Cruisemaster DO35 hitch
Ronzo said
10:08 PM Nov 10, 2023
I have some difficulty unhitching my cup type hitch especially when on a slope
What are your thoughts on the Cruise-master type off road hitch and approx cost tb fitted. Will it take the conventional WDH without mods. Appreciate your advice
yobarr said
11:07 PM Nov 10, 2023
Ronzo wrote:
I have some difficulty unhitching my cup type hitch especially when on a slope What are your thoughts on the Cruise-master type off road hitch and approx cost tb fitted. Will it take the conventional WDH without mods. Appreciate your advice
Best hitch available, I believe. Cost about $500, and worth every cent. Easy to fit if you have a few tools.
Will take WDH, but WDH rarely actually needed provided car is of a suitable size for your van. Happy to do figures for you if you tell us model of car and ATM of your van, which is found on compliance plate.
WDH is not the universal cure-it-all that many have been led to believe it is. Cheers
-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 10th of November 2023 11:37:39 PM
DO35/45 is the only hitch I would ever consider, also believe that WDH should be designated to scrap bin. The DO35/45 type hitch has a "Univeral Joint" ability to keep tug upright if the van goes arse-up, (WDH will prevent the hitch from performing this role).
Ronzo said
08:50 AM Nov 11, 2023
Thanks for your reply
I have a Pajero Sport 21 model and a New Age Manta Ray Ray 16.5 van
ATM is 2190
Appreciate your help
yobarr said
10:20 AM Nov 11, 2023
Ronzo wrote:
Thanks for your reply I have a Pajero Sport 21 model and a New Age Manta Ray Ray 16.5 van ATM is 2190 Appreciate your help
Hi Ray, Your car is well suited to your van, and it is a lot heavier, so far safer than a lot of the setups I see in my travels.
Forget the WDH, as it's not even remotely necessary in your case, unless you're carrying a lot of stuff in the back of your car, and your rear axle weight becomes be a concern.
Happy travels. Cheers
Cuppa said
10:23 AM Nov 11, 2023
When I bought our Tvan it had a Mk 1 DO35 fitted. It impressed me with it's articulation & ease of hitching up compare to those awful treg/trig type finger snatchers.
After inadvertantly running our MK 1 upside down & having to jacknife the Tvan in a very tight offroad reversing situation I damaged the hitch, splayed the fork which holds the UJ apart. It completed the trip of several thousand kms ok, but when I enquired to Cruisemaster about repair they said to bin it. Mk 1's did not have the ability to undo the UJ fitting.
I replaced it with a new Mk 3 which does ..... & is definitely an improved design with it's dust cover. only fittable when the hitch is proprly secured (safety feature) & has kept the sliding mechanism greased free of dust over years of off road travel.
To be clear the damage to the MK 1 was my fault - operator error, not a product fault .... but it really did me a favour as the Mk 3 is so much better.
StewG said
02:30 PM Nov 13, 2023
Going to DO35 is an excellent move! Much better and safer than the old style ball and cup.
Radar said
05:02 PM Nov 13, 2023
StewG wrote:
Going to DO35 is an excellent move! Much better and safer than the old style ball and cup.
I find this almost unbelievable.
Why would it be an excellent move when you are not gaining any safety feature. Same load rating 3.5 tonne load cap.
If you are just looking for a reason to spend your money Ronzo. Go right a head, it is your money.
We use Alko off road hitch with the swivel head and that was an improvement when towing the Caravan on rural roads over the fixed head at half the cost of a DO35.
The previous owners of DO35 comments have only justified why that spent their money.
There is reasons why sometimes your ball hitch will not separate, car rear is to high.or to low. That needs attention first.
Ps. If we were to buy a new caravan, I would be maybe tempted to order with different hitch.
Cuppa said
08:07 PM Nov 13, 2023
Radar wrote:
StewG wrote:
Going to DO35 is an excellent move! Much better and safer than the old style ball and cup.
I find this almost unbelievable.
Why would it be an excellent move when you are not gaining any safety feature. Same load rating 3.5 tonne load cap.
If you are just looking for a reason to spend your money Ronzo. Go right a head, it is your money.
We use Alko off road hitch with the swivel head and that was an improvement when towing the Caravan on rural roads over the fixed head at half the cost of a DO35.
The previous owners of DO35 comments have only justified why that spent their money.
There is reasons why sometimes your ball hitch will not separate, car rear is to high.or to low. That needs attention first.
Ps. If we were to buy a new caravan, I would be maybe tempted to order with different hitch.
I have to agree that there can be times when a DO35 is difficult to separate, not often but it does happen for the reasons you suggest. However I wasn't just justifying my purchase. I didn't buy the first one it was a standard fitting on our Tvan. When it needed replacing I bought another because it had impressed me by a combination of it's relative ease of use & it's off road articulation on some of the most testing 4wd tracks we had towed on. Perhaps if we had had an alko off road hitch & it had served us well I may have bought another, but as it is I don't even know what one looks like.
yobarr said
05:24 PM Nov 14, 2023
Cuppa wrote:
Radar wrote:
StewG wrote:
Going to DO35 is an excellent move! Much better and safer than the old style ball and cup.
I find this almost unbelievable.
Why would it be an excellent move when you are not gaining any safety feature. Same load rating 3.5 tonne load cap.
If you are just looking for a reason to spend your money Ronzo. Go right a head, it is your money.
We use Alko off road hitch with the swivel head and that was an improvement when towing the Caravan on rural roads over the fixed head at half the cost of a DO35.
The previous owners of DO35 comments have only justified why that spent their money.
There is reasons why sometimes your ball hitch will not separate, car rear is to high.or to low. That needs attention first.
Ps. If we were to buy a new caravan, I would be maybe tempted to order with different hitch.
I have to agree that there can be times when a DO35 is difficult to separate, not often but it does happen for the reasons you suggest. However I wasn't just justifying my purchase. I didn't buy the first one it was a standard fitting on our Tvan. When it needed replacing I bought another because it had impressed me by a combination of it's relative ease of use & it's off road articulation on some of the most testing 4wd tracks we had towed on. Perhaps if we had had an alko off road hitch & it had served us well I may have bought another, but as it is I don't even know what one looks like.
Been busy working 13 hour days, and may have missed a pertinent post, but I don't recall having ever seeing it claimed that a DO35 is difficult to separate, as you have claimed?
The advantages of a DO35 over a ball and cup should be obvious to even those with limited understanding of the dynamics.
First up is safety. If the van goes Rsup when towed using a ball and cup, the car also is going to go RSup.
Unlikely to happen with a DO35, because of the ability to rotate hitch through 360 degrees.
No unhitching problems, ever, and I've unhitched in some tricky sites.
Sure, there are other similar-type couplings that do the job, but that's like comparing a Ram 2500 with a Triton.
They both allegedly can tow caravans, but one is vastly superior to the other.
Do it once, do it well. Cheers
P.S Never have I felt the need to "justify why they spent that money", but in most cases you get what you pay for.
-- Edited by yobarr on Tuesday 14th of November 2023 05:47:29 PM
Eaglemax said
07:13 PM Nov 14, 2023
Agree with the experienced members above. There is only one exception-
If you have a lightweight caravan and use a Alko friction type hitch like the AKS3004, then changing over to another type means you will lose the friction component to that hitch. To many it doesnt matter, to me its another safety factor the designers believed was needed. Just something to bare in mind.
Tony
Derek Barnes said
04:00 PM Nov 27, 2023
If you use the Alko off road hitch with universal joint the car can rotate 360 degrees in an accident, even though it is a ball and cup hitch. What are the additional benefits of the DO35 hitch? We are getting a DO35 on our new caravan. Is it possible to replace the ball of our variable height hitch with the DO35 pin, or is the pin part of a complete unit which fits in the car's receiver?
Possum3 said
05:53 PM Nov 27, 2023
The DO35/45 hitch pin can fit wherever a standard tow ball fit. ie any tow ball can be replaced with a DO35 pin.
vince56 said
09:18 AM Dec 2, 2023
My two bobs worth is that the probable cause of resistance to unhitch on a slope is that the ball is "loaded up" with the van trying to roll downhill, this can be dangerous and I suggest apply the van handbrake, chocking the van wheels and letting the car relax back, I think you will find the coupling will disengage easily.
I have an ALKO off road ball hitch and reckon it is great. I think they are an improvement on the DO35 I have used previously as it allows far more error in line up when connecting, ie, the ball will self centre a lot more than the pin coupling which needs to be pretty spot on in line. The other feature is the spring loaded pin catch that will not sit back down unless the ball is properly attached, DO35's have been driven without the plate lock being engaged. (2 friends and both have done it more than once)
Are We Lost said
10:50 AM Dec 2, 2023
vince56 wrote:
My two bobs worth is that the probable cause of resistance to unhitch on a slope is that the ball is "loaded up" with the van trying to roll downhill, .....
I have this problem and it often takes a couple of goes to get it right. In my case the slope is small (car wants to roll forwards), but the van is on almost level ground. After chocking the van it is difficult to position the vehicle with no load. What I found helps is to wind down the jockey wheel until it is just taking the drawbar weight. The shank will start to lift in the receiver but not to the point of lifting the car. Then wind another turn or so.
If the vehicle is positioned correctly the coupling will start to lift. Continue winding to disengage. If it does not disengage, there is a bit of pre-tension on the front of the coupling (vehicle pulling downhill) or the tongue (vehicle pushing back). Back in the car, jiggle a little forwards or backwards and listen for the clunk as the coupling lifts. Then wind it the rest of the way. An observer watching the coupling would help but I usually do mine without.
StewG said
03:24 PM Dec 4, 2023
Radar wrote:
StewG wrote:
Going to DO35 is an excellent move! Much better and safer than the old style ball and cup.
I find this almost unbelievable.
Why would it be an excellent move when you are not gaining any safety feature. Same load rating 3.5 tonne load cap.
If you are just looking for a reason to spend your money Ronzo. Go right a head, it is your money.
We use Alko off road hitch with the swivel head and that was an improvement when towing the Caravan on rural roads over the fixed head at half the cost of a DO35.
The previous owners of DO35 comments have only justified why that spent their money.
There is reasons why sometimes your ball hitch will not separate, car rear is to high.or to low. That needs attention first.
Ps. If we were to buy a new caravan, I would be maybe tempted to order with different hitch.
I have used ball hitches and DO35 and for me, the DO35 wins hands down. I've never had a problem hitching or unhitching with DO35 unlike with some ball hitches that I have experienced. With DO35 there are no adjustments needed and alignment is simple, easy and positive locking. Yes there are other types of hitches available, but I cannot comment on them because I have not used them. The DO35 I use came as standard with the off-road van I have and I am glad that that is the type of hitch fitted. If the OP was looking to improve his hitch, getting value for money is entirely his decision and seeking opinions from other hitch users is a good first step.
Bobdown said
07:18 PM Dec 4, 2023
Ronzo wrote:
I have some difficulty unhitching my cup type hitch especially when on a slope What are your thoughts on the Cruise-master type off road hitch and approx cost tb fitted. Will it take the conventional WDH without mods. Appreciate your advice
If you apply handbrake on the van and chock the wheels, then leave the chains attached to car. Leave the car in gear but don't apply the car handbrake, it leaves a little bit of movement when you raise the jockey wheel and the hitch usually comes free easier.
On flat ground, you can leave the car in neutral, as long as the van is secure the car won't go anywhere.
Ronzo said
10:48 AM Jan 4, 2024
Thanks everyone for your responses
Well worth it and has given me options
Thanks again
Regards
Ronzo
DMaxer said
11:34 AM Jan 4, 2024
A little trick that I learned from a fellow traveller works well for me. When I start turning the handle on the jockey wheel and see that the hitch is not disengaging I wind the jockey wheel back down and then get into the car, disengage the handbrake and place in neutral and then start the engine. The small vibration seems to take the pressure off the ball and voila, the hitch raises free at the next attempt.
Works every time and no need to bounce about on the tow bar trying to get the ****** to disengage.
Are We Lost said
04:58 PM Jan 4, 2024
DMaxer wrote:
I wind the jockey wheel back down and then get into the car, disengage the handbrake and place in neutral
Did you mean wind the jockey wheel back up? (so that the coupling is taking all the weight again).
However, Ronzo's question was about the difficulty of disconnecting on a slope. I find loading the coupling by the car either pushing or pulling is what needs to be avoided.
DMaxer said
07:25 PM Jan 4, 2024
Yes sorry. I wind the jockey wheel up so that the weight is back on the tow bar and ball. Before I do this I chock the van so it cant move either forward or backwards and then fit the jockey shell and start winding it down. If it doesnt disengage from the tow ball I then commence the routine mentioned above. If not on a slope it doesnt require this, just disengages when the jockey wheel winds down.
Best hitch available, I believe. Cost about $500, and worth every cent. Easy to fit if you have a few tools.
Will take WDH, but WDH rarely actually needed provided car is of a suitable size for your van. Happy to do figures for you if you tell us model of car and ATM of your van, which is found on compliance plate.
WDH is not the universal cure-it-all that many have been led to believe it is. Cheers
-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 10th of November 2023 11:37:39 PM
Hi Ray, Your car is well suited to your van, and it is a lot heavier, so far safer than a lot of the setups I see in my travels.
Forget the WDH, as it's not even remotely necessary in your case, unless you're carrying a lot of stuff in the back of your car, and your rear axle weight becomes be a concern.
Happy travels. Cheers
After inadvertantly running our MK 1 upside down & having to jacknife the Tvan in a very tight offroad reversing situation I damaged the hitch, splayed the fork which holds the UJ apart. It completed the trip of several thousand kms ok, but when I enquired to Cruisemaster about repair they said to bin it. Mk 1's did not have the ability to undo the UJ fitting.
I replaced it with a new Mk 3 which does ..... & is definitely an improved design with it's dust cover. only fittable when the hitch is proprly secured (safety feature) & has kept the sliding mechanism greased free of dust over years of off road travel.
To be clear the damage to the MK 1 was my fault - operator error, not a product fault .... but it really did me a favour as the Mk 3 is so much better.
I find this almost unbelievable.
Why would it be an excellent move when you are not gaining any safety feature. Same load rating 3.5 tonne load cap.
If you are just looking for a reason to spend your money Ronzo. Go right a head, it is your money.
We use Alko off road hitch with the swivel head and that was an improvement when towing the Caravan on rural roads over the fixed head at half the cost of a DO35.
The previous owners of DO35 comments have only justified why that spent their money.
There is reasons why sometimes your ball hitch will not separate, car rear is to high.or to low. That needs attention first.
Ps. If we were to buy a new caravan, I would be maybe tempted to order with different hitch.
I have to agree that there can be times when a DO35 is difficult to separate, not often but it does happen for the reasons you suggest. However I wasn't just justifying my purchase. I didn't buy the first one it was a standard fitting on our Tvan. When it needed replacing I bought another because it had impressed me by a combination of it's relative ease of use & it's off road articulation on some of the most testing 4wd tracks we had towed on. Perhaps if we had had an alko off road hitch & it had served us well I may have bought another, but as it is I don't even know what one looks like.
Been busy working 13 hour days, and may have missed a pertinent post, but I don't recall having ever seeing it claimed that a DO35 is difficult to separate, as you have claimed?
The advantages of a DO35 over a ball and cup should be obvious to even those with limited understanding of the dynamics.
First up is safety. If the van goes Rsup when towed using a ball and cup, the car also is going to go RSup.
Unlikely to happen with a DO35, because of the ability to rotate hitch through 360 degrees.
No unhitching problems, ever, and I've unhitched in some tricky sites.
Sure, there are other similar-type couplings that do the job, but that's like comparing a Ram 2500 with a Triton.
They both allegedly can tow caravans, but one is vastly superior to the other.
Do it once, do it well. Cheers
P.S Never have I felt the need to "justify why they spent that money", but in most cases you get what you pay for.
-- Edited by yobarr on Tuesday 14th of November 2023 05:47:29 PM
Agree with the experienced members above. There is only one exception-
If you have a lightweight caravan and use a Alko friction type hitch like the AKS3004, then changing over to another type means you will lose the friction component to that hitch. To many it doesnt matter, to me its another safety factor the designers believed was needed. Just something to bare in mind.
Tony
I have an ALKO off road ball hitch and reckon it is great. I think they are an improvement on the DO35 I have used previously as it allows far more error in line up when connecting, ie, the ball will self centre a lot more than the pin coupling which needs to be pretty spot on in line. The other feature is the spring loaded pin catch that will not sit back down unless the ball is properly attached, DO35's have been driven without the plate lock being engaged. (2 friends and both have done it more than once)
I have this problem and it often takes a couple of goes to get it right. In my case the slope is small (car wants to roll forwards), but the van is on almost level ground. After chocking the van it is difficult to position the vehicle with no load. What I found helps is to wind down the jockey wheel until it is just taking the drawbar weight. The shank will start to lift in the receiver but not to the point of lifting the car. Then wind another turn or so.
If the vehicle is positioned correctly the coupling will start to lift. Continue winding to disengage. If it does not disengage, there is a bit of pre-tension on the front of the coupling (vehicle pulling downhill) or the tongue (vehicle pushing back). Back in the car, jiggle a little forwards or backwards and listen for the clunk as the coupling lifts. Then wind it the rest of the way. An observer watching the coupling would help but I usually do mine without.
I have used ball hitches and DO35 and for me, the DO35 wins hands down. I've never had a problem hitching or unhitching with DO35 unlike with some ball hitches that I have experienced. With DO35 there are no adjustments needed and alignment is simple, easy and positive locking. Yes there are other types of hitches available, but I cannot comment on them because I have not used them. The DO35 I use came as standard with the off-road van I have and I am glad that that is the type of hitch fitted. If the OP was looking to improve his hitch, getting value for money is entirely his decision and seeking opinions from other hitch users is a good first step.
If you apply handbrake on the van and chock the wheels, then leave the chains attached to car. Leave the car in gear but don't apply the car handbrake, it leaves a little bit of movement when you raise the jockey wheel and the hitch usually comes free easier.
On flat ground, you can leave the car in neutral, as long as the van is secure the car won't go anywhere.
Well worth it and has given me options
Thanks again
Regards
Ronzo
A little trick that I learned from a fellow traveller works well for me. When I start turning the handle on the jockey wheel and see that the hitch is not disengaging I wind the jockey wheel back down and then get into the car, disengage the handbrake and place in neutral and then start the engine. The small vibration seems to take the pressure off the ball and voila, the hitch raises free at the next attempt.
Works every time and no need to bounce about on the tow bar trying to get the ****** to disengage.
Did you mean wind the jockey wheel back up? (so that the coupling is taking all the weight again).
However, Ronzo's question was about the difficulty of disconnecting on a slope. I find loading the coupling by the car either pushing or pulling is what needs to be avoided.