wasn_me wrote:

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Appears you do a lot of off-road. I'd second the do35. A mate just changed over & says it's easier to hook up & quieter. Cheers Pete

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Hi Mike. Another vote for the DO35.Your TBO will remain as it is,which cannot be said for the other 'popular' choice.Your van is a bit too big for your car,from memory,so it is absolutely critical to minimise your TBO,if safety is of any concern.Cheers

Greg 1 wrote:

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I have a McHitch auto hitch. Best thing I have ever used quite frankly. Very easy to hitch up and a very secure coupling.

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 Hi Greg...the McHitch is undoubtedly a nice piece of gear,but it is a definite "No-no" if you have any weight issues.The reason is that the McHitch increases your TBO (distance from rear axle to hitch point),which means increased instability,as well as transferring a much higher weight to the car's rear axle when a van is connected.Among those who understand (or very quickly learned) about weights there are many examples of the McHitch being dumped for a DO35.The McHitch is a nice unit for a lighter van, but forget it if you are towing a heavy van.When I was researching weights,and studying options for a hitch,I quickly spotted the problem,and opted for a DO35,even though I had been offered a brand new McHitch for free....a friend had bought one,and he too quickly saw the short comings! Cheers

Thanks guys, I appreciate your responses.

Yobarr seems to know what he's talking about in this area, would anyone care to dispute his statement regarding the McHitch?

My van is a twin axle and is at the vehicles maximum tow weight (2.5T) with empty water tanks but I usually travel with 200kg of water - all seems stable. (Don't waste your electrons lecturing me).

The DO35 looks OK but the damn video is so "Gee Whiz Zap!" it doesn't actually tell me anything useful except that a very bed-able chick uses this hitch!

It looks like it would be difficult to line up when hitching up? Is that the case as I have enough trouble with the towball, doing it on my own.

Hi Mike.

This is a one day when I get around to it job to change our fixed head to a offroad type Alko like in the photo.

But be warned I spent money making my car a tow vehicle, played with tyre pressures. Weighed and reweighed my set up and 80 litres of water is not a big deal only if its totally in the wrong spot and surely you would not have it in the wrong spot.

Hope this helps. Ralph

Ps. Believe me caravan do not travel like there not there.

It is a DO 35 for me but would agree the the McHitch is probably a tad easier to hook up.

The McHitch coupling requires the height of the vehicle and the van to be matched fairly closely when hooking up and the height is also important when unhitching as the coupling can jamb. Anyone using one soon gets into a routine so as to eliminate any problems. I guess this applies to all couplings.

When I considered the McHitch it was difficult to use aWDH with it at that time.

If you are considering a Poly Block coupling just check the load rating as I am not aware of a 3.5 T rating. I do stand to be corrected on this.
Having said that you may not need a coupling with that rating.

Any coupling is easier to hook up with a camera fitted in a good spot to the rear of the tow vehicle.

Regards

Rob

Greg 1 wrote:

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Yobarr and I have had this discussion before and have agreed to disagree. If you take the 3500kg McHitch auto hitch and assume that the centre of the universal joint in the coupling is the pivot point, that is exactly 90mm rearward of the centre of where a normal ball coupling would be. If you do the math the effect of 90mm on the lever to your vehicle is negligible even with a 3 tonne van My van goes 2980kg ATM with a 308kg ball load. I would defy anyone to pick any instability caused by that 90mm. Sorry yobarr. Total bs mate. Have now done about 50,000ks with the McHitch with no adverse affects on my rig and only good points. Is it the only good hitch? No of course not. There are a number of others such as the DO35, but the McHitch has won a couple of hitch comparison tests against all comers conducted by caravan mags. If there was an instability issue it certainly wouldn't have got the gong so I am not the only one who thinks its the ducks nuts.

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 Hi Greg...because your car has a 3200mm wheelbase and only a 1200mm TBO,the extra weight applied to your rear axle,and the instability issues,are minimised.However,contrary to your assertions,the McHitch increases TBO by over 120mm or 10% in your case.This means that your 308kg ball weight puts 435kg onto your rear axle.As for your comment that "..defy anyone to pick any instability caused by that 90mm" simple physics proves you wrong....think levers.Because you have a decent sized car,and a smaller van,you can no doubt cope,but others cannot.I will explain again in my response to Johns friendly comments. As an aside,when I this morning visited Kedron to again measure a McHitch (I had lost my measurements) I was told that they no longer use McHitch because of "...too many problems",and now use DO35s.Another McHitch supplier said that he no longer stocks them,again because of "....too many problems",but he was able to bring up dimensions and photos on his computer, showing that on a 3.5 ton model, TBO is increased by over 120mm.Cheers

moamajohn wrote:

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Yo barr Can you be any friggin ruder ? Pajero and 21 ft classic Supreme .Feel free to find fault with it as you seem to be a specialist at faults !

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 Hi John...It is not my intention to be rude",rather to ensure that you are aware of some of the problems that a McHitch can cause. Your car is a perfect example of what I am saying,as the wheelbase is only 2780mm,and it already has a long TBO ex-factory. Increasing that TBO with a McHitch is not even half-smart,as your maximum allowed towball weight up to 2500kg ATM is 250kg.That 250kg puts an absolute minimum 350kg (more like 370kg) extra weight onto your car's rear axle,leaving only 400kg for passengers,luggage,accessories,towbar structure,tools etc etc.With a lightweight rear axle of only 1780kg on your car,you are likely to quickly become overloaded,unsafe and uninsured.This is unlikely to be what you want to hear,and you may well protest that you always drive to the  conditions" etc etc,but I simply wanted to be sure that you are not a member of the "head in the sand" brigade,which is a seemingly well-supported group.Safe travels.Cheers

yobarr wrote:

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Greg 1 wrote:

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Yobarr and I have had this discussion before and have agreed to disagree. If you take the 3500kg McHitch auto hitch and assume that the centre of the universal joint in the coupling is the pivot point, that is exactly 90mm rearward of the centre of where a normal ball coupling would be. If you do the math the effect of 90mm on the lever to your vehicle is negligible even with a 3 tonne van My van goes 2980kg ATM with a 308kg ball load. I would defy anyone to pick any instability caused by that 90mm. Sorry yobarr. Total bs mate. Have now done about 50,000ks with the McHitch with no adverse affects on my rig and only good points. Is it the only good hitch? No of course not. There are a number of others such as the DO35, but the McHitch has won a couple of hitch comparison tests against all comers conducted by caravan mags. If there was an instability issue it certainly wouldn't have got the gong so I am not the only one who thinks its the ducks nuts.

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 Hi Greg...because your car has a 3200mm wheelbase and only a 1200mm TBO,the extra weight applied to your rear axle,and the instability issues,are minimised.However,contrary to your assertions,the McHitch increases TBO by over 120mm or 10% in your case.This means that your 308kg ball weight puts 435kg onto your rear axle.As for your comment that "..defy anyone to pick any instability caused by that 90mm" simple physics proves you wrong....think levers.Because you have a decent sized car,and a smaller van,you can no doubt cope,but others cannot.I will explain again in my response to Johns friendly comments. As an aside,when I this morning visited Kedron to again measure a McHitch (I had lost my measurements) I was told that they no longer use McHitch because of "...too many problems",and now use DO35s.Another McHitch supplier said that he no longer stocks them,again because of "....too many problems",but he was able to bring up dimensions and photos on his computer, showing that on a 3.5 ton model, TBO is increased by over 120mm.Cheers

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Yobarr I have personally measured the thing from the Rangers normal ball hitch position to the centre of the uni joint and it is 90mm. Don't care what some muppett at Kedron says. I have a little experience professionally at waving around a tape measure and driving Auto Cad so I think I know 90mm when I measure it.

I will just say one last thing on the subject.

I purchased this hitch purely to solve a rear door issue with our Pajero we had at the time. Had no other expectations of it other than that, except to say I quite liked the concept, and I had done some research into it from an engineering point of view.

Subsequently to that, after towing our new van home from Melbourne to Perth, I realized that the van manufacturer was one of those figure fudgers and that the van tow ball weight was far above that claimed. A measure of that prior to licensing in WA confirmed my suspicions and we swapped cars for the current Ranger given that the measured ball weight was far in excess of the Pajero's limit.

I have now towed our van about 50,000 kms all over this country, over all sorts of terrain with that McHitch. Our van is a 21' that weighs in at 2980 ATM and although not a monster, I wouldn't call it small, as it is approaching the Rangers practical capacity. The McHitch has proven itself as being an excellent product with absolutely no instability issues on two different tow vehicles, and in fact the conditions that our hitch has experienced would do justice to most road test regimes for long term evaluation.  Over the 48 years I have been caravanning I have used a number of different hitches, none that were bad but some better than others. The McHitch is by far the top of the heap. Would buy another in an instant if the need arose.

So unless you have towed a van around of similar size and weight over similar distance with a McHitch, you are in no real position to criticise what I and others have found to be a excellent product with absolutely no instability issues whatsoever. From my experience, both as an owner of one and from my professional background, I can recommend this product to anyone considering using it.

If you have some wild ideas that this hitch is some how devil incarnate then don't use it, but don't bag it either unless you have put in the hard yards to test it as I have.

Enough said.

Yuglamron wrote:

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My two Bob's worth.

I used a drop on McHitch for several years with no problems. I towed a Suzuki Grand Vitara of roughly 1.5 tons behind my MH of 8.4 Tons. At those weights I didn't need any extra braking over and above the Over ride brakes.

My main reason for liking the McHitch Drop on. Is the method of attachment. On the top of the Hitch you have a large round handle with a half inch thread which screws down on the Towpin it also has a spring  ratchet to help stop it loosening off .The secondary attachment is the pin that goes through the  McHitch pin groove.and locates the hitch onto the Towpin and you could use a Standard Locking pin in the Hole for theft security.

If I was Towing a 2.7 ton Van I would use the 4.5 ton McHitch with no qualms. I am a believer in the European 80% principle. Only tow up to 80% of the Van weight. Gives you a better safety margin.The people who say that the centre of the attachment is longer, is frankly scare mongering.Your Standard over run braking system moves more than the numbers quoted.

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 Post of the month in my view.

Welcome to the forums Yuglamron

Tony