Devices which may make a D35 hitch easier to align when hitching
Pradokakadudavid said
03:13 PM Mar 8, 2020
I noticed the other day during some caravanning that a guy had a special V shaped, aluminium design on his towbar for ease of alignment with his standard caravan towball.
I watched him back up to his caravan on his own and the V shaped device made contact with caravan towball and guided his 4 wheel drive hitch exactly onto the caravan towball.
This seemed like an ingenious, effortless and single person way to attach yourself to your caravan with minimal effort.
Of course my situation involves a D35 offroad hitch with the usual pin going into a hole.
I was wondering if any of you geniuses out there have come up with a D35 compatible design that works like the towball V aluminum guide described above.
I would love to be able to back my 4 wheel drive up to my D35 without my wife giving me directions in Swahili and almost coming to divorce each time!
blaze said
04:22 PM Mar 8, 2020
get a v and standard hitch, they worked extremely well for many years
cheers
blaze
elliemike said
04:41 PM Mar 8, 2020
I have my Rearview camera positioned so I can see the Hitch.
Without any assistance, I can back the Dmax up to the Treg Hitch on the draw bar.
I can engage the Treg Tongue into the Clevis "without leaving the drivers seat".
With it engaged I then walk back and put the Pin in The Treg Hitch. Simple as, works for me.
-- Edited by elliemike on Sunday 8th of March 2020 04:52:15 PM
-- Edited by elliemike on Sunday 8th of March 2020 04:53:38 PM
Eaglemax said
09:01 PM Mar 8, 2020
My unit cost $4
The towball- I grabbed 50mm pvc pipe about 15m long. A one metre length of fibreglass rod (or dowel) was attached to the pipe with cable ties through holes in the pipe. The pipe goes on the ball with the rod vertical.
The hitch. Same length fibreglass rod is fixed to a 40mm flat steel piece bent a little with a hole in it. The steel flat goes over the hitch tensioning bolt and a nut holds it on. The rod should be vertical.
Reverse car till rods meet.
After doing this I saw a unit overseas UK that is similar with tennis balls on top of the rods.
Tony
Pradokakadudavid said
09:48 PM Mar 8, 2020
Thanks
Warren-Pat_01 said
09:26 AM Mar 9, 2020
Tony,
Mine was free! Two former mop handles with a bolt glued in the end of one, a turned down piece of dowel in the other. This works well for TREG, TRIGG couplings.
But now I have a car with a reversing camera on it.
David,
I'm certain some thinking about your hitch may give you a bright idea as to how to tackle the problem - much better for the ego than buying something.
markf said
12:21 PM Mar 9, 2020
I have a ploy-block hitch and use a couple of small bits of black insulation tape on the inside of the rear window of the car. Reverse until the bits of tape align with the the corners of the camper, hop out, wind the jockey wheel up or down to suit, pull the hitch about a few centimetres sideways and put the pin in. Simples... The car does need to be reasonably in line with the camper although with practice I can get it right on an angle too. To make it even easier, when I unhitch I make sure that the jockey wheel is pointing "sideways".
Pradokakadudavid said
08:19 PM Mar 9, 2020
Yes thanks that is a D35 hitch however this does not answer the question I was asking.
Thanks.
David
Warren-Pat_01 said
10:48 PM Mar 9, 2020
Hi again David,
I assume you are a solo traveller.
I had a look at the Cruisemaster web site - nothing there but I'm certain you could so something with pvc pipe, broom handles, etc. It just takes a bit of mucking around (my stone guards are up to Version 5 or 6).
The item you saw came out on the market a few years ago as an accessory - but suited only the standard 50mm ball type coupling - perhaps some modification could be done to suite your system. In the good old days when I worked in the PMG, there was a saying - "Our job is not to do or die but to modify!" When one worked under engineers, that was especially true!
When I was looking for a hitch for our caravan I checked the TREG (had them before) & D35 - the "Easy to hitch up" video was impressive but you needed two people! I settled on the TRIGG hitch as it was significantly cheaper than the other two.
If you're unable to make something yourself, perhaps ask a local engineering, sheet metal company to assist - you never know, they might have a new sideline to market.
Pradokakadudavid said
12:56 PM Mar 10, 2020
Excellent thanks.
No I am not a solo traveller and my poor wife does her best to speak in men speak but often her hand signals get lost in the translation hence my quest for a single person solution.
I do have a pretty good reversing camera and the D35 hitch comes with a red cover so it is easy to see from the driver's seat.
But you have to be fairly precise as the D35 hitch rotates up and down and round and round when pressure is applied, unlike a normal tow ball meaning near enough is not good enough.
And the caravan is too heavy to manually move from side to side during hitching.
And no I don't want a normal tow ball as the D35 offers excellent flexibility.
Thanks to all for taking the time to advise.
Regards
David
HandyWalter said
02:52 PM Mar 10, 2020
Get a Discovery or Range Rover. I have tow assist (std). Lines the car up and the pin on the tow bar with the hole in the hitch. Press the button to raise the cars suspension and it all clicks into place. No outside guide needed. Then just get out undo the jockey wheel, attach the chains and cables and away. Cost me nothing as it came with the car i purchased!! Ha Ha.
Col99 said
07:56 PM Mar 22, 2020
Two cheap handheld radios, saves a lot of hassles and is not so entertaining for the onlookers.
I have noticed by watching or helping others reverse back to align the hitch that many OE reverse cameras arent not positioned in an ideal position to view the coupling accurately.
One of the best ones I saw was a bloke who bought a fairly standard reverse camera from eBay and made a bracket for it and then glued a couple of rare earth magnets on the bracket and fitted it to the roof above the tow bar. I think it was set up as a wireless unit.
I am sure that my wife is looking down on me when I am hooking up but unfortunately we have no way of communicating.
As with most things, Practice makes Perfect if towing is new to you.
Alignment side to side can be made easy with a couple of marks on the front of your van to align with the rear side edges of your vehicle that can be viewed in your mirrors. So, by getting this side to side correct it only need be one of get out and check the forward and aft position.
You may want to carry a tape measure and note the height of the drawbar caravan coupling when you disconnect and BEFORE you level the van and then set that height with the front leg prior to attempting hook up. This is important for a D035 type coupling and absolutely essential with the McHitch and poly block couplings.
My own thoughts that although my dear wife liked to help I found it easier in most circumstances to just hook up by myself.
I noticed the other day during some caravanning that a guy had a special V shaped, aluminium design on his towbar for ease of alignment with his standard caravan towball.
I watched him back up to his caravan on his own and the V shaped device made contact with caravan towball and guided his 4 wheel drive hitch exactly onto the caravan towball.
This seemed like an ingenious, effortless and single person way to attach yourself to your caravan with minimal effort.
Of course my situation involves a D35 offroad hitch with the usual pin going into a hole.
I was wondering if any of you geniuses out there have come up with a D35 compatible design that works like the towball V aluminum guide described above.
I would love to be able to back my 4 wheel drive up to my D35 without my wife giving me directions in Swahili and almost coming to divorce each time!
cheers
blaze
I have my Rearview camera positioned so I can see the Hitch.
Without any assistance, I can back the Dmax up to the Treg Hitch on the draw bar.
I can engage the Treg Tongue into the Clevis "without leaving the drivers seat".
With it engaged I then walk back and put the Pin in The Treg Hitch. Simple as, works for me.
-- Edited by elliemike on Sunday 8th of March 2020 04:52:15 PM
Not sure how a D35 would work with this above
Is this a D35
[video=https://youtu.be/qf1n58mC0nE?t=38]
-- Edited by elliemike on Sunday 8th of March 2020 04:53:38 PM
Thanks
Mine was free! Two former mop handles with a bolt glued in the end of one, a turned down piece of dowel in the other. This works well for TREG, TRIGG couplings.
But now I have a car with a reversing camera on it.
David,
I'm certain some thinking about your hitch may give you a bright idea as to how to tackle the problem - much better for the ego than buying something.
I have a ploy-block hitch and use a couple of small bits of black insulation tape on the inside of the rear window of the car. Reverse until the bits of tape align with the the corners of the camper, hop out, wind the jockey wheel up or down to suit, pull the hitch about a few centimetres sideways and put the pin in. Simples...
The car does need to be reasonably in line with the camper although with practice I can get it right on an angle too. To make it even easier, when I unhitch I make sure that the jockey wheel is pointing "sideways".
Yes thanks that is a D35 hitch however this does not answer the question I was asking.
Thanks.
David
I assume you are a solo traveller.
I had a look at the Cruisemaster web site - nothing there but I'm certain you could so something with pvc pipe, broom handles, etc. It just takes a bit of mucking around (my stone guards are up to Version 5 or 6).
The item you saw came out on the market a few years ago as an accessory - but suited only the standard 50mm ball type coupling - perhaps some modification could be done to suite your system. In the good old days when I worked in the PMG, there was a saying - "Our job is not to do or die but to modify!" When one worked under engineers, that was especially true!
When I was looking for a hitch for our caravan I checked the TREG (had them before) & D35 - the "Easy to hitch up" video was impressive but you needed two people! I settled on the TRIGG hitch as it was significantly cheaper than the other two.
If you're unable to make something yourself, perhaps ask a local engineering, sheet metal company to assist - you never know, they might have a new sideline to market.
Excellent thanks.
No I am not a solo traveller and my poor wife does her best to speak in men speak but often her hand signals get lost in the translation hence my quest for a single person solution.
I do have a pretty good reversing camera and the D35 hitch comes with a red cover so it is easy to see from the driver's seat.
But you have to be fairly precise as the D35 hitch rotates up and down and round and round when pressure is applied, unlike a normal tow ball meaning near enough is not good enough.
And the caravan is too heavy to manually move from side to side during hitching.
And no I don't want a normal tow ball as the D35 offers excellent flexibility.
Thanks to all for taking the time to advise.
Regards
David
Two cheap handheld radios, saves a lot of hassles and is not so entertaining for the onlookers.
www.etrailer.com/s.aspx
Or you could easily make or get something made to copy the operation of the Couple Mate design to fit the D035.
www.ebay.com.au/i/264248366190
I have noticed by watching or helping others reverse back to align the hitch that many OE reverse cameras arent not positioned in an ideal position to view the coupling accurately.
One of the best ones I saw was a bloke who bought a fairly standard reverse camera from eBay and made a bracket for it and then glued a couple of rare earth magnets on the bracket and fitted it to the roof above the tow bar. I think it was set up as a wireless unit.
I am sure that my wife is looking down on me when I am hooking up but unfortunately we have no way of communicating.
As with most things, Practice makes Perfect if towing is new to you.
Alignment side to side can be made easy with a couple of marks on the front of your van to align with the rear side edges of your vehicle that can be viewed in your mirrors. So, by getting this side to side correct it only need be one of get out and check the forward and aft position.
You may want to carry a tape measure and note the height of the drawbar caravan coupling when you disconnect and BEFORE you level the van and then set that height with the front leg prior to attempting hook up. This is important for a D035 type coupling and absolutely essential with the McHitch and poly block couplings.
My own thoughts that although my dear wife liked to help I found it easier in most circumstances to just hook up by myself.
Good luck with it David,