mike g g wrote:

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Well just did our first trip central coast to bourke brewarrena,cobar dunno,mudgee very happy with tug good fuel figures,and the mchitch well if you don't have one go get one what a great piece of equipment makes vanning even more enjoyable makes hitching up like hooking up a trailer as in semi get the height right and it happens well done mchitch

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 Hi, a photo of the hitch would be good.

outlaw40 wrote:

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Already have the popcorn and beer .

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mike g g wrote:

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Well just did our first trip central coast to bourke brewarrena,cobar dunno,mudgee very happy with tug good fuel figures,and the mchitch well if you don't have one go get one what a great piece of equipment makes vanning even more enjoyable makes hitching up like hooking up a trailer as in semi get the height right and it happens well done mchitch

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 DO35 is easier,simpler,and unlike McHitch,does not increase TBO which mulltiplies any weight imposed on rear axle by towball weight.McHitch is good bit of gear for lighter vans or cars like  Ranger that have a longer wheelbase.No good for shorter wheelbase cars with long TBO and lightweight rear axles,as very easy to overload that axle,possibly making the vehicle overloaded,unsafe and uninsured.All that glitters is not gold.(Shakespeare) Just saying.Cheers

Radar wrote:

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mike g g wrote:

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Well just did our first trip central coast to bourke brewarrena,cobar dunno,mudgee very happy with tug good fuel figures,and the mchitch well if you don't have one go get one what a great piece of equipment makes vanning even more enjoyable makes hitching up like hooking up a trailer as in semi get the height right and it happens well done mchitch

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 Hi, a photo of the hitch would be good.

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 Ralph,here is the McHitch,showing how TBO is increased,causing increased instability (think 'levers') and extra weight to be applied to car's rear axle when a van is connected.Cheers

Greg 1 wrote:

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When I saw this topic I just knew you would be along yobarr. We have had this discussion before. Should I toss in a dose of WDH just to stir the pot? Having towed with a variety of hitches over the years I can honestly say that the McHitch is the absolute best I have had. Any theoretical instability increases are just that. Theoretical. I have made my living at one time diagnosing issues with cars and handling, still set up race cars for fun, and I would defy any normal driver to pick whether they had a McHitch on over any other due to instability. I can't and I am quite often called upon to correct a handling issue in a race car.

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 Hi Greg...great to see your thoughts,but surely you jest? Comparing the handling  of a race car with  the effects of using a McHitch is surely stretching credibility a bit? Simply put,a McHitch increases the TBO (distance from rear axle to hitch point) of the car,and basic physics will show that this multiplies the effect that any downward or lateral pressure has on the car,contributing to increased  instability. Absolutely basic  physics at work here... consider if your TBO increased from 1400mm,for example,to maybe 5  metres.The front wheels of the car would then leave the road.Would you then still maintain that the McHitch,which increases TBO to a lesser degree,has no effect on instability? I know you're smarter than that. Again,I will say that the McHitch is no doubt a nice bit of gear,for lighter vans or cars like (your) Ranger,which have a longer wheelbase.Simple physics at work,and absolutely indesputable.Cheers

P.S The universally accepted "cure all " of a WDH only exacerbates the problem.Simple physics.

Forget the bucket!

Enjoy, but,

Keep Safe on the roads and out there (with or without the McHitch )

Edit.....Ooops, you must eat it all before you travel cos it might put your van 'over weight'

Greg 1 wrote:

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My point about the race cars yobarr, is that I am used to and tuned to picking up nuances in a change in the handling of a car where others may not be. I cannot for the life of me feel any difference in stability when I changed to the McHitch. The very small extension to the moment in the hitch is academic. I am not even going to go anywhere near WDH's Poor old Outlaw40 would choke on his popcorn.

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Hi Greg....I understand your comments on the handling of a car,which remind me of comments by Jim Richards,some years ago now,about how he would determine how a car was handling "through the seat of my pants." However,I would like you to study the picture I have posted,showing how a WDH  and a McHitch each increases TBO dramatically.In the picture shown,TBO is increased by between 200mm and 250mm minimum,maybe up to 300mm.On a TBO of 1400mm,say,this increases the weight added to the rear axle on a 3200mm wheelbase Ranger,for example,by between 12% and 14%...hardly "academic?". The ability of the van to cause lateral movement of the car,or "tail wagging the dog" is increased with every increase in TBO,however. small that increase may be.Your racing experience no doubt has given you the  ability to "feel" what the car is doing,allowing you to make slight steering corrections,maybe subconsciously,before the car's dynamics are seriously affected by the van. Some of us,with many years experience driving performance cars,and even B-Doubles etc,can feel these lateral movements long before they become a problem,but others may not? Keeping the TBO....no McHitch....to a minimum obviously helps.Cheers

P.S Anybody who would like to learn how a WDH really works might like to access a thread headed "The effects of using a WDH",which was started on May 6th last.All is clearly and logically explained.Cheers.

Radar wrote:

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mike g g wrote:

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Well just did our first trip central coast to bourke brewarrena,cobar dunno,mudgee very happy with tug good fuel figures,and the mchitch well if you don't have one go get one what a great piece of equipment makes vanning even more enjoyable makes hitching up like hooking up a trailer as in semi get the height right and it happens well done mchitch

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 Hi, a photo of the hitch would be good.

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 I would still like to see a photo of hitch set up.

Radar wrote:

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Radar wrote:

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mike g g wrote:

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Well just did our first trip central coast to bourke brewarrena,cobar dunno,mudgee very happy with tug good fuel figures,and the mchitch well if you don't have one go get one what a great piece of equipment makes vanning even more enjoyable makes hitching up like hooking up a trailer as in semi get the height right and it happens well done mchitch

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 Hi, a photo of the hitch would be good.

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 I would still like to see a photo of hitch set up.

 Ralph,all you need to do is Google "McHitch" to access many videos etc about the workings of a McHitch.Good luck.Cheers.

yobarr wrote:

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Radar wrote:

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Radar wrote:

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mike g g wrote:

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Well just did our first trip central coast to bourke brewarrena,cobar dunno,mudgee very happy with tug good fuel figures,and the mchitch well if you don't have one go get one what a great piece of equipment makes vanning even more enjoyable makes hitching up like hooking up a trailer as in semi get the height right and it happens well done mchitch

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 Hi, a photo of the hitch would be good.

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 I would still like to see a photo of hitch set up.

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 Ralph,all you need to do is Google "McHitch" to access many videos etc about the workings of a McHitch.Good luck.Cheers.

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 Thank you for that information but I would like to see thir set ups.

Greg 1 wrote:

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I am at a loss to know where you are getting your 250 to 300mm from yobarr. I have their 3500kg rated hitch and actually measured the distance shown between the two lines on your picture the last time we had this discussion.. Actual measured distance with a good quality American Stanley tape measure was exactly 90mm. Like I said. In terms of instability, absolutely academic. But the proof is in the eating. I have now travelled about 60,000 k's with my McHitch with absolutely zero instability issues as a result of using this style of hitch. I would be more concerned with van loading causing instability than I would be with the hitch. They are, imho, a quite brilliant invention and I wouldn't use anything else, but whatever floats your boat old son. If the D035 pushes your buttons, it's a pretty good alternative, so go right ahead. I just think the McHitch is much better, but what would I know. I'm just the guy who has been driving all over the continent with one.

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 Hi Greg....Your measurements do not include the extra TBO caused by the WDH.I have information from a major van builder,but I will not supply that to a public forum,for obvious reasons.However,with your agreement,when I reach WA I will drop by your house and explain their calculations,and their conclusions.For what it's worth,when I was setting up my van,I was offered a brand new McHitch for free,but I instantly declined the kind offer because of the obvious increase in TBO,with the associated problems....and I have 2300kg rear axle capacity with 3180mm wheelbase! You seem exceedingly happy with yours,however,and I wish you well in your future travels.Cheers

I guess the Mitch hitch for me is totally unnecessary with its hook up assistance plate. As I have a Discovery. I just put my car in reverse and it lines up my DO35 Hitch perfectly. Press the air suspension button up and it locks into place. No need to have any person helping either on hook up or in reverse when unhooking. I personally prefer the DO35 also because I think a locking device on the vertical with TBW on it is possibly a safer option than the horizontal locking of the Mitch Hitch. Mind you I have not heard of one coming off, but I just feel there is a sort of extra safety in a vertical hook up. I am over weights etc but do enjoy the "baiting" that goes on. Only issue for me is I dont like popcorn. Can some one bring some peanuts. Then I can throw them to the monkeys!!.

Just for you HandyWalter, well, you might have to share though.


 

HandyWalter wrote:

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I guess the Mitch hitch for me is totally unnecessary with its hook up assistance plate. As I have a Discovery. I just put my car in reverse and it lines up my DO35 Hitch perfectly. Press the air suspension button up and it locks into place. No need to have any person helping either on hook up or in reverse when unhooking. I personally prefer the DO35 also because I think a locking device on the vertical with TBW on it is possibly a safer option than the horizontal locking of the Mitch Hitch. Mind you I have not heard of one coming off, but I just feel there is a sort of extra safety in a vertical hook up. I am over weights etc but do enjoy the "baiting" that goes on. Only issue for me is I dont like popcorn. Can some one bring some peanuts. Then I can throw them to the monkeys!!.

-- Edited by HandyWalter on Friday 25th of September 2020 03:11:59 PM

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Nice post Walter,and good to see that you are one of the many who seems to understand the advantages of a DO35,with or without air suspension.Cheers 

Greg 1 wrote:

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Yobarr, my WDH adds a whole of 40mm over and above the standard Ford tongue. I wouldn't have too much faith in van manufacturers either pal. I have had them tell me I cannot do something or go somewhere with a van when I have already done it and more than once. Half of them have towed a van no further than around the block. I remember going with my grand parents to look at a new van they were interested in. They had been caravanners from before I was born and had already at that time traversed the continent with their van at least 4 times. The Nullabor was dirt then and even as a young bloke I had done it once with a van in tow. This Muppet van manufacturer is telling my grandfather that you couldn't tow a van across the Nullabor it would fall apart. Pop wasn't saying anything but I got fed up with the b.s. and said to the bloke that his vans couldn't be too good then. Turned out he hadn't been out of Perth in his life. So unless your manufacturer has put in the hard yards with the hitch and WDH that I have, I haven't the least bit of interest in reading some armchair experts opinion.

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 Sorry you feel that way Greg,but no matter what you think or write,there is absolutely no way that you can dispute simple physics.Sorry.Anybody who attests that a WDH adds only 40mm to TBO is,IMO,dreaming.The vertical portion of the WDH unit alone is wider than 40mm,closer to 80mm,and to that we then have to add the extra length outside the actual towbar receiver. Please study the photo that I included in an earlier post to understand my thoughts.A standard towball can be within 50mm of the receiver,whereas there is no chance,with a WDH,of getting the hitchpoint within cooee of that measurement.Whilst I agree with your assertions regarding van salesmen,there is absolutely no way that you can dispute simple physics.Hope this helps? Cheers

Greg 1 wrote:

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Yobarr, I measured it this afternoon. From the receiver to the centre line of the towball on the original factory tongue and from the receiver to the centre line of the bolt hole for the ball on the WDH tongue, there is a 40mm difference.
The Ford tongue measures 160mm and the WDH measures 200mm. The Ford tongue cannot be much shorter or it would not satisfactorily clear the rear bumper on a turn. Add the 90mm from ball centre to centre of uni joint on the McHitch and you have 130mm difference to running say a D035 on the standard tongue with no WDH.
Hence my comment about the effect being academic.

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