heard so much good stuff about these units that im thinking of ordering one next week but thought ide ask ahead if anyone has ever heard of any of these units failing in any way ??, i know it may seem a silly question but thought ask ahead to be on the safe side :)??..
I have a Hitch-N-Go A frame and added the older style McHitch 3.5 Tonne Coupling instead of the standard 50mm Tow Ball Not a fan of Tow Balls. I did have a small problem with a spring lock. My Fault entirely. I phoned up the company and they sent me a new one Free.
I have towed a Grand Vitara behind my MH for around Five years. No problems apart from my mishap with the spring. The rest of the unit is as good as new. No wear in the universal joints.
I am considering changing over to the Auto coupling myself after Xmas.
I would have no hesitation re the Quality and the back up from this company. I would recommend their products based on my experience.
I bought a 4.5 ton auto mchitch on thursday , 15th december. Looks very well made, I have a F250, that's why I went to the larger capacity (not in physical size) and a larger goose neck.
Spoke with the owner and he is so helpful, really nice bloke, give him a ring , tell him what you have and he will advise accordingly.
Have 4 blokes out here (griffith way) who have them and they rave about them , 2 for construction towing.
I am showing interest in one of the hitches...they certainly look good on the youtube vids on their web site.
They certainly seem to hook up easily but I was wondering how easily do they unhook? Is that lever easy to lift if there is tension on the coupling? Do you have to "jiggle" the vehicle backward and forward to unlock the coupling?
-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Monday 19th of December 2016 03:58:33 PM
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"Seek the truth or bury you head in the sand, both require some digging"
Thank you all for your input on this question.
I would love to hear from a manufacture, dealer or distributor.
If they are that good why are they not offered at the time of purchase or just fitted as standard?
I will ask when I pick my van up in late Feb/March
They just look to good to be true, so why not fit them as standard?
I must be missing something.
Great question Geoff ,how easy are they to unlock?
Merry Christmas to you all and thank you again for helping this newbie get all these questions out of my head so I can sleep.
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"Every day you wake up is a good day ,what you do with it after that is up to you"
Thank you all for your input on this question. I would love to hear from a manufacture, dealer or distributor. If they are that good why are they not offered at the time of purchase or just fitted as standard? I will ask when I pick my van up in late Feb/March They just look to good to be true, so why not fit them as standard?
I would imagine the cost issue would be a reason for manufacturers not supplying new caravans with this type of hitch.
However when we were at Retreat sales showroom a few weeks back I asked if they would put any hitch coupling of my preference on the caravan
answer was they will put what ever hitch coupling I like as long as it is rated to suit the caravan and they will supply and fit at wholesale cost.
My BIL has one on his 25' Jaco Silverline & loves it.
I don't understand how fitting one would allow one to "throw away the WDH". Maybe they can't be used together? This alone would make me steer clear of them as the hitch alone cannot act as a WDH.
I believe any rig with a ball weight over 200kg should have a WDH.
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Neil & Lynne
Pinjarra
Western Australia
MY23.5 Ford Wildtrak V6 Dual Cab / 21' Silverline 21-65.3
I have a Mchitch Auto coupler and are going to remove it and replace it with a DO35. The mchitch is a pain to unhitch it jams 90% of the time and is very hard to work out if tension is off or not, and unless you are spot on ( read perfect ) when hooking up you tend to push the van backwards instead of coupling up. It may be different on a concrete slab in a caravan park but ours is an off road van and rarely is there any slabs ( concrete ) beside river banks.
Incidently were speaking to 2 others on sunday 18th, john has just replaced his with a DO35 and theo has bought the DO35 but has not fitted it yet. ( same reasons.
I don't use a WDH. 280kg ball
I have a Mchitch Auto coupler and are going to remove it and replace it with a DO35. The mchitch is a pain to unhitch it jams 90% of the time and is very hard to work out if tension is off or not, and unless you are spot on ( read perfect ) when hooking up you tend to push the van backwards instead of coupling up. It may be different on a concrete slab in a caravan park but ours is an off road van and rarely is there any slabs ( concrete ) beside river banks. Incidently were speaking to 2 others on sunday 18th, john has just replaced his with a DO35 and theo has bought the DO35 but has not fitted it yet. ( same reasons. I don't use a WDH. 280kg ball
Cheers bass
Thank you for your report bass, I did have that thought re unhitching when I viewed the videos.
let us know how the DO35 goes..
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"Seek the truth or bury you head in the sand, both require some digging"
will be late Jan when we use van again, try to avoid crowds. don't let me put you off the mchitch they are probably quite good in caravan parks, and are very well made BUT in off road situations coupling / uncoupling is a lot harder than it should be, our old ball coupling was much easier. looking at removing the auto part and using their old system( that was quite good also.
We have had a auto McHitch fitted to our 2.5 tonne single axel Kedron off road caravan for the last year and in that time have travelled 17,000km and really like the auto McHitch. We had the hitch initially on our Pajero and now have it on our Landcrusier 200. It it is a really good hitch both on road and off road. Kedron fit them or the drop on McHitch to all their new vans and have done so for a few years. We used the McHitch with a WDH on the Pajero and have not needed to use a WDH with the LC200.
Have a look at the most recent Gall boys videos and you will see the McHitch been used off road in more adverse off road situations than any of us should be in while towing a caravan. The Gall boys are the people who own Kedron and they do not fit equipment to their vans until they have throughly tested it off road and on road. Recent Toyota 4wd adds feature a Toyota towing a Kedron with a McHitch off road.
The McHitch is an Australian made product made in Lithgow NSW and if you have problems or concerns call in or give them a ring. The owner Joe is very friendly and knowledgable. In my experience he will answer any questions you have about his product. If you are having problems coupling and uncoupling you just need to use the Jockey wheel or Trail Mate to get the relative heights of your tow and caravan right. If you do not do this uncoupling can be difficult, but once you get the relative heights right it is much easier than undoing a ball coupling. The auto McHitch is really easy to hook up, like all caravans when hitching and unhitching you should have the caravan handbrake on and chocks on the wheels.
I suggest you have a look at the McHitch web site and then ring Joe if you have any questions. That is what I did 18 months ago and have found the hitch very smooth and it rides well with minimal vibration, both on road and off road. I recently bought a McHitch for my6x4 box trailer and very pleased with it. I would not use a ball hitch again.
Continue to do your research as you have been, ask people on the road questions and remember take everything you read on any forum with a healthy amount of scepticism.
Enjoy your travels Terry
-- Edited by Yabbietol on Wednesday 21st of December 2016 08:44:24 PM
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Former owner of Avan Cruiseliner and now have 16' XC3 Compact Kedron
Tow was NW 2013 Diesel Auto Pajero and is now a Landcrusier LC200 GX.
Those Universal Joint hitches were tried 30 yrs ago.
Most still use the rotating ball.
I've had last couple, Hyland 3.5ton welded units.
Rotate 360 sideways and if you shift the van. 360 deg for and aft too.
One of the few that'll leave YOU standing on 4 wheels
with van rotating around the ball behind you.
New things come and go all the time. But some just stay,
The towball is one.
There's nothing needed to upgrade,
and I've been doing it for over 50 yrs.
Pin and eye. and Turntable for heavy. commercial.
Ball under 4.5ton.
McHitch 3.5 Tonne auto coupler ordered Monday, delivered Wednesday and fitted Thursday with no difficulties.
Hooked up the van and went for a test run today for 50km on good and bad roads (without WDH) and to say the least I'm impressed and it wins my tick of approval.
Hitch up and unhitching at my place is done on a sloping block of 1 in 5
Hitch up was as easy as backing the tapered pin into the receiver and putting in the safety pin and clip, it was so easy and alignment is assisted with the guide plate on the receiver.
As long as the alignment is close but does not have to be perfect.
Unhitching was just as easy by pumping up the trailmate (or jockey wheel) to take the weight off the receiver and out comes the pin lift up the lock handle and drive away.
I can understand a lot like to have WDH and if you were to have Hayman Reece there are adaptors to make it all work.
My WDH is the Trojan Load leveller and I only put this on originally with the ball coupling to stop bounce on uneven pavement (which it did), but with this McHitch unit it was the same ride without the WDH
Why....I can only assume because the hitch coupled is now 195mm longer than the old and the point where the universal are is 135mm further behind where the ball would have been, also with the ball
coupling my tug dropped 25mm on connect but only dropped 10mm with the McHitch
Forgot to mention, when I visited his workshop in Lithgow, he had 2 pallets waiting to be shipped out that day, he said he can't keep up with demand.
The Kedron fellas give them a workout, and put them on their vans, so they must work well. He stated that he ships a lot to camper trailer manufacturers as well.
Thinking of getting one of these , mainly to allow us to lift the front of the van up to level - current towball hitch would hit tail gate , looks like Mchitch would let us raise Hayman Reese up by about 70 mm
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