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New McHitch coupling


Rod and Mavis

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Well the new McHitch is fitted and all I can say is WOW.

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Our first run with it was to a private property at Kilcoy here in QLD. Only about 400kms return but it performed well with load levelers fitted. The only problem here was that the love of my life managed to break her ankle, :sad: but getting back to the really important stuff.

Our second foray into travelling with the new hitch was a run to Bellengen Music Festival early May.

After re distributing some weight off the draw bar we did this run without Weight Distribution Hitch or load levellers, 1000kms in all.

Joe Mcginnes (the inventor/manufacturer) recommends 150kg’s or less for a heavy van due to the hitch being fixed onto the tow bar and not relying on weight to hold it there. It works beautifully.

This is where the wow factor jumped in. No load levellers consequently no turning noise as a matter of fact no noise at all from the rear. The car performed better than it ever has while towing the van (tracked straight, great braking and sat on the road beautifully)

I/we opted for the 6 ton hitch (our van has been re plated to 3500kg's due to mods incorporated)

The reason for the 6 ton choice was the off road factor and the way the van is used. Had we had a road van of the same weight and used it only on road I would have opted for the 3.5 ton McHitch.

Gotta say the new baby made me feel absolutely confident and comfortable with the tow.

The hitches look beefy and they are, our new one is 5 kg's heavier than the old Hyland but beautifully engineered.

Dam I sound like a salesman perhaps I should hit for commission :biggrin:

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Hi Rod & Mavis,

We too have installed the Big Yella Fella & are quite impressed.

We have now completed 4000k over quite a variety of road surfaces & have been impressed the whole way.

Like you we are no longer running the weight dist.bars. It rides, brakes & maneuvers brilliantly.

Glad to hear it was worth the effort for you too & Joe McGinnes was a pleasure to deal with too.

Cheers

Blackie & Elle

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Greetings Mr and Mrs Blackie.

Bout time for a new pic is it not grin.

How is the effy going and did ya cry for long when the Patrol went?

Glad to hear that the hitch is working as well as ours.

Had some work done on the car at Springers at Lawnton early this week and Joe Springer was saying that he had a new Bushwacker and a new Kedron in the shop the week before with McHitches on them,the biggies in off road are trying them I guess.

Hope you guy's are travelling well and happy.

Love to ya both.

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Hi Rod & Mavis,

Yes there was a few tears shed when we sold the Patrol & a few times when we have missed it but in the BIG picture we are so glad we have made this step.Shane is not as tired when we pull up at the end of a days driving. The F-y pulls the van effortlessly. :thumbsup:

Sounds like word of the Mc Hitch is spreading quickly. I think it will have a big place in the van industry.

Our travels are going to stop for 6 months now while we do the cane harvest in Ayr again.

if I get it right there is a shot below of our new unit??

Luv Elle & Blackie

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Rod & Mavis,

Just wondering, as you know we have a AT35 and it occasionally gives us grief when the truck is on an angle to the van.

I just came in from an 800 Km dirt road trip and found the pin was nicely gummed up with greasy dust. Took a bit of elbow grease to pull out.

Have you found the McHitch easy to attach and detach, especially when the truck is on an angle with the van?

Rosco

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HI guy's

I have found that the hitch is no problem un hooking at any angle and there is no grease in the post due to there being no movement. The only grease is in the nipples two on the longitudinal pivot and one on the universal

To hook up at an angle you still need to be fairly straight on to the hitch not necessarily straight to the draw bar, having said that I have found that when the hitch is lowered onto the pin it does not take much to get it to seat.

We have been away for a while give me a little time and I will post some pics to explain a little better.

:thumbsup:

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So sorry for the delay Rosco.

Please see the attached pics they might help to see the hook up procedure.

I love it especially with the levelers gone, we no longer have to take them off to negotiate difficult terrain nor do we scrape into servo's grin.

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Give Chrissie a big hug from us will ya.

Love to ya both and safe travels wherever you are

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  • 3 months later...

Hi there everyone,

Could someone please explain how this setup negates the need for the WDH?

I am looking at upgrading to the McHitch and would like some more opinions and feedback.

Thanks guys and gals.

Currently working in Mount Isa on our trip around the block.

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Hi Pete & Tracey

We still use the WDH`s with our McHitch. I think it was a personal choice with Rod.They do not take long to remove when necessary, and they improve the ride significantly.

Cheers

Rick & Lea :thumbsup:

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Hi Pete & Tracey

As Ric said it is our choice to not use the WDH system on our rig.

Our tug is set up with 400kg uprate standard length rear springs and airbags plus heavy duty torsion bars on the front.

We have dropped our ball weight (at the moment 200kgs) by re distribution of load. This has got us about as close as we can get to Joe McInnes's suggested ideal of 100-150kg's.

These mods have resulted in my being very comfortable with the way that the car sits and handles.

In not using the WDH we now have a completely silent tow with no clunking of the bars or scraping into driveways with the added bonus of not having to take them off for rough terrain.

We have travelled 6000kms now with the McHitch, the first 400 (approx) with bars fitted and the rest without.

The WDH system is purely to lift some weight off your tow bar and put it back on your front wheels returning your steering and front wheel braking to as close to normal as possible.

Our rig feels right and we love it :thumbsup: .

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I have recently been involved in a debate about the merits or otherwise of using or not using a WDH with the McHitch coupling.

There has been some urgency because our new van will be ready for pick-up next week and the 4.75T coupling we wanted will not be available until about the middle of 2011. I am reliably informed by McHitch that the new hitch when available will be only marginally smaller and marginally cheaper than the 6T model. The issue is that the 6T coupling requires a 1000lb WDH - and that is a reasonably impressive lump of steel!

Our experience has been with our previous ATV2 which had a TARE 0f 3150kgs.

I was keen to try the coupling without a WDH but have changed my mind and have decided to go with the WDH for the following reasons:

- the type of coupling used has nothing to do with weight distribution. Put a heavy weight on the tow bar and unless you have 'special' suspension, at some weight, the front wheels will become 'light', affecting steering and breaking

- most of us (despite our desires) spend most of our driving time on the blacktop at higher speeds when arguably more unexpected 'events' are likely to occur.

- even at slower 'safe speeds' I did experience the phenomenon of 'dolphining' (my descriptive term but self-explanatory) a couple of times. Unreliable breaking and steering with 3.5T pushing you from behind..........

- both Kedron and McHitch recommend that a WDH be used

So, these are my thoughts and I'm happy to be corrected or contradicted. For those who have chosen to do without the WDH - all power to you!

Cheers

Brian

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G`Day David & Sharyn

You can secure both HR hitch and Mc Hitch with lockable pins .Sold at most car accessory or hardware stores.

Cheers

Rick & Lea :smile:

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Hi all,

Has anyone had the debate with Kedron over their fitting 3.5t McHitch's to their vans? According to what I have read from McHitch these hitches are only rated to 3.0t off-road which will for my ATV2 on order be under rated (potential insurance problem), I need (as most people would) the full 3.5t rating off-road, I don't see it is likely I will offload 500kgs when I go off-road while travelling around.

I did ask about the option to fit a 6t hitch which needs then a 1000kg WDH but they said, no they fit 3.5t as this is the tow rating of my cruiser. Whilst that might be true on-road it is not when off-road.

:helpsmilie:

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Hi Jaygee

I have fitted the 6 tonne Mc Hitch to our TE and feel safer knowing it's rated higher than the standard hitch. I prefer to be over cautious

Cheers Phil

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Hi Jaygee

The boys at Kedron must have had a change of mind . I was speaking to stan to`day Re our ATV2

also due in Dec, and was told due to the 3.5ton Mc Hitch off road rating, they would be fitting the

6 ton version. :thumbsup: Obviousley an adjustment in the price needed but as far as i am conserned

well worth it.

Regards Mal.

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Thanks all,

I spoke with Stan again today and yes they no longer fit the 3.5t hitch due to rating for off-road. This means that a 1000 lb WDH is required though but as has been said better to drive with confidence so am happy with outcome.

BTW December deliveries are still on track so will be spend the festive season in our new van somewhere in Queensland doing a short shake down run before heading back to Perth.

Cheers all and thanks :thumbsup:

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Brian you are correct unless you have the correct weighted towing vehicle versus the trailer being towed and the van weight distributed correctly you will run into all the problems you have mentioned

Please read this post and you will realise why you should not / cannot use the WDH unless the hitch reciever is modified.

http://www.kedronownersgroup.com/forum/ind...ic=1045&hl=

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Greetings all.

It is my belief that the the 6T coupling requires a 1000lb WDH due to Hayman Reese viewing this unit as the only one compatible with a 6 Ton hitch.

If you look at this 1000lb WDH, the receiver assembly on the tow bar is manifestly stronger than the 3.5 ton unit and this allows the 6 ton McHitch tow pin to be accomodated safely and within their safety scope and allows warranty to be secure.

It is good practice for them to insist on this system. If someone is fitting a 6 Ton hitch then the WDH must be compatible even if the vehicle ATM being towed is under this figure.

I know that my modification to my 3.5 ton original hitch to accomodate the 6 Ton pin would not sit well with Hayman Reese but the engineering is completely sound although no destructive testing has been carried out.

Welcome back Havago missed ya buddy :thumbsup:

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Hi all,

I made a goose of myself earlier this week when I took our van back to have some repairs done (my fault) and when I did, I asked Tom if they would change the hitch over from the 3.5 ton to the 6 ton after seeing that the "offroad capacity" is only 3 tons. He had a look at it and said no need, we already had the 6 ton version .... :laugh: how embarrassing, guess I should have looked a bit closer before I opened my big mouth.

We picked our van up in July this year and I asked Stan to change the hitch over from the AT35(??? or whatever) to the McHitch which was on their newer vans. This was fine and only another 300 bucks, but I was sure he told me that they put the 3.5 ton one on as the 6 ton was way too big. Oh well, live and learn...

On the subject of hitches and WDH, we have experienced the WDH thingies on the drawbar sliding back and forward on tight turns. I understand that this is normal, though I have conerns about the Aframe being significantly scored by the locating bolt and the galvaninsing on top being rubbed away. Do others have this issue and if so, what have you done to combat this? I know that the bars should be removed for U turns etc, but this isn't possible in a lot of cases. I am considering fitting some of the blue strips used on boat trailer bilge supports to improve the problem.

Looking forward to your thoughts

Regards

Chris

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Hi Greg,

Thanks for your response. I now understand what the problem is, though short of moving the tow pin forward 150mm, I don't know the answer. Would allowing the chain hangers to slide and preparing the A frame accordingly be a satisfactory fix in your opinion? I realise that you are not en engineer, but you certainly seem to have a better grasp of the problem than Kedron, or anyone else ..... Is it possible to just reposition the tow pin simply by redrilling the plate? Does your mate, the engineer have any ideas about all this. There is no way I can get my towball weight under 300kgs with the setup of the van. I don't understand why the positioning of the axles isn't something that is customised to each van based on design etc.

Regards

Chris

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Greg,

Thanks very much for your thoughts and opinions. I do think the easiest and maybe safest (at this point) 'fix' will be the blue boat trailer teflon slide strips. As you have said, moving the tow pin placement could unleash other problems that are not immediately obvious and potentialy very dangerous. When we were at Lightning Ridge recently on the vans first major trip, I discovered that I had done the drivers side bolt on the chain hanger to tight which bent the hanger completely out of shape and gouged the A frame badly. Fortunately I was able to track down a local engineering works and the bloke there was able to heat it and return it to its original shape. There are a lot of forces coming into play in that hitch. It's not something to play with, that's for sure.

Actually, the van is at the Kedron yard at the moment getting a couple of things done. When I pick it up, I will have a chat to them about the pin placement if I get a chance.

Regards

Chris.

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