We'd be interested to hear whether anybody else has had their Hyland Coupling become un-coupled while towing? We have! The situation was that we were coming off a gravel road, which was reasonably steep leading down to the Gwydir river, onto the sealed road which had a prominent central 'hump' to allow run off (I presume) so that the angle between the Cruiser and the ATV2 was obtuse and I was attempting to turn in the direction opposite to that of my exit from the gravel road. Make sense?? I had the weight distribution bars attached. Half way through the turn, we heard that heart-stopping big noise - 'there's something seriously wrong noise' only to find that the Hyland had un-hitched and the coupling was sitting centimeters above the road but supported by the chains which we always fit over the bars (the chains were crossed over). The coupling would have been buried in the asphalt had we not had the chains over the bars or if we had not had the bars fitted at the time. As it happens, I ended up right across the road with a ute fast approaching and I had no way of moving quickly and he had no way to go around the obstruction! Who said caravaning is dull?? I think having the WD bars attached was a major contributor to the problem as, when I was trying to turn, because of the relative angle of the Cruiser and the van, the WD bars moved under the A frame and when we moved over the central road hump and I was still in the middle of my attempted turn, the Cruiser and the van were attempting to level out and the bars 'lifted' the coupling off the towball. This can't happen, I hear you say. Well it can, I assure you! After the event and when we were recovered, we tried a few experiments one of which was to couple the hitch and then by using the wonderful Trail-A-Mate (did I mention that this is a life saver?) we were able time and time again to achieve un-coupling simply by increasing the angle between the tow vehicle and the van - all without touching the T-bar 'hitch clamp' thingy. I have made a simple pin (bolt with a hole drilled through it) and R clip that will forever more sit in the T-bar tab hole to prevent the T-bar from lifting while it is in place. Subsequent research (Google) has shown that some people have tried a padlock here but they have broken. Well, they would if they get caught between the cup and the side retainers. The force there must be enormous. My gizmo won't get snagged. Darren Hyland (at Hyland Couplings) was very helpful and on inspection of the coupling decided that the tongue attached to the T-bar was 'rounded off' which was allowing upward pressure combined with a rotatory motion to cause the hitch to un-couple. He replaced the tongue. Lessons: Regularly check the 'slop' in your hitch by using a spare towball in the hitch and jiggling it about (Just like you regularly check your wheel nuts) Have a look at the tongue in the hitch cup to ensure that it is not 'rounded' where it is supposed to sit under the ball Take you WD bars off before doing any funny angle stuff - not always anticipated when off road, I agree Seriously consider having a 'gizmo' that will not allow the T-bar to lift unexpectedly Sorry about the long post, but this was a BIG event!! Brian & Margie 21' ATV2: LC 100TD
