UNHITCHING AT35

I guess that all we can safely do is hit that
towbar release button before the 90 deg. is reached.
David

Yes Brian, you read my thoughts to the letter. I have already had a front ender where a commodore crossed in front of me at a set of traffic lights. The road conditions and vis were excellent but I tell you 5+ tonnes takes a lot of stopping. For wet roads, gravel etc the stopping distance would be frightening. Try it sometimes. Defensive driving stratagy is the way to go and don't be in a hurry. If some jerk pulls into your stopping space wear it and make another one. You'll have a much happier trip.

Phil Regarding your enquiry re releasing the pin on the AT35. I don't know if this is what you were driving at but if I read what you are saying, I used to have a similar problem. However, when I went to BTI, I was shown a little trick to get the pin out. I was advised to drop the jockey wheel and lift the hitch until you see the tongue of the hitch in your towbar move. The first couple of times was tricky to see but you get used to it. When it just moves they reckon it has released the pressure on the pin. I must say that it works because getting the pin out since then has not taken more than a few seconds (sooo damn easy now!!!) Hope I am not being obtuse. Regards Jeff

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Hi folks ,

Having been involved in a head on collision (160-180km per Hr closing speed) I have first hand experience with the early type horizontal pin coupling shearing off. Not surprising!! The Nissan Patrol tow vehicle was totally destroyed ,the rear chassis /tow bar was bent down 25cm . The WDH load bars dug ino the roadsurface and stopped rotation of the vehicle past 180deg. The BT survived surprisingly intact. One very bent drawbar and some minor damage to front from flng debris.
I will bring photos and damaged coupling to Cania

Glad to see that you are both here to tell the story What happened to the other vehicle? Brian

Phil, I find that if I wind the jockey wheel up until I can see a gap between the top and bottom of the coupling then there is generally no problems if the ground is level. The hassells start when the ground is uneven (our front yard slopes upward slightly and to one side at the street and I back the van onto the flat concrete section. The vehicle is still on a grass slope). The vehicle must be inline with the van and with no lock on the front wheels for best results. Try backing past where you want to stop and then pulling foward to get everything straight before unhitching. I find that if there is too much lock on the front wheels that the drawbar leaps sideways on the jockey wheel as I pull the pin out. Not good. Also backwards (or forwards) pressure from the vehicle (caused by the handbrake not taking up immediately) will cause the pin to become jammed. If the bottom of the coupling moves towards the vehicle as the pin is pulled up then the vehicle is leaning on the pin and will move backwards slightly as the pin is extracted. Not so bad as the sideways movement. Keep the fingers and other body parts clear at all times. I generally tap it out if only a bit tight but if really jammed I repeat the parking exercise to take the pressure off the coupling. Peter

Just to bring this item to the top again... On a recent trip I found that if we left the van hitched for a few days (ie. travelled each day, but left it hitched to tow vehicle overnight), then it became difficult to remove the pin when we finally wanted to unhitch. I now carry a pressure pack can of Castrol spay-on Grease. Every time we hitch up, I put a light spray on the hitch pin and also on the coupling. Since starting to do this, we have not had a problem

Hi everyone, Sorry to show my ignorance on this subject, but what kind of hitch usually comes with the BT these days? Do we have to request the AT35 specifically as part of the build, and then is there an alternative we need fitted to the Effie to link to that that we have to also specify on pickup? Angie

G'day Angie, AFAIK the AT35 is a standard fitment unless you request something else. Would be interesting to see the hitch that would be used on Conrad's new tri-axle 28fter ... Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ... Do it Easy ... Tow a Bushtracker

Angie Do not have your Ford equiped with the genuine Ford tow bar but rather a Hayman Reece. Both have the same rating but the HR gives you far better drawbar height adjustment than the genuine Ford one, which I had to find out the hard way. HayiteBushtracker

I know that you have to grind the corners off on the Hayman Reese Coupling to fit it into the Ford and Toyota Tow bars, but how does the genuine Ford Tow bar vary from the Hayman Reese one? The Ford one doesn't have an adjustable bolt to stop the coupling moving around inside the receiver, like the Toyota bars do. Is there one of these on the Hayman Reese one? Brian

From memory the Ford towbar mounts about 40mm higher than the Hayman Reece. I've seen the plastic rear bar trim cut to get the hitch in .... on the ford one. The bar mounts at a different height but I dont think the hitch receiver height is all that different ..... just enough to have to cut the trim to line up the hitch. I went for the Hayman Reece bar at the time (March02) because the manufacturer of the "other" bar had a few recalls out on Nissan and Mitsubishi fitment hitches. As the F-series (RHD build) was new to all and sundry at the time I went for reputation of the HR. The HR hitch receiver does not have provision for the bolt...... on my model (R1873) as HR deem it not necessary as the hitch is a snug fit in the receiver. Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ... Do it Easy ... Tow a Bushtracker

Thanks guys, will make sure the boss sees these responses. Angie

Brian I purchased a HR coupling that had to be ground lightly on the corners and also drilled another hole for the location pin to the draw bar. The problem with the Ford hitch was it was very restricted to height adjustment to be level with van especially if use of the carring capacity of the Ford is to be utilised. I can now load the Ford to whatever and then adjust the ball height to suit the van. The Ford weight distribution bars fit perfectly into the HR pull. The reason another hole was drilled for the location pin was because the HR pull protroduded further out the back of the vehicle than the Ford one. The purchase cost of the HR coupling was $300.00 Spell check would be handy wouldn't HayiteBushtracker