At Copeton, if some of you "Newbies" on the Production Schedule go, you will see that there is a trend afoot, to go to the VC Conical Coupling for ease of hooking up… Now we do not mind, and it is definitely a necessity for what it was intended for, on very large vans… But, on smaller or average sized vans from 20’ and down, there is a definite disadvantage to doing this… Yes it is easier to hook up, but it will handicap your “off-road” capabilities. That “D Rating” larger hitch that seizes up the pintle ring with two conical sections on a greased ball swivel, only articulates to 22 degrees. That is the same 22 degrees as a standard ball hitch!!! You could exceed that going up or down a river bank for instance, when one was going flat while the other half was still bottoming out or going up and over… It is not such a concern for the really large vans, as they are not as likely to be in that extreme of circumstances. But for vans say 20’ and down, you would have to be appraised that it is not recommended by ourselves or Vehicle Components for the more extreme off-road conditions….
Now, one could argue and say as some do: “I’m not really going to that extreme, just mild off-road”… BUT, the problem is that this articulation is not just reserved for going forward into rougher conditions. Sometimes, when you have gone down a wrong track, you might find the need to do a three point turn to get you out of trouble instead of trying to back out the whole way…. The departure angle allows the rear of the van to overhang a steep bank long enough for the wheels to start lifting the van, allowing you to back up a steep bank or hill or grading, so you can do that three point turn around to get you out of grief… THEN is when you need that extended articulation of the Off-road hitch…. FURTHERMORE… We would suggest that even for the larger vans, there is a larger Off-Road hitch in development that may become available in the next 6 months.. We will obviously keep you Posted on that.. No questions please, as we cannot divulge the answers until it passes the ADR testing.. OK?
Also keep in mind that many people “think” they are not going that far off road, only to find that with the passage of time they develop both the need to get out crowded areas to the more remote areas that are not on the maps, but also the desire to go to these more remote places as they develop the confidence and experience to know they can do it in luxury with their
Bushtracker… The truth is that in the Test of Time, most end up going further than they thought, with luxury, and independence, and self sufficiency. They discover the “Unpublished Australia” that will never be on the maps as the Government cannot afford to improve the roads into them, and they also do not want to be having to rescue ill-equipped tourists broken down in there without the right equipment… OK? It is a natural progression to end up going further than you might be thinking..
Now, back to our Off-Road Hitch.... Many people are battling a bit, unnecessarily, to hook up and unhook when in a loaded angle position… So, here, let me help you understand how to live with the difficulties of hooking up and unhooking our proper Off-Road hitch… And the tricks to the technique, as I see some people trying to back the yoke on the tow vehicle just to exactly right over the pivot block on the van.... Near on impossible frustration that takes two people all the time.... Here is the "Art Form" to do it all by yourself....
To hook up: This is the technique we use all the time.... You bring the hitch up alongside the part on the ball mount part on the car. You bring it up to the level position alongside, never try and back the tow vehicle into the hitch, as that is too hard, just back up alongside. Then crank up the hitch to the perfect matching level and use the Power Jockey wheel to move it over the couple of inches to mate it up, and drop in the pin...
If the final alignment is wrong by a little bit front or back, once you are mated in so you can slip in the pin, then you can use the handle to swivel the JW to make any front and back alignment with a 45 degree cant on the JW to move it over and forward or reverse to fine tune the mate of the two so the pin slips in... Have a play with that...
On the hitch, if you are fighting it to disconnect, it is not in "Nuetral". There is a bit of a knack to feeling it out to get it into the nuetral position. You have to crank it up until your suspension on the vehicle is relieved of the load, and you can tell that by feeling the tiny bit of play in your ball mount (the piece that slides into the receiver on your vehicle...). If you have any play, and most do, you can feel it move as the car suspension is unloaded and you start to lift the ball mount from the downward loaded to the upward loaded position..... If you are straight on, and in a nuetral loaded position, the pin should just fall out.... When the hitch breaks in and there is a tiny bit of play on the Yoke of the hitch on your tow vehicle, you can feel that “Neutral Position” there, even see it, and then no problem the pin just slips right out. You will actually see the pivot block move in the yoke, up about a mm, as the hitch moves to the "nuetral" position, and then the pin is free...
Now another look at in when parking in at an angle: There is a bit more to it, as lateral (sideways) force can be loaded on the pin as well.. Use your power jockey wheel in that situation to rock the van sideways against the loading, as you pull the pin with the other hand... Of course the handbrake has to be on, and if it is steep block the wheels.. First make sure you are in the nuetral unloaded position, and then rock the van in a lateral fashion to free up any sideways loading... Yes it will take a bit of practice to get good at it, as with anything, "Perseverance Furthers"...
The only problems come in disconnecting in the rough terrain when you have unknown loading or torque on the hitch and the pin is stuck... It is much the same as above… Yes, stop that bad language, and learn the tricks: Ha! The hitch is relieved of the lateral torque much the same way with the Power Jockey wheel... You can put your finger on the base of the ball mount where it slides into the receiver, or at the Yoke of the AT-35 hitch itself, and feel when the van is in a neutral position as it starts to just move with a mm or so play in the housing of the receiver or the Yoke on the tow vehicle... When it is in a neutral weighted position, it is just a matter of rocking the van sideways with the Power Wheel in the correct direction, to relieve the torque and the pin should come free to remove it...
And I should not have to say this, but be careful!! WARNING FOR HOOKING UP! I saw one well meaning poor Soul poke a finger down the hitch hole to see how well it was lined up!!! He was lucky and not hurt, but it made us both sick when I told him ..... That is a terrible way to lose a finger, not that there would be a good way.. Another person lost the tip of a finger, luckily just the skin, doing something equally as stupid… Be VERY careful with fingers and bits as you hook the van up… OK?
I hope this will help some of you that have had difficulty in learning the tricks to doing this hook up and unhook jazz at angles and such... It is not as difficult as some of you are making it, you just have to discover the secrets...
As with horses and most things, once you understand the language, it’s not so hard…
Kind Regards to all from the "Lone Ranger".... And have fun at Copeton on the Rally..!!!
