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Hi I'm Norm Hudson, the
creator of The OzHitch,
which came about after
a challenging experience of mine in outback Australia...
Problem Solved
The OzHitch
was designed to overcome some problems with
hitches in general. Off-road hitches don’t have an aligning tool
guiding the halves together into a cradle making them hard to use. They
have a pin from the top creating problems with centre mounted spare
wheels, overhanging Ute trays and visually have a side on line of sight
for connecting rather than from above. They take a long time to align,
are somewhat fiddly, have poor or difficult to use safety and locking
mechanisms, require two hands to operate and in a lot of cases have low
operational angles. Be aware some hitches don't have ADR testing
and approval. The OzHitch has full ADR compliance exceeding all
Australian standard. The OzHitch overcomes all this and more.
Take a look at the videos and see
the hitch in action or read on below and get more info on the hitch.
OzHitch Is A Patented Trademarked
and Registered Design.
How I Came Up With The Dream 15 Second Off-Road Hitch...
The Drama Begins... Getting Bogged
My problems started when I was travelling through the Finke River Gorge in the blistering Outback Australia heat around midday when I met with a stretch of really soft, course river bed sand that got me badly bogged!!
It was stinking hot and there was nothing to hook the winch to…I knew it was bad considering the rigs overall weight, and river bed sand doesn’t let you out easily. So after tyres down almost flat, lockers in, some cursing, I realised I wasn’t going to get out unless I un-hitched. It was getting worse and by this time I was P****D Off and HOT. So I decided to disconnect the trailer from my 4WD to reposition it on firmer soil and away from the boggy wheel tracks.
The Hitch Was Almost Impossible To Connect
Man, I tried everything… reversing & repositioning the car a dozen times, trying to push the trailer around, just about breaking my fingers, wrestling with the pin and the 2 hitch halves…. The worst part about this situation was that no matter what I did, I’m damned if I could get the two halves of the off-road hitch to line up, so I could connect it up. Talk about frustrated, I was out of my mind.
I Had To Get Heavy Handed
This damn tow hitch just wouldn’t line up. So, like any true blooded bloke, when I got it reasonably close I used a tyre lever and my big hammer and bashed that bugger into place! Tired and worn out with the stress of the hitch not lining up, I got back on the track again.
The Drama Continues... The Biggest Problem Was My Hitch!
A half an hour later I got bogged again in another section of sand, and knew I that I was going to have to deal with the same problems again. So getting bogged can be a pain, but its nothing compared to getting hitched back up again. Just recovering from my last ordeal, I was feeling the frustration before even getting out of the car. I was hot, tired and crazy out of my mind with this ridiculous so called off-road hitch. What The HELL..!! It would have made a better anchor for my tinny.
How Do You Connect A Pin With Less Than Half A Millimetre Tolerance?
The third time I was coming into a sharp uphill turn out of the riverbed and well… The drama went on for 45 minutes. No joke I nearly pulled my hair out trying to get the hitch realigned. Just imagine trying to reverse a 4WD in sliding and shifting river bed sand on an angles, while reversing, and then trying to line up hitch halves - with less than half a millimetre of tolerance to put the pin through it. I was getting good with the tyre lever and hammer and the hitch was looking bashed. I was buggered, you know that feeling when your hands are kind of ringing or buzzing they are so worn out from hard struggle?
Surely There Had To Be A Better Way
This is what got me thinking there has got to be a better way. I have worked in and been a business owner in the camper trailer industry since 1980, and with the experience and knowledge I have, I set about reinventing the off-road hitch. I thought about the situation I was in that caused me so much grief and all the little things like lining up the holes, having to reverse the car to near perfection, the danger of a possible collapsing jockey, being that the front of the trailer was getting shoved about heavily in very soft sand and having my feet under it...!!! and simply the hard work and stress you just don’t want on a holiday.
I Created The Dream 15 Second Hitch
So after some brain crunching, I came up with the ultimate 15 second hitch. The hitch guides itself together, loading from above, with far less accuracy needed than the tow hitches currently on the market. The other great thing is that hitch self locates because of the alignment tool which simply lines the two halves of the hitch together in the cradle. Presto! OZHITCH is the simplest 15 second off-road hitch that’s easy to use.
Hitches Ain’t Hitches....Choosing A HitchWhen choosing an off-road hitch, there are many variables to consider. What angles will I encounter?, what towing capacity does your tow hitch have?, is your tow hitch certified with Australian ADR's?, type of connecting mechanisms?, is your trailer hitch easy to use?, is your trailer hitch simple or fiddly?, Can I put a handbrake on it? What are your needs?
Well let me start with a couple of the things I think are an absolute must have with any off-road hitch.
Hitch Must Haves
ADR ApprovalYour off-road hitch must have an ADR Australian design rule stamp of approval. If you buy a trailer hitch without one in my opinion you have rocks in your head. Let me ask you a question. Would you drive a car without Australian standards approval? Same thing...you are towing a lethal weapon that if it comes off or breaks can do some serious damage.
Hitch Connecting MethodsI suggest using the old KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) method when it comes to hitches. Simply the greatest complaint of hitches Overall is its hard to connect..!!!! We all know our intention is to do some off-roading. Be aware of small tolerances and fiddly parts that have a potential to jam or create difficulties when coated with mud or bull-dust. Small parts also damage much easier. Do you ever remember rolling your camper or your old box trailer forward to hitch it up to the tow ball and it kind of got the better of you, was heavier than you thought and slammed into the bumper, number plate or tow ball. What if it slammed into your new offroad hitch? is there anything that could easily get damaged? How are you going to connect up now? Worth thinking about, it’s happened to all of us. Keep it simple and robust with large parts supported by quality bushing. Making sense?
Look for an offroad hitch that Ideally has 2 safely methods securing the connecting pin in place. A lot of hitches just use a lynch pin holding in the connecting pin. I don’t believe this is enough, there really needs to be some sort of backup safety device for securing the connecting pin in place and ensuring everyone's safety.
Easy To UseEasy to use is probably next for me after safety. If you have ever disconnected your off-road hitch in a sandy or muddy situation, so you can get yourself unbogged, you will realise the need for it to be easy to reconnect. Some offroad hitches available give absolutely no room for error of any amount in misalignment while connecting, in fact most of them. Best get a trailer hitch that has an aligning tool on the body that helps guide all the holes into alignment.
What To Avoid
No BushingStay away from tow hitches that don’t have some type of nylon or urethane bushing (not another metal) in all major joints (especially the main rotational body on the trailer side) as these tow hitches may seem nice and firm now but a few thousand kilometres of off-road and you will need a set of earmuffs so you don’t go crazy. Grease in these joints only lasts a few seconds on corrugations and it all gets pumped out. If you buy one without bushing you "WILL” experience rattling and clanking.
Fiddly BitsAvoid tow hitches that have small fiddly parts and too many moving bits. KISS (Keep It Simple Silly). The more functions your tow hitch has, other than being a simple hitching devise the less reliable it will be. Complicated off-road hitches cost more, complicate hitching up, have potential for problems and easy damage, loosing bits and do they do the job better? do some homework and make up your own mind.
Angle RestrictionsBe careful of buying an off-road hitch that doesn’t have enough off-road angle ability. There are a couple tow hitches out there that just don’t have enough ability off-road. To start with the standard tow ball hitch. If you are going to do any outback adventure chuck out the tow ball and get a proper off-road hitch. A couple others have limited off-road ability as I have experienced. During a trip in the Bungle Bungles I crossed a simple small washout that most anyone on a trip would encounter and I bent the connecting pin so badly I couldn’t get it out of the hitch. I suggest making sure the off-road hitch you choose gets to at lease 45 degrees minimum and don’t be to adamant of getting over 70 degrees you most likely will never use it.
Difficult Pin LocationThe last one is, I recommend an off-road hitch that has the pin load from the side not the top, as hitches that have connecting pins that load from the top have a handle sticking up that can limit off-road angles, prevent easy hitch up due to overhanging ute trays and spare wheels being in the way, they will also fowl with barn doors and tail-gates. Just one misjudgement with one of these hitches will cost you way more in repairs to your car, than the cost of the right off-road hitch.
The Ozhitch Was Designed To Overcome All Of These Above Problems,
So Try One And See How Much You Love It.
Bolt Hole Pattern .... Click Here
OzHitch Is A Patented Trademarked and Registered Design.
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