Hitch Height

[chartrock]

This has been discussed over and over but I hope I have solved my problem. When We bought the van, the HR WDH was set up by the dealer and was borderline to keeping the van level but before we set off on our WA trip I had new suspension and shockers fitted which raised the truck about 70mm. Consequently the van had its tail down all the way around. I was told I would have to fit a new towbar coupling which would be about 50mm longer allowing the hitch setup to drop the nose of the van by 50mm and so level the van.

Yesterday I purchased a new 'gooseneck' with a 4" drop, solid 2" bar and a welded gusset for strength. The following photos show the difference.




The HR ball height (to ball centre) is 515mm and clearance from floor is about 325mm while the new gooseneck ball is 430mm and clearance is 320mm. Both of these will increase by about 20mm when I fit a my 'CoupleMate' and a different WDH which goes under the ball. So I should have a ball height of 450mm (inside the legendary "legal height" of 460mm) and a road clearance of 340mm.

It's a pity I haven't got my van to try it on. Now I know what everyone goes through waiting for delivery of their new van.

A few more pix of the the new (and old) gooseneck. There might be a complete HR WDH turn up in the "FOR SALE" thread soon. :yo:



Brad at Speedy Towbars (Slacks Creek) was extremely helpful. Just by my decription of what I was after he found the particular gooseneck but didn't carry it in stock, called me back within half an hour saying it would be in that afternoon and at a good price. I originally bought my HR WDH from him last year also at a good price. I have no affiliation with them but I reckon good service from nice people should be broadcast.

 

[Billrw136]

Hi Chartrock - your new gooseneck looks good - virtually the same as the one I bought for my LR Discovery to get height right with our Expanda. What brand WDH are you getting??

Bill

 

[straydingo]

Well done Chartrock. I have the same gooseneck which I used with the swan and sat perfectly with the lift on the Pathie.

 

[Moto Moto]

Looking good chart rock, we have a very similar gooseneck on our Patrol.

 

[MolongMick]

Looks like I'll need to do something similar, just checked my towball height and it was 560mm, a bit too high But we will see when the van sits on the tow ball.

I think our down ball weight might drop it a little.

I only need to wait until march:sleep:until it arrives. Hopefuly it will be early as it is due to roll of the line at the end of Feb.

 

[chartrock]

Hi Chartrock - your new gooseneck looks good - virtually the same as the one I bought for my LR Discovery to get height right with our Expanda. What brand WDH are you getting??

Bill

G'day Bill, it's an old setup with the brand 'MOLCO' on the cast piece. The photos just give an idea of one side of the setup.



I have no idea of the load capacity of the bars but I did have it on my old Freedom van and they work OK.

 

[Billrw136]

Thanks for that Chartrock - I guess that setup is not available any more.....

 

[chartrock]

Actually, Bill, Brad from Speedy Towbars told me Hayman Reese still make something similar. This is the script from their website but the ball weight may be insufficient for some of the Expandas.

intermediate

The intermediate system is a very similar in design to the Mini, however it uses a four bar ( 4 x 19mm) system. This system has a working range between 80kg and 135kg ball weight and is ideal for small sized caravans.

Part Number: 04194 RRP: $279.00

 

[Billrw136]

Thanks for that Chartrock - yes our ball weight is 175 (I think) - so it would not be suitable. I have only towed the van for 400 or so km and it seemed to behave well, but a WDH would give more peace of mind. I will so how it goes next week when we head SW to Mittagong.

 

[Bushman]

Hi Chartrock, I would have thought a longer shank for your original WDH would have been the go.

one thing you need to watch if going back to your older system with those (shepard hook bars) if you have the Outback Chassis the bars can fowl when turning. also may need longer chassis hangers for the A-frame. The newer under hanging bars in the Hayman Reece pic should be OK if the weight rating is OK.

 

[strudeltoowoomba]

Hi Chartrock, Have you thought of going with a hitch block?

Jayco Canberra sold and mailed one to me for $140, it is simply a 50mm high block that raises the height of the hitch, it comes with the the 4 longer bolts and nuts and only required a slight adjustment to the handbrake arm as it was hitting on the plate where the hitch bolts to.

Going this way the van now sits level and I didn't have to worry about a super long shank on the tow bar and a fait bit cheaper as well.

Cheers

Steve

 

[chartrock]

Hi Chartrock, I would have thought a longer shank for your original WDH would have been the go.

one thing you need to watch if going back to your older system with those (shepard hook bars) if you have the Outback Chassis the bars can fowl when turning. also may need longer chassis hangers for the A-frame. The newer under hanging bars in the Hayman Reece pic should be OK if the weight rating is OK.

G'day Bushman. The picture in my first post above shows 325mm clearance with no load, so with the van on it drops around 50mm. The longer shank would have been the quick and easy way out but, at 50mm longer, it would have reduced the clearance under the shank to around 200-225mm and I have an aversion to ploughing the rough roads I sometimes travel on. :eyebrows:

Where would the hook bars foul when turning? They are hanging on chains and the brackets they hang from are made for the 6" A-frame. I'll have to wait until I can try them out to see how they perform.

 

[chartrock]

Hi Chartrock, Have you thought of going with a hitch block?

Jayco Canberra sold and mailed one to me for $140, it is simply a 50mm high block that raises the height of the hitch, it comes with the the 4 longer bolts and nuts and only required a slight adjustment to the handbrake arm as it was hitting on the plate where the hitch bolts to.

Going this way the van now sits level and I didn't have to worry about a super long shank on the tow bar and a fait bit cheaper as well.

Cheers

Steve

G'day Steve, thanks for the advice but I was one of the first to fit one of these blocks 12 months ago. At the time it just managed to keep the van almost level but before we did our WA trip I had new suspension fitted to my tug which raised it around 50-75mm.

I am hoping that this gooseneck will allow me to remove the packing which was fitted by my local dealer on my 1000km service.

Here a couple of pix from an earlier post (which I can't find :loco

 

[strudeltoowoomba]

G'day Steve, thanks for the advice but I was one of the first to fit one of these blocks 12 months ago. At the time it just managed to keep the van almost level but before we did our WA trip I had new suspension fitted to my tug which raised it around 50-75mm.

I am hoping that this gooseneck will allow me to remove the packing which was fitted by my local dealer on my 1000km service.

Here a couple of pix from an earlier post (which I can't find :loco
View attachment 5969 View attachment 5970

Thanks Chartrock,

I can see where you are going now.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Bushman]

G'day Bushman.
Where would the hook bars foul when turning? They are hanging on chains and the brackets they hang from are made for the 6" A-frame. I'll have to wait until I can try them out to see how they perform.

Looks like in your case they maybe OK as you have the bracket for the 6" frame and they hang on chains, I found on the set I tried on my Eagle camper and ex Pathfinder at the time the bars fowled at the front along the chassis were plate hangs down behind the handbrake, mine however didn't hang on chains they were the bolt on "U" shape bracket that you had to lift the bar over. due to the low mount couple of the Outback the bars also virtually ran along the side of the chassis rails

Just thought I'd mention it.

 

[gavin.davis59]

I had the same problems with a similar type (Camec I think).Inner bar fouled when turning,since changed to HR.Chains may make the difference with Yours.

 

[chartrock]

Thanks for the heads up, Bushman, I am not sure how the bars will go and am anxious to try them out. Will let you know.

 

[achjimmy]

Have you thought about raising the van? I look like I have some 10mm spacers under my axle ( additional to the spring plates) I am thinking I will remove those, lengthen the hangers or reset the springs and maybe fit some 32" rubber to bring it up level with the tow tug. All depends with you want to raise it though?

 

[crystal674]

We had a set of shepherd hooks on our dog trailer - probably travelled over 50,000km.

It attached to the trailer with this mount and we never ever had any trouble.



We could use single or double bars depending on the load.

 

[chartrock]

I took some photos of the car just away from the van with the camera fixed on a tripod to see the difference between the towballs.

This is the tow ball level with the HR hitch.
This is with the new Speedy gooseneck
I then wound the dolly wheel down.
This is the gooseneck with the extras fitted as per the finished product. The van is the height of the ball.

The final difference in ball height is just under 75mm. If the system works ok and I can get some level ground to set up I may be able to remove the 50mm lift of the tow coupling and sell off my HR WDH. Time will tell.