Hitch Dramas

[kingy]

???Hi all,
Anyone in NSW had any trouble in rego'in any van with one of these hitches like mine, i took it to a guy i know who rego checked my previous van (he builds commercial trailers)and he tells me because this hitch has no details stamped on it like manufactures name, capacity etc it's no good .So i thought i'd put it to the forum and see if any of you have had similar trouble
I think there a good hitch and probably better than newer ones
Cheers Kingy

P.S. He showed me his book of rules which state the above >:


Anyone know how i can down size these photos

[cobber]

G’day Kingy,

I am anticipating similar problems when
I get around to taking ol’ 36 for rego.
I rang RTA some time back to get advise
as to what the rules were and although they
said I don’t have to fit blinkers or any other
lights that it didn’t have fitted originally,
the hitch does have to have brand name
and capacity stamped on it.
As a point of interest....what are the patent
numbers stamped on your hitch??

Photos...when I send mine to photobucket
I hit ‘em with the full whammy...that is, I
don’t try to reduce the size before
sending.... then they automatically reduce
the size to fit their maximum limit...whatever
that is.
There must be other ways of doing it, I
hope the “experts” come on and tell us both
how to do it eh?.

Cobber.

[Deleted]

Hi Kingy
I think those hitches are called a "Newcastle caravn safety Hitch" Marketed and sold by Walsh caravans in the early sixties through to the 70s.
Dont ever drop one on a 50mm ball . you will never get it back off. I had heaps of trouble getting the old van that i used to build the TD off the ball.
They are made to take a 2" ball. I cant see a problem using that coupling as long as it is a machined solid ball and not a cast iron 1 7/8" ball with a coach bolt through the middle. They had a habit of shattering and the bolt was only about 5/8" shank.

Just make sure the RTA bloke understands that its a 2" ball with a machined 3/4" ( 20mm) thread.

Good luck mate and remember...

Nilch bastards carborundum >>.. Dont let the bastards wear you
down.

Reddoldballs are good balls

[kingy]

Hi Reddo,
I know what you mean by the 50mm ball fitting in these hitches, it won't happen a second time i can tell you Some of you may shudder when i tell what i did though to remedy the problem,and that was to get the 50mm. tow ball off and grind a fraction off ,and i mean a fraction off the ball around the middle section, then smooth off any rough areas and jobs done ;D five minute job, i can't see it being a problem.
The reason i took the van to this guy is because he does the check of the van and neccessary paperwork and then it's off to the RTA with your cheque book and your on your way, thats what happened when i registered my millard after it being out of reg. for 20 years . No one from the RTA even spotted the van, thats what i was hoping would happen with my bondy until the hitch drama.
Cobber, the pat. no on the hitch appears to be 15 81 i can't tell if there is any thing between the 5 & 8
Thanks Fella's
Cheers Kingy

[Deleted]

Shudder, shudder
Throw that 50mm ball away. The bit you ground off has reduced it to a 2" dia.
50mm balls have 50mm stamped in the top. If you use that ball on a proper 50mm coupling now the coupling will be loose and tend to clatter. The coupling will Probably never come off the modified ball , but why take the risk.... chuck the ball in the bin .
If you want to stick with originality Find a 2" ball and fit it to the safety hitch. leave it in there permanently . whenever you tow the van . remove the 50mm ball from your towbar and use the 2" ball that you have set up in the hitch.

I had to grind the tang inside the hitch away a fair bit to get the 50mm ball out of the coupling . As soon as i got the undamaged ball out of the coupling . I unbolted the coupling and fitted a new 50mm mechanical overide coupling and brake lever . All up about $130 . The old job is in the bottom of the local tip.
I am a one of the first to promote keeping things original on an old original van . some people will remember my post about not running extra tailight/brake lights on vans if they wherent marketed with them in the first place. , but when it comes to towing things i have relented . its gotta be done right and done safely.


I see no problem with the old hitch with the correct size ball. After all they where called "safety Hitches". But......
Botched hitches, towbars, goosenecks, and couplings just arent worth the risk 2" .. 50mm or otherwise..

Reddo

[groovy]

Reddo old fella,
50mm is already smaller than 2", there being 25.4mm to 1 inch.
If you have to grind a little off a 50mm ball to make it fit the coupling, then I would think it would be a 1 15/16" coupling, these were outlawed many years ago.
They were outlawed due to people using the next size up and having trailers come off while on the move.
To the best of my recollections the sizes available at various times were 2 1/4", 2", 1 15/16" and 1 7/8". As you can see, it was easy to mix up the different sizes. These were all replaced with the standardised 50mm coupling.
Greg

[Deleted]

Thanks groovy.
I was bought up pre metric and still on the odd occassion talk in
feet and inches..... just doesnt sound right calling a chunk of "dressed 4X2 hardwood" a " 90mm x45mm. D.A.R


When i bought the Fairway ( matilda) the owner came out the front and we changed the towball to suit the van. i naturally thought it was an old 2" ball.
When i got home and had a look it was 62mm ball rated at 5000lb . The mechanical overide coupling was huge. i made enquires at the local trailer parts place and these
couplings and balls are used on large plant and equipment etc. Maunfactured in the good ol U.S of A.... probably Texas where everything is BIGGER, even thier balls .

Anyway Kingy old sox.... do the right thing and toss all that old stuff. spend the dosh and make it safe.
I for one dont wanna see ya loose the van off your car on the spring tour.
4 weeks and counting down ;D .

Reddo

[kingy]

Hi Reddo,
Iv'e still got the same problem re the hitch regardless of what ball i use so i might just use a later model one i have and change it back over after it's rego'd which is a pain but choices are few.
Interior of ORPHAN ANNIE is finally finished and it's pizza and beer tonight in the shed/van to celebrate, ;D ;D pics coming
Cheers Kingy

[Roehm3108]

Hey Kingy
Whatever you do, don't do what you have just suggested. If something were to happen after you change the coupling back to the original, the legal eagles will literally throw the book at you. Far better to get a second opinion from the RTA about the hitch (is there some way to get an exemption???) and explain the problem to them, or perhaps even get a second opinion from another safety inspector. If all that fails, I recommend you do what Reddo says - get an upgraded hitch!
Sorry about that!
Ray

[Jim]

Hey Reddo, my comment was going to be along the same lines as groovy.

I think you should chuck away that old school ruler you've been using since the second grade and get one of the U beaut Kincrome digital calipers.
It¡¯ll tell you that 2 inches is larger than 50mm (50.8mm in fact)

Or try this webpage to check conversions
www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm

If you drop a 2 inch coupling onto a 50mm ball it's usually loose but will seem ok.

Kingy..
Groovy may be right but my thoughts about your problem is you may have a 1 7/8 inch coupling.

If you drop a worn, possibly inaccurately cast, 1 7/8" coupling onto a 50mm ball it'll often go on with a shove (but not always).
But it will sure be difficult to get off.

And if you grind away part of the circumference of a 50mm towball, especially around the waist of the ball, it'll certainly go on.
It only needs a millimetre or less off the radius.

I'm not saying it's a good thing to do, it certainly isn't.

If you have a close look at cast couplings they don't actually drop ONTO the ball.
The ball enters from the rear of the opening and moves forward and up into the recess.
There's tolerance in the recess, that's why the adjustable screw is there.
There's also anything from 0.5 to 1.0 mm tolerance on the 'waist' opening of the coupling to allow the ball to enter.
So if the 'waist' of a towball that is a little too large can get past the opening it will seem to fit in the recess.
The locking pin may not lock properly down the back of the ball but it can look ok at a glance.

Another reason that can contribute to this mismatch is that some towballs that don't comply with the 'Standards', that are sold as 50mm are in fact 49mm or less.
Measure them with your new Kincrome digital caliper and you'll see for yourself.

I'd suggest getting a decent one piece machined 1 7/8" ball with a 22mm shaft and try that.

Or better still, as Reddo suggests, bite the bullet, buy a new coupling that complies with AS 4177-3 and use it with an AS 4177-2 towball and they won't let you down.

Another good reason to buy new components is that your coupling doesn't seem to have a secondary locking mechanism, as has been required since Standards were first introduced.

The cost of new components isn't a big ask when you consider the consequences of a caravan coming adrift on the road.

You won't have the whole thing won't come apart on a steep decent out of the Blue Mountains and you won't have your precious vintage caravan swinging on inadequate chains that are relying on $2.00 shackles that aren't worth a pinch of shit.
You may even avoid killing someone, or knocking down a tree or two.


Here are some measurements that might be useful

1 7/8 inch (1.875 in) = 47.625 mm
1 15/16 inch (1.937 in) = 49.20mm
50.0 mm = 1.969 in
2.00 inch = 50.8 mm

[Jim]

Cobber and Kingy..

Photobucket have changed their resizing system recently and pictures may not reduce the way they used to.

It’s much better to reduce (or enlarge) them to a size YOU want first.

It’s also a good idea to reduce the file size (a different thing to the actual picture size) so people who have dialup connections aren’t waiting ages for pictures to load, or people are not using up allowance if they on a download limit with their server.

Computer monitors don’t make use of large file information, the picture will look just the same with a fraction of the file information.
You only need large file information if you wanted to make a wall size poster of a picture.

It’ll also takes much less time to upload pictures to Photobucket if they are resized first.

It’s easy to do and has been discussed on here a number of times.
It’s probably more important now with the changes Photobucket have made.

I’d revamp the instructions about this in the “Instructions on Posting Photos” thread, but I can’t access that post because it’s Mark’s posting.

But if you want to know how to do it and what program to use, I can give you a run down.. that’s easy.

To give you an example..

Kingy’s picture at the start of this thread is 1728 x1152 and 257KB
Reducing it to 800 x 530 (about half the width of the original picture) means it fits better on most size monitors where people are using the most common resolutions.
Minimizing the file size to about 51KB and it'll still be sharp and clear on a computer monitor.

[kingy]

Thanks Fella's for your input re. my hitch drama's, i've decided to take the van back to the guy that'll be checking it over for rego and get him to fit/weld a new plate (original one to small) and bolt on a new hitch, get the nessesary paperwork and head for the RTA. THEN ENJOY
Cheers Kingy
PS and thanks for info on my huge pics

[Jim]

I searched back a bit in ‘Technical’ to find an appropriate thread to put this piece of nonsense in. This thread seemed appropriate.
I hope it gives you a smile and doesn’t remind you of anyone.

Jim