caravan hitches

Have a look at the vans travelling around and you'll see that most of them, probably 90% have the standard towball and hitch with sway bars of some kind.

The big thing about using sway bars is that, properly set up, they not only equalize the load on the wheels of the vehicle and van but also assist in reducing sway and make the vehicle/van more of a unit. This applies regardless of the size of the tow vehicle. If your van is going to roll it will roll regardless of the type of hitch or sway bar set up.

If the van is Off Road that is a different issue.

Simple answer .. if the van is going to roll, for what ever reason ... let it go and do it's thing!! Any other type of hitch won't stop this event if it's going to happen, it will only bugger up your draw bar as well. Nothing about any type of off-road hitch is a safety mechanism when it comes to this type of situation, it's more about increased articulation and strength of the component.

Would you rather the van rolled and took you with it??

Cheers

Load the van properly, fit a quality weight distribution hitch and drive within the speed limits. Your van won't roll. I've been towing regularly for 34 years, I travel at 100kph or 110kph depending on the posted limit, I have a 16 footer and it has never even swayed enough to worry me. Never anything like rolling. Forget about anti sway bars - if you need them to stop swaying there's something very wrong with your rig!

Off road hitchs like the highland one (I believe it is an off road hitch) give no great advantage on most roads - in fact they are a disadvantage because it is very difficult to fit weight distribution bars on. A well set up van, that is well loaded with appropriate towball weight, about 10% of van weight, and weight dist. bars is all that is required if you drive to the conditions. I have an orac fitted to my camper van and it has helped out with some severe angles when negotiating some creek crossings with turns at the lip, a normal ball coupling would have come adrift or turned the van, here is link for your info, cheers ERic.

If you are trying to research it, you will get more info if you try 'Hyland hitch'

Caravans do roll, and we often read reports of this, and more often than not they are travelling on regular roads when slight swerve causes a 'wobble', then they fail to gain control. They are not always badly loaded either. We saw a boat go over blocking 3 lanes of a smooth flat highway due to a slight swinging action of the boat increasing until disaster.

The fully articulated hitches can let the caravan go over without up-ending your car, but i recently read of someone who found that the length of the safety chains also took the Cruiser over and onto its roof - all on a flat road.

We chose the AT35 as it also gives us extra articulation for deep steep dips and crests. We use weight distribution bars. I cannot see that these types of hitch could be any less safe than the ball hitch - just choose one that can incorporate the weight distribution bars.

Hi Andrew,
Some time ago whilst I was in the army I was driving a land rover which was pulling a trailer fitted with a Highland Hitch up the road between Broome & Derby late one night. Came around a big bend only to be confronted by 15-20 steers all laying in the center of the road, soaking up a little warmth.
No way in the world, were the brakes on the Landrover going to pull us up in time, so the only alternative was to steer for the gravel shoulder of the road and hope the critters all stayed put. Got around the steers allright but as I edged back off the shoulder onto the bituim, still travelling quite fast at this stage the trailer flipped over and ended up on its lid. The trailer was fully loaded with 180 cartons of grog destined for the wet mess and was quite a heavy load.
I recon the hitch allowed the trailer to flip and prevented the land Rover following suit with us inside with only a canvas roof between us and the roadway.
My second example was travelling up near Carnarvon WA some years later and coming toward me was a bloke pulling an old ply wood caravan going ten to the dozen with the van skipping from one side of the highway to the other. Luckly for us his van skipped his side of the highway as we passed him, so much for anti sway bars or torsion bars.

The standard hitch is superior on most vans as it results in better control. If you want to do serious off-road work then other hitches are fine. Anti sway bars and load levelling bars are two different things, though the load equalisation bars provide anti sway by correcting the steering loads on the car, and via friction, just happen to provide some antisway dampening at the hitch.. Anti sway bars provide dampening (like little shock absorbers) but not load equalisation ie. they don't restore the steering loads on the car.

I highly recommend the Tow Ed - Education for those who Tow, as seen in 4WD Monthly last issue. I provide such training here in North QLD, but if you want contact details for southern states just message me. It will be the best money you ever spent on your car/caravan.

Here is some talk about Hyland

Site Link

FOR HEAVENS SAKE IT IS A HYLAND HITCH NOT HIGHLAND. The hitch is designed as an off road solution for those that don't want to use a Tregg type hitch but a 50mm ball.

The owner's name is Darren Hyland.

NUBOY,

I've been in the Army for over 25 years and have never seen a Hyland hitch on any trailer. We have Pintle hooks or on the trucks we have Ringfeeders, except the semis, but no Hyland hitches. I should know as I have a Hyland on my van.

RDan,

I've recently fitted a Hyland to my van and there is absolutley no difference in feel when towing. In fact I feel a little better about the fact that if it were to yaw too much it won't pop off the ball but the hitch would actually turn. We still use the Hayman Reese WDH on the road and its fine.

As others have said if a van is going to roll too far then it makes no difference what sort of hitch you have, a normal ALKO will just turn and pop off or the car with it, as I've seen from roll overs on the highway.

If you tow to the conditions and mainatin a safe speed it will all be fine.

if your concerned get a standard ALKO fitted. Kedrons have used them for years and I've never heard of any roll overs caused by a Hyland. I actually think they are safer because of the way they lock in on the ball.

A very good question Rdan. Hitches rarely make vans roll. Normally the car/van need to be moving for this to happen. If the van starts rolling without the car moving it is normally a sign of either an earthquake, or not being attached to a tow vehicle. Both can be dangerous situations.
If the van makes the car roll, then applying the cars handbrake often solves this problem, if not then a practitioner of the dark arcane arts may be able to help ( assuming there is no earthquake).
If the tow vehicle is - taking a hypothetical - say a Lada - then it really doesn't matter if the van and car both roll. You will not notice any difference in the Lada after the roll. If however it is another brand, like say a Nissan or Toyota - then you need to protect it by storing the van separate to the vehicle, while you call an exorcist.
Hope this helps your important decision .................Keith :)..