MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: jetcrew on July 13, 2012, 05:20:47 PM
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Just thought i'd share this That I sent today
Joe,
Theo here we spoke on the phone today.
Last night My father was towing my boat behind his commodore when he was involved in a serious accident, the impact of the accident caused extensive damage to 3 vehicles.
This is not so much about the circumstances of the accident other than to say it was a very serious impact , what became instantly evident by all that attended the scene was how lucky we were that the boat remained on the trailer and attached to the car.
The impact had bent the cars towbar assembly upwards and then forwards and folded the towbar assembly into the boot section of the car. So folded it 180 degrees over into the boot.
The AMAZING part was when we discovered that the Mchitch had held on. The head of the hitch and the pin were now 200 degrees under the body of the hitch. It was also supporting the weight of the boat trailer.
All attending personal were in agreement that with the force of the impact had the hitch let go( or if were using a ball coupling) the drawbar of the trailer would have continued traveling forwards into the passenger area of the car. Given my trailer has a 2200mm drawbar it’s scary to think where it would have stopped.
My boat is strapped down on each side at the rear corners of the boat with 2 tonne ratchet straps . These straps were the only reason the boat stayed on the trailer and stretched forwards 500mm snapping off the winch post. They are under that much tension that they will have to be cut off under safety conditions.
These straps were the only reason the boat stayed on the trailer and your McHitch was the only reason the trailer stayed attached to the towbar assembly or what was left of it. The towbar had to be removed as a whole unit in order to get the boat off the car. Your hitch did not let go in what I would call an EXTREME test of strength.
The very fact that the hitch head rotated past 180 degrees under itself in a massive impact and had the entire weight of the boat trailer on when the rotation occurred and it did not snap, bend or allow the connection to be broken, saved many people from possible injury .
I am very grateful to you and everyone involved with Mchitch , for producing such a great hitch. I have no doubt that the Mchitch is the safest hitch around. and I will now be changing my box and camper trailer hitches to Mchitch.
I am working on getting a photo of the hitch in the accident and will keep the entire assembly. I am happy to give this to you as I think with the photo and the actual hitch from the accident it will speak many words towards the quality and safety of your product.
With deepest thanks for a great product
Theo Demitriou
60 wrenaus way
Ningi 4511
0400 650 219
Jet ;D ;D ;D
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:worthles:
Glad everyone is ok, hope you get your boat fixed.
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More importantly Theo, is your Dad OK??
Goes to show that good gear pays for itself when push comes to shove so to speak. :cheers:
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:worthles:
Glad everyone is ok, hope you get your boat fixed.
Thanks mate, exactly the order I went through too "is everyone ok" Yes "ok then hows my boat" LOL ;D ;D ;D
More importantly Theo, is your Dad OK??
Goes to show that good gear pays for itself when push comes to shove so to speak. :cheers:
So true BF I just hate towballs and this is another example why I spend the $$$ on these types of products, I am sure the other players in the market space would have been equally benificial over a tow ball. But I was just Amazed at it's performance I am trying to get a pic e-mail off a phone to post up. Thanks for the kind words guys.
Jet ;D ;D
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Great to hear everyone's ok and a good result all round thanks for sharing!
Cheers
L2GA
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Theo, Glad to hear you are all OK.
:cheers: Mick
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Everyone including all other drivers are well an accounted for which is great news, I called them all today just to check they were ok.
I Think Dad will have sore ears by the end of the week cause now we know he's ok the ribbing can start. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Jet ;D ;D
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Wow! That's an incredible result given the circumstances. Glad to hear that your family members are OK.
It certainly speaks highly of McHitch's product.
Cheers
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Mate glad to hear everyone is ok and well hope that boats ok for that crabbing trip to hey.
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glad to hear everyones ok
:cheers:
Smoko
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A good news story from something that could have been so much worse!
It's also worth posting up the brand of the straps - sounds like they did an exceptional job too!
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Glad to hear all ended OK Theo a nasty freight for all I am sure. Glad no one was injured mate.
Regards
Jas
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Wow! That's an incredible story and I'm glad all concerned are OK! I have a McHitch on my current build...not yet tested other than towing the bare frame around the paddock. I chose this hitch over all of the others as I just reckon the design is excellent. Glad to hear that it seems to work in real life! This is my hitch in the build stage...love to see the survivor!
(http://img.tapatalk.com/95879202-f961-8eaa.jpg)
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Mate, same as everybody. Glad all is well with the people involved. Cars and boats can be fixed!!
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Not great pics off bystanders phone.
But good enough to see the rotation of the hitch head under itself, imagine if the hitch let go at impact, after seeing the pics I guess the 2 spares would have stopped the trailer compleatley going into the car, but in any case these hitches are now :cup: in my book.
Jet :D :D
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Wow if that had let go it would have been very serious.
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Hi,
impressive!
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A good news story from something that could have been so much worse!
It's also worth posting up the brand of the straps - sounds like they did an exceptional job too!
Heres how I strap it down, using the big blue starps you buy at the trucking places, not 100% sure what they are called. (maybe someone knows).
I used to strap with 1 strap over the boat from side to side, Then i thought about it after seeing a boat accident and talked to a few truckies who said that with the one strap over the top the boat would just slip from under the strap, so I have done it like this ever since. (glad i did to) those starps allowed the boat to move about 500mm forward. Plus I have conveyour belt rubber on all the skids which also helped to slow the boat down i think.
Jet ;D
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Glad no body was hurt.
I have a question - were the brakes on your trailer connected and working?
I would imagine if they were the trailer would have "pulled up" ?
Just wondering because we all tow campers and you would expect the trailer brakes to assist in an emergency situation, like this.
Maybe I have it wrong - just trying to add to my education.
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Looks like override rather than electric brakes on the trailer. Get a good shunt from the rear and neither will work very well.
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Glad no body was hurt.
I have a question - were the brakes on your trailer connected and working?
I would imagine if they were the trailer would have "pulled up" ?
Just wondering because we all tow campers and you would expect the trailer brakes to assist in an emergency situation, like this.
Maybe I have it wrong - just trying to add to my education.
They are a mechanical overide set-up and yes they were working , but a wet road in the rain steep downhill and well who knows... I was not in the car so it's hard to comment with any certainty but suffice to say when you smack people up the rear it's your fault no matter the situation. Apparaently it was sliding for quite some time before impact hence the offsett impact point. So it was all locked up.
I've often though about elec brakes but the salt water just destroys them and HYD overide is big $$$ I think in the dry it would not have happened but thats still no excuse. Drive to the conditions rings a bell..LOL and i might just mention that say 2 million times this week while I fish off the poontoon not my boat ;D ;D ;D
Jet ;D ;D
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Bugger bud, hope Jimmy is ok. Was anyone else in the car?
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Like you said lucky it wasn't a ball coupling things could have been a lot worse
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Good to hear no one was hurt.
A big thumbs up for Mchitch, when I built my CT I looked at all the obvious options for a hitch and settled on a Mchitch for the simplicity, strength and value. I think they use Cruiser uni joints?? I could be wrong.....and usually am ;)
Not a bad bloke to deal with as well.
(http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q86/DannyG13_photos/camper%20trailer/IMG_7983.jpg)