Max Coupler Wearing Out

[teotwaki]

I'll try to get some pictures that illustrate the wear of the harder steel of the bushing against the softer steel of the yoke. Basically in addition to wearing out the thru hole in the yoke the shoulder of the bushing has worn a circular patch into the bottom of the yoke, contributing to the sloppy fit and clunking noise.

 

[jhop567]

Glad I read this before buying. Have to think up another solution. Any ideas?

 

[teotwaki]

Glad I read this before buying. Have to think up another solution. Any ideas?

I'd review this Expo thread http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/68664-Pintle-vs-Lock-amp-Roll-vs-Max-Coupler

Think about your budget and your offroading style. A genuine pintle and lunette setup fits well and clunks little. Some of the multipurpose pintles seem to have more slop. Supposedly Lock N' Roll has improved their old design which used to bind and collapse when backing up (happened to me). The Max Coupler has been continuously improved over the years but is not perfected yet so you have to budget in replacing it as it wears out like mine has.

 

[teotwaki]

I took some quick pictures of the wear on the parts and have to warn you that the close up photos of the surfaces look worse than to the naked eye. Of note is that the top and bottom surfaces of the yoke have worn unevenly. No surprise since the start and stop of towing will rock the yoke front-to-back. In some photos you can see the edge and the top is about .025 deep at the front and the bottom is .035 deep at the back.

Note the surface area of the shoulder of the bushing is much smaller than the surface area of the bottom of the yoke. This creates some leverage action where front to back forces on the yoke will create high pressure and wear points on the softer metal of the yoke. Because the wear is uneven I cannot simply add thin shims to take up the slop. A friend suggest that what might help in the design is to have a "sacrificial" washer of bronze or Teflon that the owner can replace periodically. I would like to see a way to keep the grit out. My yoke does not have a grease fitting that the latest models do.

Can't say if the surface pitting is due to galling, grit invasion, lack of lube or all three. I run maybe 5 major trips a year in dusty areas so should I expect this coupler to last longer? I've cleaned and lubed it after big trips but is the dust and grit creating most of the damage during the trip?

bottom

bushing

 

[highlandercj-7]

Paying that much and having issues sucks and I can see where you would be jacked. However,no matter how you look at it, that is mild steel and constantly turning on it is going to cause wear. Also the dependability and survivability of poly bushings is not great in leaf springs, control arms and track bars where they stay under tension and load, let alone constantly taking it in an out and putting it under repetitive shock loads.

For greater dependability, I would run a traditional 2" hitch ball on it and only place the high articulation hitch on it when you need it. It would be nothing to make a ball coupler that would pin into the trailer like the MC does. Maybe folks out west use their trailers more in hard core areas but in the east 90% of our time is on the roads or mild off road, where the dependability of the standard ball is fine and even desired. If it's as easy as 2 pins and your up and running, save the other hitch for when you need it's capability.

 

[teotwaki]

Paying that much and having issues sucks and I can see where you would be jacked. However,no matter how you look at it, that is mild steel and constantly turning on it is going to cause wear. Also the dependability and survivability of poly bushings is not great in leaf springs, control arms and track bars where they stay under tension and load, let alone constantly taking it in an out and putting it under repetitive shock loads.

For greater dependability, I would run a traditional 2" hitch ball on it and only place the high articulation hitch on it when you need it. It would be nothing to make a ball coupler that would pin into the trailer like the MC does. Maybe folks out west use their trailers more in hard core areas but in the east 90% of our time is on the roads or mild off road, where the dependability of the standard ball is fine and even desired. If it's as easy as 2 pins and your up and running, save the other hitch for when you need it's capability.

Given that I ran the coupler for over four years I'm not too jacked about the cost, about $5/month. I've got a replacement yoke ordered and on the way so I readily spent the money again, a fact lost on the OEM folks.

Swapping out couplers just sounds like extra work and each time I do that I am hacking into the poly bushings again, LOL. I think this boils down to letting people know where the problems exist and they can make their own decisions on brand and cost. I am interested in how this yoke is wearing so that I can make the new one last a little longer. Once I get it I can see what design changes were implemented when compared to my worn yoke.

In a previous post I have pictures of places I offroad and the common problem might be the dust that accumulates on the hitch and invades the bushing surfaces. The mix of a hard steel bushing and mild steel yoke also looks like an issue to me.

 

[Winterpeg]

I've been researching for my eventual purchase... and it looks like Patriot Campers uses a D035 hitch. Those guys at Patriot campers seem to actually use their products so for me that is a bonus when looking at a company.
http://www.vehiclecomponents.com.au/hitches-couplings/new-hitchmaster-do35-v3-coupling

 

[teotwaki]

I've been researching for my eventual purchase... and it looks like Patriot Campers uses a D035 hitch. Those guys at Patriot campers seem to actually use their products so for me that is a bonus when looking at a company.
http://www.vehiclecomponents.com.au/hitches-couplings/new-hitchmaster-do35-v3-coupling

I recall posting about those in the other thread on couplers (Max/Pintle/LockNRoll). The Aussies have a lot of interesting hitch assemblies. A friend says they are mostly made in China so I wonder if those models are imported to North America?

 

[Winterpeg]

I recall posting about those in the other thread on couplers (Max/Pintle/LockNRoll). The Aussies have a lot of interesting hitch assemblies. A friend says they are mostly made in China so I wonder if those models are imported to North America?

These guys may be able to order them in or have them in already.... It looks like they are the only US distributor so far.
https://explorationoutfitters.com/collections/patriot-campers

 

[dstock]

I've been researching for my eventual purchase... and it looks like Patriot Campers uses a D035 hitch. Those guys at Patriot campers seem to actually use their products so for me that is a bonus when looking at a company.
http://www.vehiclecomponents.com.au/hitches-couplings/new-hitchmaster-do35-v3-coupling

My buddy is picking up his Patriot trailer today, going to have to check out the DO35 coupler. I've got a Max Coupler but no issues so far.

 

[indiedog]

I recall posting about those in the other thread on couplers (Max/Pintle/LockNRoll). The Aussies have a lot of interesting hitch assemblies. A friend says they are mostly made in China so I wonder if those models are imported to North America?

The DO35 and all VC products I'm pretty sure are all made in Brisbane Australia (says so on their website). These are probably the most popular hitches in Australia for serious off-road capable hitches. Treg make a polyblock hitch in Adelaide but I'm pretty sure that design has been copied by the Chinese. When it comes to camper trailers there are lots of those made in China aimed at a price point and while the quality was junk to begin with they are improving. Not sure where the McHitch is made.

I'm still using my VC AT35 and after 12 years it's still going strong though it can be a pain to remove the pin if you have a fair bit of weight on it and don't have the jockey wheel at the right height. The DO35 solves that issue and you can really see VC's product development. As to the Max Coupler, I've never liked the look of it, just does not look up to the job of heavy offroad towing. Regardless of that, it would be good to see that if there are design issues in any product then the owners would acknowledge that and seek to improve the product over time as VC have done.

Hope you get it sorted.

 

[teotwaki]

The CU Offroad yoke I ordered from Knight Offroad finally made it to my house. USPS Priority mail took about 4.5 days and two calendar days were on a weekend so just an unlucky combination of delays.

There are no detailed pictures of this design on the OEM web site so I posted these to my blog.

The instructions that are shipped with it are out of date and do not address the design changes and how to disassemble the newer unit.

I noted this bad paint area before and after taking the yoke apart

Sucky paint job.

Here it is disassembled:

When disassembling take note that the main bushing is now threaded to match the bolt.

 

[teotwaki]

Besides the "wings" there are two welded-in pieces of curved rod to act as temporary supports for the poly bushings when dropping in the tongue unit. Supposed to make inserting the hitch pin easier but I have not had a chance to try it out yet since I was camping over the weekend. The quality of the welds and alignment of the rods is mixed.

This one is welded a bit low and has an obvious gap. I will have to see if the alignment affects hitch pin insertion.

 

[teotwaki]

Since my original unit was produced a zerk fitting was added for lubricating the bushing

Close up to show the groove that allows grease to flow upward because the design still has the hard steel bushing wearing against the softer steel of the yoke.

Also the top metric washer under the bolt head is the other area where there was wear on my original yoke. I still believe that if this design is used in dusty areas you should disassemble the yoke and clean out any grit that invades the grease.

 

[teotwaki]

What I received as a new product is a mixed bag:

- Grease fitting will help to avoid having to disassemble the unit as often and maybe slow down metal-to-metal wear
- "Wings" on the yoke frame may help to make hitching up easier
- The curved rods may make hitch pin insertion quicker
- Poor quality control with spotty assembly, poor paint
- Out of date instructions

Not worth $135