Max Coupler Wearing Out

[2Jeeps&PatriotX1]

I have the DO35 on my trailer. Came that way from factory. Also picked up the pin lock since a normal trailer lock wont suffice.


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[bshinn]

Who did you order the do35 from? What type of trailer are you putting it on? Would like to see pics and opinions once you get it.

Ordered it direct from Cruisemaster Australia on 4/17 and it shipped on 4/18 still waiting on it to arrive. I will be bolted to a Crux 1610, and from the drawings on Cruismasters site, it should bolt directly up.

 

[schplat]

Do you guys lube this Max Coupler hitch? They need a product website.

 

[schplat]

I ordered the MaxCoupler, got it delivered two days later, install was super easy (no cutting or welding), and the hardware has been great. I took my trailer on a few trips and have been really impressed buy the performance. Chris does need to update his site a bit and make it a little more user friendly but other than that Ive had a great experience with CU Offroad.

6k Max Coupler Part # 210

MAxCoupler 6k Max Coupler Part # 210

What is the URL?

 

[Louisd75]

Do you guys lube this Max Coupler hitch? They need a product website.

What is the URL?

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=max+coupler+instructions

It's the first link that comes up.

 

[Martyn]

Do you guys lube this Max Coupler hitch? They need a product website.

Here is their website. https://www.cuoffroad.com/product-lines/max-coupler-line/

 

[dstock]

Reviving an old thread, anyone know where to source a replacement bushing for the trailer side of the Max Coupler? Mine has gotten quite a bit of exposure damage and a google search turns up no stock or low stock but can't ship to my address (which probably means they don't have it).

I'm not sure it's at the point of failure yet but would like to have a backup just in case. Thanks.

 

[teotwaki]

Reviving an old thread, anyone know where to source a replacement bushing for the trailer side of the Max Coupler? Mine has gotten quite a bit of exposure damage and a google search turns up no stock or low stock but can't ship to my address (which probably means they don't have it).

I'm not sure it's at the point of failure yet but would like to have a backup just in case. Thanks.

Wow, this is an old thread! I just looked at CU Offroad's web site and it's still pretty basic and still has no mention of spare parts. All you can do is try calling and see if they can help you. Let us know. I hope they are more friendly these days as they have a useful product that's made in America.

The last model of the hitch I bought was the easiest to hook up compared to the previous version I owned. It's still on my trailer still requires cleaning and re-greasing after each trip because the surfaces between the moving parts are not sealed. I've not heard of anyone doing the leg work to find replacement bushings from another source but that might truly be worth the effort.

 

[dstock]

Wow, this is an old thread! I just looked at CU Offroad's web site and it's still pretty basic and still has no mention of spare parts. All you can do is try calling and see if they can help you. Let us know. I hope they are more friendly these days as they have a useful product that's made in America.

The last model of the hitch I bought was the easiest to hook up compared to the previous version I owned. It's still on my trailer still requires cleaning and re-greasing after each trip because the surfaces between the moving parts are not sealed. I've not heard of anyone doing the leg work to find replacement bushings from another source but that might truly be worth the effort.

Thanks for the reply! I haven't towed my trailer in a while so I may be making it more of an issue than it is, we shall soon see. It appears Off Grid trailers still supplies the Max Coupler hitches with its trailers so I may try going through them if I can't get any response out of CU. Off Grid actually lists the parts on their web page, but it says contact them.

I have had other more pressing things to deal with but will report back any findings. Safe travels!

 

[highwest]

Chiming in here as I’ve recently had great outcome with CU Offroad’s customer service. They’ve helped me with parts and troubleshooting of both the truck and trailer ends of my Max Coupler over the last few months. I think my new hitch (that came with my new trailer) sat in RV dealer lots for too long without service and CU Offroad helped a ton. They were not opposed to warrantying the hitch, but we were able to resolve all issues without replacement. Emails take a day or two to get replied to, but it was an overall positive experience.

 

[teotwaki]

Chiming in here as I’ve recently had great outcome with CU Offroad’s customer service. They’ve helped me with parts and troubleshooting of both the truck and trailer ends of my Max Coupler over the last few months. I think my new hitch (that came with my new trailer) sat in RV dealer lots for too long without service and CU Offroad helped a ton. They were not opposed to warrantying the hitch, but we were able to resolve all issues without replacement. Emails take a day or two to get replied to, but it was an overall positive experience.

How exactly were you able to buy parts? Their website hadn't any way to order them when I last looked in June so I'm guessing you had to demand them via email? What parts are they willing to sell and how much did they charge?

 

[highwest]

How exactly were you able to buy parts? Their website hadn't any way to order them when I last looked in June so I'm guessing you had to demand them via email? What parts are they willing to sell and how much did they charge?

I originally reached out via email to understand why the truck side of the hitch was loosening itself during towing on rough terrain. We tried some troubleshooting over a couple months, but they finally said they had updated the primary nut from nylock (which loosened even with added thread locker) to a lock washer and standard nut. They sold me the lock washer and nut for about $15, which was mostly shipping cost.

@dstock I have read about replacing a damaged bushing with an option from Energy Suspension, I’ll have to see if I can find those details again.

 

[teotwaki]

snip------
The next item is mechanical design and integrity of systems. One old cliche is that the more parts, the more parts can break. Certainly, more parts will wear, and a mechanism that has a lot of parts can wear more, which gives rise to it's dynamic performance being affected, sometimes sooner. The wear of one part becomes additive to the wear of other parts and all of them together can create a situation where they no longer function as well as they did. In this case, starting and stopping a loaded 3,500# trailer while also traversing significant terrain features. After thousands of miles, things get loose, and we get some noise. Bushings and joints wear, it's normal.

In this case, the extreme hitches are conforming to reality. They wear out just like the tow vehicle. Nothing stays perfect forever, we have to maintain and repair equipment we use and abuse to keep it functional. Since that is clearly described as the issue, those considering a leading edge hitch for rough terrain have a benchmark now. Not surprising at all. Could there be an improved version, sure. But one that never wears out, no.

I have 11 years of experience with the product so the company has survived the 5 year startup window. However, the website is pretty much frozen in time with drawings of products instead of pictures, no printable documents and no spare parts listed. Having to beg for parts via email is their S.O.P. but it still sounds as if it is a hit-or-miss chance of the company deciding to answer your queries and sell you parts. I see customers are still searching for an alternate source of bushings which should be damned simple to purchase on the web site but still isn't. Sad.

Quoting from the second post in the beginning of this thread I can see that their customer service has not matured at all in 7 years:

"My attempts to engage CU Offroad have gone nowhere. I did attempt to order a new yoke from them last week but that failed too. Phone calls go to a black hole voice mail. It turns out that the website is deliberately designed to keep the end user at bay as stated to me by "JR" when I finally got a rather hostile return call and a very unhelpful follow-up email reply. I never asked for anything free and I've paid full price for the yoke. Mine is 4 years old so it is what it is. It would have been nice to have the owners tell me what the current yoke design is like. Pictures are few and far between."

In this 7 year old thread my post #1 has pictures of the early versions which shows some of the design improvements. As a user, the ones that improve ease of use the most are: "wings" that guide the trailer side bushings in and the bit of curved rod that limit those bushings from dropping too far down. I may add pictures of my model into the first post.

As a long time user the biggest product flaws I've observed are: The lack of any means to keep dust and water out of the areas requiring grease (so absolutely disassemble and clean those areas out after every trip!). The other is that there are no bearings so all wear is metal to metal which means you have to replace major parts by ordering a whole new assembly.

When the hitch is new it works really well. The reality of maintenance is buying a new $350 assembly at some interval based on how hard you offroad with your trailer and how well you clean and degrease the metal to metal wear points. My first coupler's yoke wore out in 4 years; probably 6 major trips a year as an average.

Every so often some new person magically drops in to this thread to extoll the wonderfulness of the company but it turns out the company has not changed their MO one bit in 7 years. That's too bad. They could have legions of devoted followers and lock down the hitch market with pretty minor effort. I'll predict some company like Smittybilt will swoop in and take over but I'd much rather buy from a good US based company.

 

[highwest]

I originally reached out via email to understand why the truck side of the hitch was loosening itself during towing on rough terrain. We tried some troubleshooting over a couple months, but they finally said they had updated the primary nut from nylock (which loosened even with added thread locker) to a lock washer and standard nut. They sold me the lock washer and nut for about $15, which was mostly shipping cost.

@dstock I have read about replacing a damaged bushing with an option from Energy Suspension, I’ll have to see if I can find those details again.

@dstock, I was able to order a set of replacement bushings via email with CU Offroad. $20 shipped.

 

[teotwaki]

@dstock, I was able to order a set of replacement bushings via email with CU Offroad. $20 shipped.

Next time somebody begs for replacement parts via email, ask CU Offroad when they will build a real website. After doing nothing for 10+ years they could even open a storefront on EBay or Amazon and use their cellphones to post actual pictures.

Even I would write a glowing review for that minor accomplishment.