I am so glad you and your wife were not badly hurt, material things can be replaced people can’t. As far as the hitch is concerned that seriously had a lot to do with the people surviving that accident- the shear forces/ kinetic energy in conjunction with extreme variable articulations of that hitch would have been huge- WELL DONE CRUISEMASTER - for the design/ quality control and just the overall performance of your hitch in the most extreme of circumstances. The 1 thing that this clearly demonstrates is you not only get what you pay for but the security/ peace of mind that this hitch will provide you. From my perspective it should be the absolute benchmark for all tow hitch couplers in Australia 🇦🇺.
Clearly, the lack of training of both people was what let them down. Thorough pre-trip driver trading is needed to help avert this situation. I’m incredibly sorry this happened and am incredibly relieved that no one was badly hurt - including the dog ( which should have had a harness or cage or buffer of some description to stop it coming over into the front seats.). But when you get behind the wheel of a very heavy vehicle, training for all possibilities is critical.
I thought those things were designed so the car wouldnt get rolled by the caravan. Seems to me a standard hitch would have had the same results. Where am I wrong?
@@mickcollins5502 Yeh.. After watching it again, it seems the car lost traction regardless of the van. Eg if there was no van on the back, the car would have rolled anyway due to the car being sideways.. In other words, it wasnt the case of the van rolling and taking the car with it, It appears the car rolled first due to the vans fishtailing. The fishtailing could have happened to any van regardless of hitch type.. . Thats my new take on it anyway..
@@ozskippermy friend comparing a DO35/45 hitch to a standard hitch is you have a greater chance of surviving with your caravan still attached as a posed to a normal hitch that would definitely fail in many offset rollovers in fact the hitch would bind up on the tow ball and would transfer all that load straight to those 6 or 8 bolts that hold your tow bar on - this would certainly end in a catastrophic failure of your tow bar ( been torn off - sadly I have seen to many of them torn completely off the tow vehicle) and sadly seen the aftermath of such failures. Please stay safe and safe travels.
You'll notice in the photos like at 1:43 that the van and the car have ended up on opposite sides, the van sitting on the driver's side and the car on the passenger side. This is not the result of either car or van rolling the other 👍
Really glad to see everyone has walked away from this! I am struggling to see how CRUISMASTER are claiming this as a victory and that there product has been attributed to saving lives. There is plenty of cases and TH-cam footage where the $30 old school hitches have held on in the same sort of accident. I would definitely be asking how this sort of thing can still happen with D035 hitch, independent suspension and torsion bars, almost 10k worth of goodies all claiming to prevent this sort of thing? It appears to behave the same as any other van without all the fancy gear? I would love to see more thorough independent testing of all these items using instruments and data (not salesmen) to prove the claims of there equipment.
If you watch the video again it was due to the trailers wheels falling on the embankment on the left. The wife shifted the vehicles trajectory to the right to prevent the wheels from falling to the left. Per the Husbands explanation of events, she over corrected taking their trajectory onto a collision with the Semi. He grabbed the steering wheel turning it to the left to prevent the collision taking the escape to the left. But the motion caused the car to tip. In short, it was nothing to do with equipment failure but rather it was a product of circumstances. Had the semi not be there, the wifes correction would be ok. Had the road been wider the caravan wheels would be on the road. Had the Semi been slower or faster the action to correct the wheels dipping on the left would not be a risk to colliding with the Semi. So asking " how this sort of thing can still happen with D035 hitch, independent suspension and torsion bars, almost 10k worth of goodies" is irrelevant.
There are also plenty of other cases where the hitch didn't hold and car ended up barrel rolling and into the scrubbery - or a tree or two, with far more deadly results. The owner and Cruisemaster are saying that the coupling did not come apart even under severe, unexpected conditions. Is that an unfair or inaccurate statement? I have nothing to do with Cruisemaster or the owner of the van. I would be most happy if I was those (bad) circumstances and came out of it in one (undamaged) piece. 70 yr old mechanic, machinist and trailer builder with 53 yrs experience of driving with caravans on the back.
After seeing what happened, and listening to what you said , I must say that you yourself contributed greatly to that accident. You grabbed the steering wheel, and that is a definite no no. Never ever grab the wheel. The sudden change of momentum is why you flipped. I am glad you are both well. You learnt a hard lesson. Take care.
20/20 hindsight is a great thing in the car and car is now aiming directly at semi trailer. You have 2 choices - do nothing or do something. Do nothing and you are going to be run over by the semi. So he did something and wasn't run over by the truck - they are still alive. What would you do within that split second? Rightly or wrongly, I would have done the same thing from the passenger's seat. 70 yr old mechanic with 53 yrs experience of driving with caravans on the back.
@geo Taylor not sure what your are talking about? one should hold the wheel steady without sudden and over steering. Keep the tyre steady and pointing the way you want to go, plus light-moderate acceleration is the way to prevent "sudden change of momentunm", not let go of the wheel.....If you move your hands away and let the wheel free turning under friction force from the road, that will contribute to sudden change of momentum. Always keep both hands on the wheel and grab it tight if you anticipate something is coming.
I thought the DO35 design engineering was to mitigate the potential for tow vehicle roll over when the van goes... I guess every situation is different.. glad you survived what must have been a very harrowing experience
OK ... have just relooked again at the video on my computer of the vehicle on its' side and yes you were using ride levelling bars .... there is no way that vehicle was not going to go over with the van.The bars make the van become hardwired to the tow vehicle .. and you were surprised it all went together ??? DOH!! You may have well have welded the van to the vehicle.When will the towing public stop buying useless after market accessories like ride levelling bars .. instead spend the time to level the tow hitch to such a degree that the vehicle and van are riding level to each other.. problem solved and much cheaper plus less weight ... would not matter what type of hitch was used because it would have still ended in the same result ... and as for the DO35 suppliers and maker , don't use this representation as some sort of marketing ploy to convince the towing public that this is why they should be using your hitch just because the pin did not fail. I have a DO35 hitch on my tow vehicle because I believe it to be far superior to the old ball style hitch BUT I do not use ride levelling torsion bars ... they are a death trap .... and I would promote this hitch to anyone I speak with re: tow hitches because in the event of the van going over the chance of it taking the vehicle with it is greatly reduced because it ROTATES on itself. However the potential for the vehicle to roll if the van goes is still possible but would more likely be due the surface of the road.
Thoroughly agree with everything you said here - we came to the same conclusion long ago regarding using the bars. Our caravan manufacturer (Sunland) also believe if the van and car are loaded and set up correctly you shouldn't have to resort to the "bandaid" solution of weight distribution bars.
![Best Trailer Hitch - Hitch-Ezy - McHitch or DO35 | Why I sold my McHitch [2023]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/L9Xm2QZCeVA/mqdefault.jpg)
I feel for you. Just done the same thing. Written of one car and caravan. Funny enough on a back road out of Charters
I am so glad you and your wife were not badly hurt, material things can be replaced people can’t. As far as the hitch is concerned that seriously had a lot to do with the people surviving that accident- the shear forces/ kinetic energy in conjunction with extreme variable articulations of that hitch would have been huge- WELL DONE CRUISEMASTER - for the design/ quality control and just the overall performance of your hitch in the most extreme of circumstances. The 1 thing that this clearly demonstrates is you not only get what you pay for but the security/ peace of mind that this hitch will provide you. From my perspective it should be the absolute benchmark for all tow hitch couplers in Australia 🇦🇺.
Glad you guys are okay, that's a story you can tell your grandaughter,
Clearly, the lack of training of both people was what let them down. Thorough pre-trip driver trading is needed to help avert this situation. I’m incredibly sorry this happened and am incredibly relieved that no one was badly hurt - including the dog ( which should have had a harness or cage or buffer of some description to stop it coming over into the front seats.). But when you get behind the wheel of a very heavy vehicle, training for all possibilities is critical.
Read my most recent comment
I thought those things were designed so the car wouldnt get rolled by the caravan. Seems to me a standard hitch would have had the same results. Where am I wrong?
@@mickcollins5502 Yeh.. After watching it again, it seems the car lost traction regardless of the van. Eg if there was no van on the back, the car would have rolled anyway due to the car being sideways.. In other words, it wasnt the case of the van rolling and taking the car with it, It appears the car rolled first due to the vans fishtailing. The fishtailing could have happened to any van regardless of hitch type.. . Thats my new take on it anyway..
@@ozskippermy friend comparing a DO35/45 hitch to a standard hitch is you have a greater chance of surviving with your caravan still attached as a posed to a normal hitch that would definitely fail in many offset rollovers in fact the hitch would bind up on the tow ball and would transfer all that load straight to those 6 or 8 bolts that hold your tow bar on - this would certainly end in a catastrophic failure of your tow bar ( been torn off - sadly I have seen to many of them torn completely off the tow vehicle) and sadly seen the aftermath of such failures. Please stay safe and safe travels.
You'll notice in the photos like at 1:43 that the van and the car have ended up on opposite sides, the van sitting on the driver's side and the car on the passenger side. This is not the result of either car or van rolling the other 👍
Really glad to see everyone has walked away from this! I am struggling to see how CRUISMASTER are claiming this as a victory and that there product has been attributed to saving lives. There is plenty of cases and TH-cam footage where the $30 old school hitches have held on in the same sort of accident. I would definitely be asking how this sort of thing can still happen with D035 hitch, independent suspension and torsion bars, almost 10k worth of goodies all claiming to prevent this sort of thing? It appears to behave the same as any other van without all the fancy gear?
I would love to see more thorough independent testing of all these items using instruments and data (not salesmen) to prove the claims of there equipment.
Well Said. Driver training would have helped non of the other goodies did jack shit.
If you watch the video again it was due to the trailers wheels falling on the embankment on the left. The wife shifted the vehicles trajectory to the right to prevent the wheels from falling to the left. Per the Husbands explanation of events, she over corrected taking their trajectory onto a collision with the Semi. He grabbed the steering wheel turning it to the left to prevent the collision taking the escape to the left. But the motion caused the car to tip.
In short, it was nothing to do with equipment failure but rather it was a product of circumstances. Had the semi not be there, the wifes correction would be ok. Had the road been wider the caravan wheels would be on the road. Had the Semi been slower or faster the action to correct the wheels dipping on the left would not be a risk to colliding with the Semi.
So asking " how this sort of thing can still happen with D035 hitch, independent suspension and torsion bars, almost 10k worth of goodies" is irrelevant.
There are also plenty of other cases where the hitch didn't hold and car ended up barrel rolling and into the scrubbery - or a tree or two, with far more deadly results. The owner and Cruisemaster are saying that the coupling did not come apart even under severe, unexpected conditions. Is that an unfair or inaccurate statement? I have nothing to do with Cruisemaster or the owner of the van. I would be most happy if I was those (bad) circumstances and came out of it in one (undamaged) piece. 70 yr old mechanic, machinist and trailer builder with 53 yrs experience of driving with caravans on the back.
Sad story glad every one is ok ........... easy fix slow down
After seeing what happened, and listening to what you said , I must say that you yourself contributed greatly to that accident. You grabbed the steering wheel, and that is a definite no no. Never ever grab the wheel. The sudden change of momentum is why you flipped. I am glad you are both well. You learnt a hard lesson. Take care.
20/20 hindsight is a great thing in the car and car is now aiming directly at semi trailer. You have 2 choices - do nothing or do something. Do nothing and you are going to be run over by the semi. So he did something and wasn't run over by the truck - they are still alive. What would you do within that split second? Rightly or wrongly, I would have done the same thing from the passenger's seat. 70 yr old mechanic with 53 yrs experience of driving with caravans on the back.
@geo Taylor not sure what your are talking about? one should hold the wheel steady without sudden and over steering. Keep the tyre steady and pointing the way you want to go, plus light-moderate acceleration is the way to prevent "sudden change of momentunm", not let go of the wheel.....If you move your hands away and let the wheel free turning under friction force from the road, that will contribute to sudden change of momentum. Always keep both hands on the wheel and grab it tight if you anticipate something is coming.
How fast were you going?
I’m looking back over the footage and it looks like you may have been using ride levelling torsion bars..is that so?
Biggest mistake letting the wife behind the wheel
I thought the DO35 design engineering was to mitigate the potential for tow vehicle roll over when the van goes... I guess every situation is different.. glad you survived what must have been a very harrowing experience
While the articulation of the DO35 reduces the risk of the vehicle being taken by the caravan your 100% right that every situation is different.
The D035 is designed to mitigate (to a limit) not eliminate.
Fitted one a month ago
OK ... have just relooked again at the video on my computer of the vehicle on its' side and yes you were using ride levelling bars .... there is no way that vehicle was not going to go over with the van.The bars make the van become hardwired to the tow vehicle .. and you were surprised it all went together ??? DOH!! You may have well have welded the van to the vehicle.When will the towing public stop buying useless after market accessories like ride levelling bars .. instead spend the time to level the tow hitch to such a degree that the vehicle and van are riding level to each other.. problem solved and much cheaper plus less weight ... would not matter what type of hitch was used because it would have still ended in the same result ... and as for the DO35 suppliers and maker , don't use this representation as some sort of marketing ploy to convince the towing public that this is why they should be using your hitch just because the pin did not fail.
I have a DO35 hitch on my tow vehicle because I believe it to be far superior to the old ball style hitch BUT I do not use ride levelling torsion bars ... they are a death trap .... and I would promote this hitch to anyone I speak with re: tow hitches because in the event of the van going over the chance of it taking the vehicle with it is greatly reduced because it ROTATES on itself. However the potential for the vehicle to roll if the van goes is still possible but would more likely be due the surface of the road.
Thoroughly agree with everything you said here - we came to the same conclusion long ago regarding using the bars. Our caravan manufacturer (Sunland) also believe if the van and car are loaded and set up correctly you shouldn't have to resort to the "bandaid" solution of weight distribution bars.
@@karenschipper5149 spot on Karen.. safe travels 👍
Driver training should be law for towing these big rigs .
Just goes to prove the Tow Vehicle has to be a lot Heavier than what your towing. I know that section of road well.