Cruisemaster vs max coupler?
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Cruisemaster vs max coupler?

Good video. I wish they would have shown backing up on non flat trail. Over the years I've seen two Lock and Roll couplers bend. Both times the trailer's were being backed up and both times they were jack knifed. I sometimes get myself into a situation where jack knifing is going to happen. Yeah... I know. Don't put yourself in those situations.

The ones I've built are similar to the max coupler but designed before they came about. The difference being, mine slides in from the end, not the top, I don't use poly bushings and I have an angled stop inside. I can be slightly off and the stop moves the end to where the pin lines up exactly. This was something I initially struggled with if I had to recouple the trailer at an angle.

Anything that comes out of Australia has to meet a standard that we unfortunately don't have here. I like their overkill but I don't like how complicated their lock mechanisms are. I commonly have do couple mine without help so simplicity is a big plus on my end.

The poly hitch....OMG. what were they thinking. As simple as the design is, The "C" the block sits between is cast iron. Strong but need's to be cast. Then they put a block of urethane in the center. REALLY? There's so many things wrong with the overall concept and design. To me, its based on a 1940's concept with a cube of modern rubber.

My oldest hitch is probably 25 years old. That was my experiment. Pulling a trailer over black diamond trails taught me a lot about couplers. I watched a standard tow ball hitch pull apart on a twist. They don't have much in the way of twisting. This one looked the it was over stressed (twist wise) and was worn. Seeing this made me go to a pintle design. All I can say there is OMG are they noisy. I would tow it to the trail with a ball mount, then swap to the pintle on the trail. I commonly move weight to the rear off road. This gives me a zero tongue, forcing the trailer suspension to not influence the rear of my tow rig. This also means a pintle is way more noisy now.

Based on overall simplicity and design, I would go with the max coupler. The Lock and Roll would be second but you need to pay attention to backing up and jack knifing. What I really want to see is a video comparison of all these after ten years of hard use. I use bronze bushings as my wear areas and have had to replace them over time. If I build another, I wont use bushings just tight fit tubing. Its also important to grease everything occasionally.
 
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