No recall after failures

Owner fears caravan coupling could kill

Have your say

CARAVANNER John Booth is thanking his lucky stars that his caravan hitch failed when it did ... 10 minutes earlier he had been happily travelling at 90kph with his 25ft Coromal in tow.

The coupling (pictured) fractured after he had slowed down and was attempting a U-turn, with only the safety chains preventing the 2008 caravan from breaking free.

"We were very lucky that this happened during a very low speed manoeuvre, approximately 10km/h," Coromal Caravan Club member Mr Booth said.

The Ozhitch coupling was fitted last year and had travelled about 16,000km.

He said the spigot shaft weld on the rear end of the coupling had failed.

Mr Booth alleged the manufacturer had admitted there had been "a few failures" but new couplings had now been modified to prevent it happening again.

"Whilst I was happy with their response, I felt unable to trust the product again and subsequently requested a full refund on the purchase price plus postage, which has occurred," he said.

"My concern here is that this company has not issued any form of recall of a product that has the potential to kill people."

Mr Booth said he had fitted the Ozhitch 3.5t four-bolt off-road coupling to his caravan so he could fully open the rear door of his 2010 Toyota Prado.

The door had fouled on the original coupling D handle.

Ozhitch was preparing a statement as Caravanning News was published.

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