AL-KO Off-Road Pin Coupling

Absolutely rubbish – Won’t hitch on. Won’t hitch off. Nightmare. Going back to ball coupling. Also don’t want to know about you.

Not for Me – I bought an Alko Offroad Pin Hitch based on the you beaut videos that are around. We have a 19ft 10in Regent with dual wheels. I didn't really need the articulation but liked the idea that maybe if the van rolled the car wouldn't necessarily go with it. I bought the Hitch online because it was easier and cheaper. I did find that I had to go to a separate site to get the handbrake assembly because the site where I purchased the Hitch didn't sell these. Go figure. I also had to go to a bolt place to get longer HT bolts. No problem, only had to do it once. Now I use an hydraulic jack with a foot plate instead of a jockey wheel because I find it's easier and with a dual wheel van good luck getting any sideways movement anyhow. I have a camera on the back of the car and can line up the car pretty good sideways but distances back and forward can be deceiving. What I have found is that to get the hitch to drop on the pin like it does in the videos the pin and the hitch on the van have to be aligned perfectly. I mean perfectly. Millimeters out will see the hitch roll around and jam so you jack it up and have another go. You can get some movement, not much, out of the set up I have by pushing and shoving but even when the hitch drops on the locking pin it doesn't always lock which means having another go. This happens often. Like most people we love free camping. When you pull up for the night you may have to disconnect the van, not fully, (trailer plugs, chains and WDH bars can be left half on) but just enough to raise the van to get it level or take the weight off the car. More often than not the car or the van will roll just slightly. This is all it takes to make it difficult to hitch up again. Other things to consider include - 1 - I have a locking device for the original van ball coupling to ward off honest thieves. This doesn't work on the Pin Hitch. You can lock the chains together through the hitch but the lock is exposed etc etc 2 - I have a boat and box trailer as well as the van. I have the Pin Hitch fitted to a weight distribution hitch for the van so whenever I want to use another trailer the tow bar tongue has to be changed. Sad eh? 3 - As I just said I use a weight distribution hitch. If the van rolls with this attached it's debatable as to whether the car will go with. I'll leave that up others to ponder. People will say, " Why didn't you think of these before you bought the Hitch?" I probably did to some extent but you look at the videos through rose coloured glasses and everything else pales into insignificance, until reality sets in. I believe that the Hitch "May" work better with a single axel van as it does in the video. For me, I've already changed back and will for the time being take my chances, after all, it won't happen to me, will it ????? I'll be seeing what I can get for the Alko Hitch online and some time in the future may even look into the Alko Offroad Coupling or similar. I think if I had bought this in the first place I wouldn't be writing this now. I wrote this purely to give a perspective on my experience. The Hitch itself is very well manufactured. When I think of it, maybe too many parts though? People with a DO35 Hitch have probably been putting up with these idiosyncrasies for a long time and may well say Toughen up buttercup. Yeh, all right then. Happy Travels