AL-KO AKS stabiliser

[Laughsatcats]

Hi,

Going to be collecting my Elddis Xplore 526 in a couple of weeks and it has SE pack which comes with AL-KO AKS stabiliser.

Is it a good idea to get in conjunction with an ATC stabiliser and what's the diff?

Please be gentle I'm a total noob in caravanland.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Damian]

The AKS stabiliser is the hitch head coupling for which you will require an Al-KO extended neck towball unless you have a swan neck or detachable one .
The ATC is the electronic unit that applies the caravan brakes if the detector senses a sudden sway or the start of a snake.
Many people will say the ATC is essential, but it is not as long as you load your van properly and drive sensibly within the limits for towing caravans.
Personally I have been towing for a lot of years and never had a snake or even the start of one and never had ATC .

Just a reminder, you MUST make sure there is NO paint on the towball, whichever sort you have and that it is clean.

 

[Raywood]

Basically it is an added safety device that might just save you if you get into trouble. In practice the Xplore is a lightweight caravan and provided you have a suitably heavy tow car you will probably never need it. It does give extra peace of mind and at the end of the day you have to decide if that is worth the cost. I am afraid there is no right answer and people will go both ways on this.

 

[audiorob]

Good advice above - endure you have the extended neck towball, remove any black paint, ensure that the ball is also degreased (especially if you tow any other trailer with standard hitch head) otherwise the grease will contaminate the pads in the ALKO and become ineffective.

 

[saint-spoon]

Just a reminder, you MUST make sure there is NO paint on the towball, whichever sort you have and that it is clean.

Valuable advise... advise that I was not given. the tow ball makes and awful noise if you don't make sure that it is clean and it can mess up your friction pads in the hitch if you don't clean all of the paint off. I clean mine before each trip with a bit of wire wool and brake cleaner to get any grease or soot off.