Alco Hitch Mechanism

[Brian Sharples]

Just changed caravan, new one has an alco hitch, cleaned my tow ball down to bare metal as advised and been out on first trip.

Had difficulty attaching ball to hitch - was suggested that it was necessary to align car and caravan in perfect straight line to effect coupling - is this true?? No prolems experienced either in transit or when uncoupling.

Also Is it advisable to replace the old tow ball with an Alco specific or are all tow balls compatible, it is a new swan neck type fitted to car earlier this year??

Thanks

Brian

 

[Lutz]

If you had difficulty in unhitching then this is due to the coupling being either under full compression or full tension against the end stops at the time. The system must be relaxed in order to be able to unhitch without a problem. It has nothing to do with car and caravan not being in a straight line.
You say that your car has a swan neck towbar. To my knowledge, all swan necks are compatible with AlKo couplings. It's only the bolt-on variety that needs to be exchanged for an AlKo compatible one.

 

[Terryjenk]

If the problem was only on coupling up was it difficult to get the hitch to drop onto the ball ? If so and the stabiliser lever was as high as it could go then the friction pads may be too tight.

Was it difficult to get the stabiliser lever down once you did get it on the hitch ?
I fitted new friction pads on my last van and they caused a similar problem - The pads have shims behind to give the correct clearance on the tow ball .

If this is the case then remove the two little red caps each side of the coupling and the pads can be tapped out . removing a shim from each side cured the problem and gave me the correct clearance.
The instructions to get the correct clearance came with the new pads and unfortunately I threw them away. I am sure you could find them on the net.

 

[Brian Sharples]

Thanks for the advice. Had no difficulty unhitching and didn't seem too difficult to engage the stabiliser, will have a good look on next outing - maybe I need a bit more practice!!

Brian

 

[JimC]

As Terryjenk says, make sure the AL-Ko handle is as high as it can go, the friction pads protrude and impede the ball if not. A few years ago I actually broke a friction pad, fortunately I was carrying a spare