Alko Hitch

[Beehpee]

Morning all, Until yesterday I last towed my caravan at the end of November at which time everything was fine and all working as it should, having now found a storage site I came to take it to said storage and there was a problem, the hitch dropped on to the ball perfectly but then I discovered the alko damper was playing up, the wheel that is meant to be turned until it clicks was really difficult to turn in the on direction and impossible to turn in the off direction, secondly the lever that you press down to lock it on was for want of a better expression limp! It just seems to be loose, loose doesn't really describe what I mean though, it's more as you operate the lever up and down there is no friction, the way I understand this works is when you turn the wheel till it clicks this is tightening the internal pads on to the towball then when you push the lever down that then gives it the required amount of pressure on to the ball, so as its now in storage and intend going away in May I need to sort it so any info and advice much appreciated before I start dismantling it blindly.

BP

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

My AL-KO hitch doesn't have a wheel to click. What version have you got?

 

[Beehpee]

I was expecting this question so just been looking on the Alko site and I'm thinking it's the AKS 1300, my caravan is a 1999 Avondale and I suspect it's probably never had the friction pads replaced so could quite likely just need them removing, give the whole internal area a good clean and replace with new pads, as I now have in storage I just want as much info as I can before I go there to start taking it to bits, the alko site is not the most informative on stripping it down.

BP

 

[Sproket]

Is this any good ? from what I can see on my phone it looks to cover everything. ...

 

[Beehpee]

Cheers Sprocket, that's the sort of thing I was looking for, I just watched a you tube video regarding fitting one and as long as I get hold of a correct size bolt to use as a retaining pin I think I'll just remove the hitch completely and bring it home and give it all a good clean and lubricate as required, check it then works with the old pads before buying new ones as I may as well put new in so long as it operates correctly while it's off, if not next job will be a new hitch, not looked yet at cost of complete replacement but will do just in case, thanks for the help, reckon one way or another it's going to be a simple fix.

BP

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

When (re)fitting a hitch the bolts need quite a high torque of tightness. Basic torque wrenches for the DIY person don't tend to go to the high torque required, therefore check what you need before removal.

 

[Beehpee]

Well having now looked at price of complete new hitch here's hoping the existing one is easily fixed, £278 if bought direct from alko, might get it a bit cheaper by shopping around but still going to be expensive.

Anyone who says caravaning is a cheap way to get away almost certainly has never owned one.

BP

 

[Beehpee]

Ok thanks for the reply re torque, so this gives me 2 questions, can the bolts be re used or are they a one shot type? Any idea of torque required when refitted so I can make sure mine is up to the job or borrow one that is?

BP

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

This AL-KO document gives a torque setting of 86Nm for M12 ( 8.8 ) bolts. The 8.8 strength should be moulded into the head of the bolt. If you have a different value then the torque will be different.

 

[Beehpee]

Cheers I'll look into what's on there, I'm sure I'll be able to get hold of a suitable torque wrench and it would be good to take it off and give it a thorough clean out and lubricate it, what's your thoughts as to whether the bolts should be replaced when refitting?

BP

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

what's your thoughts as to whether the bolts should be replaced when refitting?

Sorry, I don't have the knowledge to be able to advise you on that.

 

[Sproket]

When (re)fitting a hitch the bolts need quite a high torque of tightness. Basic torque wrenches for the DIY person don't tend to go to the high torque required, therefore check what you need before removal.

I think you are getting mixed up with the torque setting's for tbe one shot nuts that hold the brake hub onto the stub axle but 86Nm for the bolts that hold the coupling head on, should be quite capable with a normal diy torque wrench ..... If you choose to re use the bolts please use new nyloc nuts that only cost a small amout of money and are easily available. .

The flanged hub-nut, located
under the dust cap, used to keep the
brake drum in situ, is a ONE-SHOT
NUT (ie. must only be used once). If
removed it must be replaced with a
NEW flanged nut - torqued to 290 ±
10 Nm (214 ± 7.5 lbs/ft).

In this case a normal torque wrench will not do as they only go up to 150 Nm.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

I think you are getting mixed up with the torque setting's for tbe one shot nuts that hold the brake hub onto the stub axle

No I'm not. Some time ago I had a van with extra plates on each side of the hitch to take a specific lock and I wanted to remove them. As a result I undid the bolts, took off the plates and cut the bolts shorter and refitted the head. When I looked into bolt torques and went to Halfords to buy a torque wrench their basic ones didn't go up to the required figure of 86 Nm.

8 - 60 Nm

60 - 300 Nm

 

[Sproket]

I think you are getting mixed up with the torque setting's for tbe one shot nuts that hold the brake hub onto the stub axle

No I'm not. Some time ago I had a van with extra plates on each side of the hitch to take a specific lock and I wanted to remove them. As a result I undid the bolts, took off the plates and cut the bolts shorter and refitted the head. When I looked into bolt torques and went to Halfords to buy a torque wrench their basic ones didn't go up to the required figure of 86 Nm.

8 - 60 Nm

60 - 300 Nm

This is what i would call a Universal torque wrench that most people would use ....as it covers most ranges required for most bolt size's the smaller 3/8 drive is suitable for smaller / confined jobs, the larger 300Nm one has only recently been made available as they used to cost an arm & a leg and most people were not prepared to buy one to do just one job at home...

 

[Hutch]

Just checked my ,, best Tq wrench, a Snap On, , and luckily it goes up to 210 NM. I keep a Draper up to 150 NM in the car. ,

 

[swpostie]

My Halfords torque wrench does 40 - 140 Nm.

If your bolts only need tightening to 86 Nm then I wouldn't replace the bolts - my wheel nuts are 140 Nm and still on the original studs!

I changed the shock absorbers (on the car) yesterday and they required 125 Nm. The bolts showed no signs of thread damage or stretching.

So, 86 Nm doesn't seem very much - I would have no qualms about reusing the bolts.

 

[Dustydog]

The bolts used on the Al-ko hitch are not stretch bolts like those used on a cylinder head. Reusing the original Al-ko bolts is ok but as Sproket says use new nylok nuts if fitted previously.
My Draper torque wrench goes upto 150 nms. Must be the same as Hutch's.

 

[Thingy]

Have a look on ebay for the bigger hitch Aks2000 or aks3000. You should get a jsed one fairly cheap and simply put new pads in it. I would suggest new bolts too but you should be able to do it for less than a hundred.