alko stabaliser and tow ball

[wendy_5041811]

hi...i'm a little baffled.... hope someone can help..i have a 2001 coachman vip van...alko stabaliser one of the older model 2001 i think with the square type handle/proper tow ball - on my last trip the other weekend when replacing my towball cover i encountered a large gowge on the ball where the pads sit only on one side of the towball....on closer inspection the lefthand pad on the stabalizer wasn't smooth this also had the gowge too...the pads were replace when we bought the van last august had not done more than 300 mile since bought...just wondering what to do...replace new towball and pads again or what why would this happen?...please help...if anyone else has had the same problem...it's never occurred before with other vans we've had.

many thanks

richard

 

[rob_jax]

Richard,

I'd guess a piece of grit was trapped between the tow-ball and the friction pads - and this gouged both parts.

You could certainly try removing any lips on the tow-ball gouge with 100 grit emery paper, and also the same on the friction pads. The idea is just to remove any lips - not to completely re-surface them - so go easy.

Then try it on your next trip - we had a nasty gouge in our previous tow-ball and that was fine for three years - until we sold the car.

But if there is any obvious failure of some part, or some other safety related issue, then replace immediately

Robert