Alko Stabiliser Problem

[Traore]

I recently posted a thread on an issue I had with my hitch locking up due to the front pad becoming detached and jamming the release mech. Today an identical van to mine pitched up next door. We were swopping notes and I mentioned the problem I had. He went into his van and produced a front stabiliser pad which had dropped out of his stabiliser whilst unhitching.
My towbar had worked loose. The bolts on his towball had worked loose. His van 12 months old. How strange is that.

 

[otherclive]

I wouldn’t have put money on such a probability. This merits investigation by Bailey and Alko plus Witter. A significant safety concern without doubt.

 

[Dustydog]

An amazing coincidence, but very worrying. Do you know his make of car and towbar?
Since your previous thread I have tried to understand how a non ferrous pad could have caused such stress in the whole assembly?
Maybe, and I hesitate, is there a manufacturing flaw in a batch of hitches?

 

[Traore]

I wouldn’t have put money on such a probability. This merits investigation by Bailey and Alko plus Witter. A significant safety concern without doubt.

I have given this some thought. I have a feeling that the movement in the towbar may have caused the front pad fixing screw to work loose. I would advise that you give the towbar a good joggle up and down ever time you hitch and de-hitch. Zero movement.
Witter advised that the towbar fixing bolts should be re torqued at 500 miles and regularly thereafter. Also that the paint is checked at the same time and any damaged paint(and rust I guess) is repaired. This is a condition of warranty. On many new cars it is necessary to remove rear light cluster, rear bumper, wheel arch trim and reversing cameras in order to access the bolts.

 

[Traore]

Two pics. Pic 1 shows “ piece of plastic “ (his words) that fell out of the stabiliser. pic 2 shows front friction pad jammed solid in the hitch. I had to detach the stabiliser unit to remove it On my way home tomorrow. Had to cancel all my bookings in Dorset. Will drive the car and have the caravan recovered.

 

[Traore]

Witter towbars. My car Jaguar EPace. Neighbour’s car Hyundai.

 

[Hutch]

Traore, if you look at the picture of the rear friction pad you can see the small hole where the retaining screw would hold the pad in, it had broken, I think in your friends tow hitch you will still see the screw and the spigot.
In 2013 Witter increased the torque on the cross tube bolts of Hyundai Santa Fe towbars.

 

[Traore]

We both have 8ft wide caravans. Maybe it’s a bridge too far for the humble towbar.

 

[Traore]

Traore, if you look at the picture of the rear friction pad you can see the small hole where the retaining screw would hold the pad in, it had broken, I think in your friends tow hitch you will still see the screw and the spigot.
In 2013 Witter increased the torque on the cross tube bolts of Hyundai Santa Fe towbars.

Checked my neighbours hitch. The screw head has snapped off.

 

[Hutch]

Traore, if you look at the picture of the rear friction pad you can see the small hole where the retaining screw would hold the pad in, it had broken, I think in your friends tow hitch you will still see the screw and the spigot.
In 2013 Witter increased the torque on the cross tube bolts of Hyundai Santa Fe towbars.

Sorry I meant the front pad, the rear pad is the round one with a countersunk screw. My mistake.
Thanks for the feedback, I think I will check mine now before my next time out, I have replaced the side ones but not my back and front/top ones.

 

[Dustydog]

My Westfalia was professionally fitted three years ago by a tow bar chap I have known decades. His torque wrench is twice the size of mine reaching torques of very high magnitudes. His view is if fitted correctly checking the torques should be unnecessary. Realistically do any of us check all the other nuts and bolts throughout the car🤪

 

[otherclive]

I’ve had Witter and Brink and over all my years I’ve never been advised to retorque after 500 miles from fitting. I check for corrosion but that was all. I did have one problem where a Ford dealership themselves fitted a towbar and omitted the spacers in a body member. That towbar relaxed under the torque and started to clunk when away in Scotland, so had to be reinstalled properly when back home.

 

[Jcloughie]

I have only once been told to re-torque. And that only related to the two bolts that hold a fixed ball on, and even then, just the once.

John

 

[Hutch]

I did have one towbar fitted that stated, retorque after 500 miles, and also like OC, one where the support tubes were missed by the fitter. Thankfully my present TowTrust has been fine. For the last 7 years.

 

[Dustydog]

I’ve cribbed the recommended torque settings for the ball to tow bar . Most DIY torque wrenches, Hutch excepted , will reach these levels.

The general rule is for a 3/4" shank tighten to 150 ft/lbs For a 1" shank tighten to 250 ft/lbs, and for a 1-1/4 inch shank 450 ft/lbs.

 

[Hutch]

I’ve cribbed the recommended torque settings for the ball to tow bar . Most DIY torque wrenches, Hutch excepted , will reach these levels.

The general rule is for a 3/4" shank tighten to 150 ft/lbs For a 1" shank tighten to 250 ft/lbs, and for a 1-1/4 inch shank 450 ft/lbs.

I think you have got those torques wrong,

 

[Dustydog]

I think you have got those torques wrong,

🤬😵‍💫😵‍💫

 

[Dustydog]

Ok Here’s Damian’s figures May 2012

• #2

With a M16 Bolt with nyloc nut its 225Nm
with a non nyloc nut its 252Nm

 

[Traore]

My Westfalia was professionally fitted three years ago by a tow bar chap I have known decades. His torque wrench is twice the size of mine reaching torques of very high magnitudes. His view is if fitted correctly checking the torques should be unnecessary. Realistically do any of us check all the other nuts and bolts throughout the car🤪

I have emailed witter today to express my concerns about their advice to regularly retorque bolts. The don’t say check the tightness with a torque wrench. They advise retorquing which implies slackening off and re torquing. Re torquing of safety critical bolts such as the alko stabiliser fixings and caravan wheel nuts is forbidden. They must be replaced. A properly torqued bolt should never need re torquing. If it does you need to investigate why. My tow bar has over an inch of up down movement which would suggest the bolts holes have distorted or the bolts necked. Re torquing in this situation would have been dangerous.

 

[Hutch]

Retorquing, a bolt does NOT involve slackening the bolts, just torqing up again.
On My Witter cross bar on either end were only two bolts which were not close tolerence bolts, and would allow the cross bar to move up and down at the towball by maybe 1 inch, Witter response was to get the towball as high as possible and use a higher torque on the fixing bolts, Cross tube to the Chassie mounts.
I change to TowTrust that had a three bolt close tolerence mount bolt on either end of the Cross bar to Chassie.

 

[Hutch]

 

[Traore]

Retorquing, a bolt does NOT involve slackening the bolts, just torqing up again.
On My Witter cross bar on either end were only two bolts which were not close tolerence bolts, and would allow the cross bar to move up and down at the towball by maybe 1 inch, Witter response was to get the towball as high as possible and use a higher torque on the fixing bolts, Cross tube to the Chassie mounts.
I change to TowTrust that had a three bolt close tolerence mount bolt on either end of the Cross bar to Chassie.

The point I was making to witter was that the term re- torquing is open to interpretation. The guidance is aimed at the layman. It would be better to state ‘ Every xxx miles check the tightness of all fixing bolts and if required tighten them to the torque specified in the fitting instructions “. I also raised the point that due to the complexity of the electrical systems on modern cars it is more likely that people have their tow bars fitted and would not have fitting instructions. In your response it looks like they are recommending using a torque higher than was probably included in the original fitting instructions.
JLR inspected my vehicle and said that they considered that the bolt holes in the tow bar bracket or chassis have elongated and that I will need new bolts. If this is the case then it would have been unwise of me to just further tighten the bolts. After reading your response I am wondering whether this is a load of bolls. Perhaps the tow bar bracket had elongated holes to facilitate height adjustment and maybe the bolts had not been torqued up tight enough in the witter workshops. The towbar I was custom built by witter to fit my car.
The car is booked into JLR next week. For peace of mind I will check the bolts myself this weekend if can sus out how to remove the bits of trim, heat shields and other cr.p obscuring the bolts.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I totally agree the term "retorque", strictly implies undoing the fixing and starting again. It is entirely different to "recheck" or even just "check "the torque.

 

[Hutch]

I totally agree the term "retorque", strictly implies undoing the fixing and starting again. It is entirely different to "recheck" or even just "check "the torque.

I fully agree, the phrase is open to confusion, when I was working , the phrase used was "Check Torque" to xx ft/lbs etc.
Hope the car inspection goes ok.

 

[Traore]

I fully agree, the phrase is open to confusion, when I was working , the phrase used was "Check Torque" to xx ft/lbs etc.
Hope the car inspection goes ok.

I’ve just spoken to JLR Chester. The are now saying that towbar is a non JLR original component and will not touch it. Witter are saying take it to JLR. My good wife has been spooked by this incident and is not too chuffed that we have had to cancel our holidays. After 10 years of enjoyable caravanning it is time to hang up our boots. We are looking at motorhomes.