Alko tow ball

[Morganic]

I have one of these fitted to a new towbar in readiness for delivery of a new caravan with am Alko 1300 hitch. It seems these are more bother than they are worth-need to remove paint-need to keep cleam and dry and free from grease etc. What happens if you have to be towed by a vehicle with the standard tow ball -do you have to replace friction pads each time.

Perhaps I should have stuck with an ordinary hitch?

 

[JTQ]

Quote:

"Perhaps I should have stuck with an ordinary hitch?"

Well I have a Alko 2004 and find it very worth while as a stabiliser and far less hassle than using a Scott I once had.

With the 2004 you cant be towed by a vehicle with a standard ball, it has not got sufficient clearance to allow for all potential angles of articulation so would be very unsafe.

Personally not a big issue and now days many UK vehicles have either a swan neck towbar which is okay or already use an Alko anyway. So should an emergency tow be needed it would not be difficult to find an alternative tow vehicle.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Morganic,

No.

Our last two caravans have used the ALKO 1300 hitch - Eriba Triton MTPLM of 1200 kg - and it's not an issue.

Cleaning the paint / plating from the tow-ball is a once only job - about 2 minutes with 400 grade wet / dry paper

Then before you hook up, just give the tow-ball a wipe with a clean rag or a rub with a kitchen scourer if it's gone a bit rusty.

If someone else tows your caravan with a standard tow-ball, then as long as they wipe any grease off their tow-ball, then it's not an issue (aside from any physical incompatibilities). And it's not the tow-ball that needs the grease - it's the non-stabilised ALKO tow-coupling - that would soon wear out if it wasn't greased inside.

Robert