Back to the creaky towing hitch

[Liz_374359797]

Had decided that the creaky tow was down to a dirty towball, and that I would give it a light sanding with emery cloth (many thanks to the threads on this forum).

Then I kept reading and discover that if I have an 'old-style' hitch, the towball needs greasing... The caravan is a 20 year old Freedom Jetstream - which has been serviced, and no problems found. The towbar is brand new this year and fitted by well regarded folk.

How do I know whether the hitch needs greasing or cleaning? It creaks beautifully on sites, but once we are moving well the noise stops. Like so many others, as we leave the site we are convinced that the caravan will come off the back! But it never has so far

 

[Damian]

Liz, the simple answer is if your caravan has a hitch coupling with NO friction pad stabiliser built in (such as the Al-Ko 1300, 2004, 3004 etc ) then the towball needs greasing.

If you DO have a friction pad stabiliser built in, then the towball MUST be clean and free of paint, grease and any other contaminants.

 

[big john wayne]

Hi , I posted the same concerns just last week and it seems that the creak / graon is just somthing that you`ve got to learn to live with. I just fitted brand new genuine spare friction pads - I did it at work on the engineers bench , I fully de-greased all the parts , I checked the plate for "flatness" against the engineers block square , Then rebuilt and set the stabilizer at 60 Lb`s movement resistance pressure , AND IT STILL GROANS & CREAKS on pulling away .

I can totally sympathise with you R.E. the embarassing noise they make when surrounded by others while remaining silent on the road , It also upsets the wife and I get the old eyeball roll everytime we pull away as if its my fault , more tea vicar ???

suppose the most important thing is , is that it does its job on the road and keeps things true and safe , and stops snaking , as long as it does all that I,ll live with the noise.

 

[Liz_374359797]

I have yet to check what sort of hitch I have as the caravan has been occupied with guests all weekend (guests usually sleep in the house, honest). But I will get round to looking, and then take the appropriate action and see what happens! In the meantime, thanks.

One of the best things about this forum is reassurance - I am not the only person towing a caravan that sounds like something from a horror movie.

L

 

[Guest]

Had a similar experience recently with 2002 Mondeo, turned out to be the new bar just touching spare wheel well, a little adjustment with a no. 2 persuader sorted it.

 

[ThePlotter]

Do you use a blade stabaliser,if so it could well be the discs in that.