Creaking from tow bar

[Themisto-Adrastea]

Hi, topic says it all really. The last couple of times I towed the van anywhere, there has been a fairly alarming creaking sound coming from the tow bar area. No noises without the van attached. We have an Alko stabiliser hitch, and it is hitched up correctly.
Is this something I should be concerned about? Normal? My other half suggested greasing the tow ball 😱hmy:
I do know why I should not be doing that by the way!
Thanks for any observations you might have.

 

[Robtel]

Definitely do not grease the tow ball if you have an alko stabiliser.

Most likely cause is the stabiliser pads have become contaminated with dirt. Clean tow ball and inside of hitch head with brake cleaner and a clean rag or wad of kitchen roll and see if that helps. If the stabiliser pads are really dirty you might to need to either replace them completely or remove them to clean them properly. A light rub with some medium wet and dry sand paper then a spray with the brake cleaner usually works for me.

 

[EnfieldBoy]

I had the same problem, took the pads out and replaced them, we'll worth doing in my opinion

 

[Thingy]

Totally agree. Contaminated friction pads. Easy and cheap to replace.

 

[Themisto-Adrastea]

Brilliant, thank you all for the helpful replies. I've already read about how to replace the friction pads on here, so I will do it before we take it away again in October.

 

[Robtel]

I clean my tow ball and the stabiliser pads (insitu) with the aerosol brake cleaner before each trip which seems to prevent a build up of dirt and the need for replacing the pads. On a previous car I had I found the diesel exhaust seemed to affect the pads quite severely and quickly. The pads would glaze over and really needed to be removed for cleaning. Although my current car is also a diesel this doesn't seem to be a problem now, guessing it might be connected to the positioning of the vehicle exhaust. Just something to bear in mind if you have a diesel tow car.
Do recommend the brake cleaner spray for a regular cleaner, relatively inexpensive from the likes of Halfords.

 

[Themisto-Adrastea]

Yeah, the tow car is a diesel. I'll get a can of brake cleaner when I next go out to check on the van (it's in storage at the moment).
Thanks

 

[Mel]

Hi, The friction pads on our Winterhoff stabiliser were easy to replace, but not cheap. Eyewatering amount of money for what they were. 😱hmy: Try the emery paper and brake cleaner first. Also our new pads caused the hitch to creak even more loudly until I rubbed them down a bit.
mel

 

[xtrailman]

Hi, topic says it all really. The last couple of times I towed the van anywhere, there has been a fairly alarming creaking sound coming from the tow bar area. No noises without the van attached. We have an Alko stabiliser hitch, and it is hitched up correctly.
Is this something I should be concerned about? Normal? My other half suggested greasing the tow ball 😱hmy:
I do know why I should not be doing that by the way!
Thanks for any observations you might have.

I would advise you to first check the stabilizer is the problem by towing with it in the inactive position ie lever up.

It is possible that the creak is from the towbar, I've had two towbars which have come lose, both fitted by a NTTA centre.

When my present caravan was new I did get a awful noise which was the alko pads, the dealer took two attempts cleaning them before the problem disappeared. No need to change the pads unless worn just clean them.