Do you have a detachable tow bar? Do you have a caravan with an Al Ko Kober Chassis? Do you have the correct breakaway cable fitted? Not sure? - Read on.....
My wife and I bought a Peugeot 4007 4x4 to tow our first caravan (we are complete novices).The 4007 was later fitted with a Peugeot detachable tow bar by the Peugeot dealer because the drop down section of the tailgate would hit a fixed tow bar.
When I got the car home and had a play with the tow ball I saw that the instructions showed an eye should have been fitted to the side of the bracket up under the bumper for the breakaway cable to be clipped to.There was no eye and the blurb in the 'Getting Started' caravan leaflet said that looping the cable of the tow ball was the preferred method and that the manufacturer / supplier must be contacted before doing otherwise.
First thing next morning I spoke to the Al Ko Technical Department who told me under no circumstances was I to clip the cable to the eye even if one became available.The reasons being:
1. The clip is not designed to withstand the strain of a caravan breaking away from the tow vehicle unless the cable is looped round the tow bar and clipped back on itself in the manner of a dogs choke lead.If the cable is not looped the clip will fail before the caravan brake is fully applied and the caravan could career on down the road with potentially serious consequences.
2.Al Ko do make a cable with a clip suitable for direct clipping (for the Swedish market) which is available from their web site but it is the same length as their standard cable.This means that if the eye described in the instructions were fitted and I clipped the cable directly to it,its position so far forward of the tow ball would almost certainly result in the caravan brakes being applied as my car went round corners and the cable tightened due to a lack of slack.This in turn could, in the course of the journey,cause the brakes to burn out since,as my car is sufficiently powerful,I probably would not notice the increased resistance as the brakes are gradually ratcheted on at each corner.
I re-read the instructions and saw that the tow bar was made by a company called Brink.Their Technical Department told me under no circumstances to loop it over the tow ball and that I should clip it directly to a hole at the rearmost end of the bracket as they did not fit the eye described in the instructions any more.
I went back to Al Ko and told them what Brink were saying.I then ordered the Swedish clip (Al Ko Part No.1220984 - Breakaway Cable with Caribena Clip) and said I would get the caravan dealer to fit it prior to collection of the caravan and tow the rig in the yard through some tight turns to ensure that there is sufficient slack in the cable to prevent the caravan brake being applied.
So if you have the standard Al Ko clip on your breakaway cable you should not clip it directly to the tow vehicle or tow bar and even if you get the clippable clip you may inadvertently apply the caravan brakes when cornering if the attachment point is more than a few centimetres from the towball.I have not tested mine out yet as we are not due to collect the caravan till Thursday 230409.(If the brakes do come on I will gain some slack by attaching a D shackle to the hole in the tow bar bracket and clipping the cable to the D shackle.)
This is a very long story cut very short (I have edited out all the phone calls,meetings and considerable angst involved in this tale).
My wife and I bought a Peugeot 4007 4x4 to tow our first caravan (we are complete novices).The 4007 was later fitted with a Peugeot detachable tow bar by the Peugeot dealer because the drop down section of the tailgate would hit a fixed tow bar.
When I got the car home and had a play with the tow ball I saw that the instructions showed an eye should have been fitted to the side of the bracket up under the bumper for the breakaway cable to be clipped to.There was no eye and the blurb in the 'Getting Started' caravan leaflet said that looping the cable of the tow ball was the preferred method and that the manufacturer / supplier must be contacted before doing otherwise.
First thing next morning I spoke to the Al Ko Technical Department who told me under no circumstances was I to clip the cable to the eye even if one became available.The reasons being:
1. The clip is not designed to withstand the strain of a caravan breaking away from the tow vehicle unless the cable is looped round the tow bar and clipped back on itself in the manner of a dogs choke lead.If the cable is not looped the clip will fail before the caravan brake is fully applied and the caravan could career on down the road with potentially serious consequences.
2.Al Ko do make a cable with a clip suitable for direct clipping (for the Swedish market) which is available from their web site but it is the same length as their standard cable.This means that if the eye described in the instructions were fitted and I clipped the cable directly to it,its position so far forward of the tow ball would almost certainly result in the caravan brakes being applied as my car went round corners and the cable tightened due to a lack of slack.This in turn could, in the course of the journey,cause the brakes to burn out since,as my car is sufficiently powerful,I probably would not notice the increased resistance as the brakes are gradually ratcheted on at each corner.
I re-read the instructions and saw that the tow bar was made by a company called Brink.Their Technical Department told me under no circumstances to loop it over the tow ball and that I should clip it directly to a hole at the rearmost end of the bracket as they did not fit the eye described in the instructions any more.
I went back to Al Ko and told them what Brink were saying.I then ordered the Swedish clip (Al Ko Part No.1220984 - Breakaway Cable with Caribena Clip) and said I would get the caravan dealer to fit it prior to collection of the caravan and tow the rig in the yard through some tight turns to ensure that there is sufficient slack in the cable to prevent the caravan brake being applied.
So if you have the standard Al Ko clip on your breakaway cable you should not clip it directly to the tow vehicle or tow bar and even if you get the clippable clip you may inadvertently apply the caravan brakes when cornering if the attachment point is more than a few centimetres from the towball.I have not tested mine out yet as we are not due to collect the caravan till Thursday 230409.(If the brakes do come on I will gain some slack by attaching a D shackle to the hole in the tow bar bracket and clipping the cable to the D shackle.)
This is a very long story cut very short (I have edited out all the phone calls,meetings and considerable angst involved in this tale).
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