Grinding noise when I pull away from roundabouts

[sammysoc]

Hi all, We have a Abbey vogue gts 417 we calculated the noseweight and never exceeded it, When we pull out from a roundabout the car makes a grinding noise like something is sticking its not the vans brakes because we had them serviced is it something to do with our car? thanks

 

[Sproket]

What sort of tow hitch is fitted to your van ?

 

[ProfJohnL]

If you have an Alko tow hitch with the built instabliser friction pads, then it could be these, which is where I think Sprokets is coming from. Use a proprietry brake cleaner to clean the tow ball and the hitch to remove any grease or oil.If in doubt, get your local caravan dealer to chek it all over.

But as another thought, is the towing bracket fixed to the car as firmly as it should be? This could be moving just a bit as the load changes as you go round corners. Its worth getting the brackets fixing checked, as if they are not tight enough, they will damage the underbody of the car.

 

[sammysoc]

Hi, we have the Alko 3004 stabiliser

 

[Mel]

Hi sammy, what sort of towball do you have. If you have a standard bolt on towball, it could be this (it was for us). You need an Alko extended neck towball or a swan neck style towball.
mel

 

[sammysoc]

Hi sammy, what sort of towball do you have. If you have a standard bolt on towball, it could be this (it was for us). You need an Alko extended neck towball or a swan neck style towball.
mel

we have a extended neck, should that fix the problem

 

[Tony_374371542]

Empty post (likely not intentional - probably an Internet Explorer issue!)

 

[Tony_374371542]

I had the same problem as sammysoc.
I changed my car and had a Witter extended neck towbar fitted. The hitch groaned at low speed, roundabouts etc.
I tried all the usual remadies including changing the pads.
When I changed the pads, there were two spacer washes on each pad. I removed one washer from each side and the groaning stopped. The stabiliser still works ok.
This was about two years ago and the car/caravan stability is fine.

 

[xtrailman]

I would also check that the caravan drawbar is lubricated.
It should push in and pull out but some effort is required.

I've had a groaning noise on my new caravan, hopefully brake cleaner on the pads should have cured it, will find out soon when i use it.
I know its not the ball, as that's been on now 7 years and was noise free on the last van, and I've checked it for wear.

 

[RayS]

Had the same problem a while ago - traced to surface rust on the towball. Steel wool and brake cleaner.