New towbar

[Mike_5074253]

I would welcome some advice on whether the Towball on my brand new removeable Towbar, supplied with my new car requires any form of preparation before hitching up to my caravan for a forthcoming trip?

 

[eriskay]

HI mike If your tow ball is painted remove all traces of paint with rubbing down paper until the ball is shiney . If you have a hitch stablizer fitted ball must be clean & dry .

 

[rob_jax]

Mike,

Agree with Swiftman, if you want a squeak free ALKO stabiliser - the tow ball and the pads in the coupling head must be free of paint, protective plating or grease, etc.

We have a Brink removable on our C270 - with 13 pin Euro electrics - which really is removable (stow in the gas locker) as opposed to the factory fit, which swings back and up under the bumper. Both types need the mechanism cleaning on a regular basis, and I lubricate the mechanism with White Lithium Grease - Halfords sell this in a spray can - and it works fine on the steadies too.

Incidentally, love the 13pin electrics - never had any problems with cleaning or poor contact - the pins are heavy duty plated to protect them from european levels of road salting, the twist lock mating system means it's water-proof and that you are guaranteed a connection. And since our van has a 13pin socket, it made sense anyway.

Robert

 

[Mike_5074253]

Thanks for the replies. The towbar has a bronze metal finish, but it is clearly a lump of steel underneath. So, I guess I should rubdown the ball area to reveal the base metal. The make is GDW (never come across them before - could be Dutch) and it seems a neat operation. Simply, there is a base fixed to the vehicle (in this case a VW Passat Estate 4Motion)into which you insert a handle crossways. Next you insert the towbar upside down, then rotate until upright and finally pull the handle back towards the rear of the car until a hook clips over a latch fixed to the side of the towbar. The instructions recommend regularly greasing the handle so thanks for the tip about that.

The baseplate has a heavy duty rubber cover when the towbar is not fixed and the towbar itself stows neatly away with the spare wheel under the boot space.

Just to add a bit of humour - the english translation of the fitting instructions has a section headed "Assembly suggestions" -item 2) says "When the ball is to little tightened or has to much slack with the trailer, the tow bar will have to be checked, also when damaged."

By the way, my wife Bev and I tow an Abbey GTS Vogue 418 which we bought in 2003 and enjoy very much.

Thanks again for the help.