Tow Ball Health

[dx4100]

Hi all

Thinking of doing my towing course soon so had a look at my tow bar. Its factory fitted and tooks up under the car. Pretty annoyed to see it had quite a bit of rust build up. Paint was still on...

So I have sanded it down using 240 / 600 / 1200 wet and dry and this is where I am at the moment...

The remaining black bits are where the rust has done its damage. I am not much of DIY person so I was wondering if I should stop at this point or if I need to do more ? Been very careful to keep everything even.

Is the tow bar in good enough condition to use for towing ?

I have it with a healthy amount of disc brake cleaner to get any grease off. Do I need to get more of the scratches out left by the 240.

 

[otherclive]

Hi all

Thinking of doing my towing course soon so had a look at my tow bar. Its factory fitted and tooks up under the car. Pretty annoyed to see it had quite a bit of rust build up. Paint was still on...

So I have sanded it down using 240 / 600 / 1200 wet and dry and this is where I am at the moment...

The remaining black bits are where the rust has done its damage. I am not much of DIY person so I was wondering if I should stop at this point or if I need to do more ? Been very careful to keep everything even.

Is the tow bar in good enough condition to use for towing ?

I have it with a healthy amount of disc brake cleaner to get any grease off. Do I need to get more of the scratches out left by the 240.

Are you talking tow bar or towball? Towball come painted which then has to be removed prior to towing. Your pictures concentrate on the towball only.

 

[dx4100]

Tow ball.

 

[otherclive]

Is it the original paint that you have sanded off!? In which case you are okay. There is a minimum diameter but I doubt you have removed that much. Here’s a link you may find useful. But as regards the physical appearance it’s fine no need for further sanding. If you have Alko stabiliser you need a towball compatible with the stabiliser or else there is a risk of detachment. The link explains.

Towball Guide

 

[dx4100]

Just taken off the original paint and rust

 

[Buckman]

Just taken off the original paint and rust

It does seem that you have done everything correctly. I used a wire brush and my drill to remove the paint and get it nice and shiny. Then I cleaned off with brake disc cleaner.

 

[Hutch]

To me it look good enough, but I have only been towing for 15 years with the Alko hitch, You have done everything correctly a good wipe down every other hitch up helps, and a wipe inside the caravan hitch will help get rid of mostly exhaust fume debris.
I have hear of people using a "clean Condom" on tow ball that retract to stop corrosion, and then a wipe down with a brake cleaner, before hitching up.
Oh this could go so wrong.

 

[dx4100]

I have wrapped it in cling film for now. Should keep it safe. Condom is an interesting idea - might have to explain to the wife first

 

[Hutch]

I have wrapped it in cling film for now. Should keep it safe. Condom is an interesting idea - might have to explain to the wife first

Oh yes, problems there, a tennis ball with a spit in it also good if there is room for it to retract. I have a fixed tow all with a rubber cover and never really get any corrosion over winter. I think possibly Quality of the steel. ,, I never get my tow ball super smooth as I rather wear down the Friction pads and replace them every 3000 miles. To 5000 miles. Of towing. That's many years for a lot of people in the UK.

 

[Lutz]

You've actually done more than necessary. Removing all loose rust is already sufficient.

 

[RogerL]

I have wrapped it in cling film for now. Should keep it safe. Condom is an interesting idea - might have to explain to the wife first

Be careful with covering the towball - if it's a VW Group "electrically-deployable" towbar, it rotates when retracted at such an angle that water can run into the cover - which makes the towball rust more quickly - guess how I know!

 

[dx4100]

Be careful with covering the towball - if it's a VW Group "electrically-deployable" towbar, it rotates when retracted at such an angle that water can run into the cover - which makes the towball rust more quickly - guess how I know!

Skoda Kodiaq so yeah... I think its well covered now but thanks for the warning. will keep an eye on it

 

[Elamessa]

Put a fine coat of vaseline on it before putting it away. Just use a tissue and brake cleaner when you need it next.
My 2019 Kodiaq tow ball is still in a very good condition after 30000km of towing.

 

[Buckman]

Put a fine coat of vaseline on it before putting it away. Just use a tissue and brake cleaner when you need it next.
My 2019 Kodiaq tow ball is still in a very good condition after 30000km of towing.

Unfortunately I can be forgetful so not way would I consider Vaseline on the towball. For me simpler to clean the towball when it is required.

 

[Woodentop]

To the OP do make sure your Kodiaq is homologated for towing. Look at the weight plate - should be near the bottom of the nearside B-pillar (i.e. between the front and back doors). If it has four lines of (weight) numbers then you are OK, but if there are only three lines then it is illegal to tow.
The lines marked 1 and 2 are the maximum loads in kg for the front and rear axles respectively. The two lines above are the gross train weight (larger) and the gross vehicle weight (smaller). Subtract the GVW from the GTW and you know how much you can tow. If there is no GTW then you cannot tow.
Having said all that if the bar was factory fitted it will be approved/homologated.
Don't forget to tell your insurer that you have a towbar fitted: it won't cost you anything extra (save maybe an admin charge) but if you haven't told them of the 'modification' it gives them a good excuse to reject any claim.

 

[Beachball]

Seeing i have took my detachable tow ball off the car and given it a clean might put some vaseline on the ball and it cover .

 

[otherclive]

Seeing i have took my detachable tow ball off the car and given it a clean might put some vaseline on the ball and it cover .

If it’s off of the car why not just keep it indoors as they don’t rust indoors, or even if kept inside the car.

 

[Beachball]

If it’s off of the car why not just keep it indoors as they don’t rust indoors, or even if kept inside the car.

Hi Clive it is indoors back in its Westfalia bag with the keys and white gloves

 

[Stratton]

Looking at your towball photos, your's looks a whole lot better than the one on my Kodiaq. People have previously warned that it's not really possible to put on any sort of cover because of the way it inverts when stored up behind the rear bumper. At the end of last season I forgot to coat it with silicone grease and in January found a very rusty lump of metal. I use a handful of wire wool to clean it but it is still slightly pitted. I take the same view as Hutch in the earlier post, replacing the friction pads will be cheaper than having to have a new towball fitted because I have reduced its diameter through "over" sanding.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Looking at your towball photos, your's looks a whole lot better than the one on my Kodiaq. People have previously warned that it's not really possible to put on any sort of cover because of the way it inverts when stored up behind the rear bumper. At the end of last season I forgot to coat it with silicone grease and in January found a very rusty lump of metal. I use a handful of wire wool to clean it but it is still slightly pitted. I take the same view as Hutch in the earlier post, replacing the friction pads will be cheaper than having to have a new towball fitted because I have reduced its diameter through "over" sanding.

Have you really reduced the diameter of the tow ball so much?

The UK still follows the EU directive (Directive EC 94/20 (Din 47058 ) )on tow gear, and the nominal 50mm coupling can reduce to 49mm diameter and the coupling should continue to hold without detaching up to it rated lifting load.

Basically if your tow ball does not rattle in the hitch, it should be safe, though it is possible the stabiliser friction pads may not have quite as much effect. However if your outfit relies of the friction pads to keep control of the trailer, you should really be looking at your caravan loading to address the problem.

 

[Lutz]

Adding to what the Prof said, a few pits in the surface of the towball is not going affect the performance of friction pads to any appreciable extent. There is really no need to achieve an absolutely polished finish all over. In other words, there is no need to remove masses of material. The towball need only to be cleaned of loose rust. Anything else is purely cosmetic.

 

[JTQ]

To the OP do make sure your Kodiaq is homologated for towing. Look at the weight plate - should be near the bottom of the nearside B-pillar (i.e. between the front and back doors). If it has four lines of (weight) numbers then you are OK, but if there are only three lines then it is illegal to tow.
The lines marked 1 and 2 are the maximum loads in kg for the front and rear axles respectively. The two lines above are the gross train weight (larger) and the gross vehicle weight (smaller). Subtract the GVW from the GTW and you know how much you can tow. If there is no GTW then you cannot tow.
Having said all that if the bar was factory fitted it will be approved/homologated.
Don't forget to tell your insurer that you have a towbar fitted: it won't cost you anything extra (save maybe an admin charge) but if you haven't told them of the 'modification' it gives them a good excuse to reject any claim.

As the OP opening line stated "Its factory fitted and tooks up under the car. ", I would have 100% confidence the Skoda factory had that issue sorted prior to building that vehicle, so the OP can forget that extra concern.

The ball looks fine, the minor pitting is not in the steadily loaded areas, those would be the front top carrying the forward hauled forces and weight, and the side flanks loaded by the friction clamping of the ball by the hitches side pads. Where pitted it is only on the bits loaded in reversing and overrunning, and then they are in the scale of things trivial.

However, from now on, I, would not be into the habit of routinely abrading with "wet & dry" sheets. I would address stopping the corrosion happening as best I could during out of use periods and my natural go to product would be Waxoyl LINK. You most definitely would need to wipe it off with a tissue followed by a "brake cleaner" wipe off, that is clean it off well before use.
For in use clean up I use one of those green aluminium oxide treated domestic household kitchen scouring sheets; it lives on the floor of my front locker. That is minimally aggressive and shapes well to the ball's profile, quite adequate for removing any dew induced light surface rusting that occurs during trips etc.