I have a 1992 Swift corniche. Apart from having it serviced annually is there any way I can check the condition of the tow hitch. It must be getting a bit worn out after 19 years and the thought of the caravan parting company with the car on a busy road puts me off a bit. I do not have a stabiliser fitted.
tow hitch
- Thread starter digory
- Start date
is it a normal one dose ithave a red green button if not just hitch to car and wind jocky wheel down to car lifts and if car lifts and dont part company you should be ok.
We've just replaced ours, which was eleven years old - and we reckon had done 55,000 towed miles - and it's surprising just how worn the inner moving parts were. It was the older type of Alko hitch, which was becoming very difficult to unhitch. It had a button which indicated when you were properly hitched up and passed the 'ForestGump' test. However, a couple of years ago OH couldn't get the hitchlock back on at the end of our journey back from France, and discovered that one of the bolts holding the hitch to the caravan chassis had sheared right through. It had been held on, in transit, because we travel with the hitchlock on (I know, I know, but it probably saved our van and perhaps lives in that instance). The other bolt was showing bad 'wear' in the middle, too, but hadn't sheared. We just replaced the bolts at the time, but worried thereafter that other parts of the hitch were equally worn, and decided to replace the whole thing. Our caravan dealer (friendly) said that they had never seen anything like it, and we were minded to write to Alko, but lost the photographs we'd taken of the bolts, so never got around to it.
We've replaced it with an ALKO 3004, which came in a triple pack including hitch, hitch-lock, and new towball. It had all the parts required to do the job, new gaiter, bolts, etc, and simple fitting instructions. OH fitted it this weekend, quite a simple job he said, and it now looks very smart and we feel that it's much safer too.
See the other post ALKO 3004 v Q200...........
We've replaced it with an ALKO 3004, which came in a triple pack including hitch, hitch-lock, and new towball. It had all the parts required to do the job, new gaiter, bolts, etc, and simple fitting instructions. OH fitted it this weekend, quite a simple job he said, and it now looks very smart and we feel that it's much safer too.
See the other post ALKO 3004 v Q200...........
I Think Val A, makes a very valid point. -
Its the amount of use rather than just its age - Milage is probably the best measure.
Its the amount of use rather than just its age - Milage is probably the best measure.
I have never had to replace a hitch head due to excessive wear. But that isn't to say they don't wear.
Perhaps a proper service schedule should be introduced, simlar to lorry trailers. They have a counter weighted mileometer fitted to one hub bearing nut cover. It is designed to count the miles the trailer travels.
Of cause, this kind of lends it's self the old cherry of MOT tests on all trailers.
Perhaps a proper service schedule should be introduced, simlar to lorry trailers. They have a counter weighted mileometer fitted to one hub bearing nut cover. It is designed to count the miles the trailer travels.
Of cause, this kind of lends it's self the old cherry of MOT tests on all trailers.
We've still got the old hitch and I'll take some photographs to show where the wear has occurred. It has been 'serviced' in that our caravan dealer checks the pads/etc when we have the caravan serviced, and OH does check the caravan regularly, but I must admit he was suprised how worn the internal bits were. I'll also ask OH about the condition of the bolts, which are approx two years old, and how much if any wear is apparent.
When we were chatting to our neighbour on the storage site we realised just how many miles we'd done compared with him, for a similar age van - and the mileage you've towed must impact on the wear on the mechanical bits! We did only a rough calculation as we've used the van mainly in France, with a long journey at each end of the holiday. We calculated four long journeys of 1,000 miles a year for eleven years, plus many trips to Abersoch, Derbyshire, the Lake District, Dorset, Scotland, and other destinations in Britain, then add on the trips locally and the trips to and from storage and to the dealers for servicing or repairs.............!
Calculate your own mileage and it may surprise you!
When we were chatting to our neighbour on the storage site we realised just how many miles we'd done compared with him, for a similar age van - and the mileage you've towed must impact on the wear on the mechanical bits! We did only a rough calculation as we've used the van mainly in France, with a long journey at each end of the holiday. We calculated four long journeys of 1,000 miles a year for eleven years, plus many trips to Abersoch, Derbyshire, the Lake District, Dorset, Scotland, and other destinations in Britain, then add on the trips locally and the trips to and from storage and to the dealers for servicing or repairs.............!
Calculate your own mileage and it may surprise you!
Facebook
Twitter