al-ko tow hitch

[trav]

Brink 4 pin tow balls are not compatible with AL-Ko tow hitches.
Brink sell a 4 to 2 pin adaptor which allows an Al-Ko ball to be fitted.
The arm to ball centre must be 60mm as opposed to the Brink one 56mm.
Al-Ko have an excellent fact sheet on their web site - AL-CO KOBER - SHOP ON LINE -CARAVANS - TOW BALL GUIDE.
AL-KO tow balls are usually black.

 

[jims-terrano]

That's worth knowing, it's a shame really as I liked the look of the 4 bolt towballs. The tow bars seemed to look stronger.

Jim T

 

[bigjim]

And you can fit NATO hooks great for towing people out of mud!

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

i must admit i think these alko stabaliser things are a menace, it means you cant tow nothing else without keep cgreasing then cleaning the tow bal, and i dont think they make that much difference when towing! I took the one off our last caravan and may do the same to our present one, then you can use your own tow ball!

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

a small adition - TOWSURE sell an alko compatible (two pin) tow ball for £10.95, and have free delivery on orders over £20 at the moment.

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

Brink 4 pin tow balls are not compatible with AL-Ko tow hitches.
Brink sell a 4 to 2 pin adaptor which allows an Al-Ko ball to be fitted.
The arm to ball centre must be 60mm as opposed to the Brink one 56mm.
Al-Ko have an excellent fact sheet on their web site - AL-CO KOBER - SHOP ON LINE -CARAVANS - TOW BALL GUIDE.
AL-KO tow balls are usually black.

sorry dont agree towed both alko 1300 and 200(0) for 3 years without issue other than getting lever on or off with spare wheel in place.

the bolt heads sometimes look close to the coupling but have never made contact.

 

[(RIP) rustygates]

I have a brinks towbracket with the 4 holes and have no problem with attaching the alko hitch with the spare wheel and stainless cover in place.

rustygates.

 

[dinky]

Have alko on buccaneer .After losing van with blade type would never go back .

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

its not just the clearance to the bolt heads that is an issue with a normal tow ball, I have one in the shed (brink) that was last used with an alko 3000 hitch and there is a clear shiny patch where the hitch has rubbed on the neck of the towball.

alko balls arent just spaced out furhter thay are also higher as the edges of the hitch come down further.

I hope that makes sense?

 

[JonathanM]

NArrower neck on the Alko hitch, to allow articulation of the coupling. The standard fat neck tow balls causes problems. Swan neck towbars are fine for an alko hitch.

 

[andrewk]

i dont think they make that much difference when towing!

Funny you should say that. On the way back from a place called Clachtoll in Sutherland last year, we stopped at the big retail park in Inverness and had a burger apiece in Burger King. I've got a Burstner S500TS caravan with an Alko stabiliser hitch and was towing it with an Isuzu Trooper at the time (great towcar). Before we went for lunch, I fitted a Bulldog hitchlock - so the van wouldn't go walkies whilst we were away.

On return to the van, I removed the hitchlock but after putting it in the car, I forgot to press the stabiliser handle down again - so effectively, we were without stabiliser until we stopped next, at a motorway services on the M74 south of Glasglow, which is where I discovered my error. Did it make any difference to the towing behaviour ........ not a bit.

If you fancy a bit of bedtime reading, you might like to have a look at
this. http://people.bath.ac.uk/en8cjk/Caravan.pdf Basically, it says that stabilisers reduce small oscillations but have no effect on big ones - so they make the driver feel better (and hence drive faster) but don't stop snaking - which is pretty much what I thought was the case anyway.

The best way to tow safely is simply to use the heaviest towcar that you can afford; make sure that the caravan's laden weight is sensibly less than the towcar kerbweight (ideally keep to the CC's 85% matching recommendation), have a noseweight about 7% of the caravan laden weight if you can - and load the caravan sensibly.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[trav]

Maybe I have not made my point clear.

It was that the ball must be compatible with the tow hitch,not whether the hitch was the the most functional.

Though the Bath information was interesting it does not address the problem directly as does the Al-Co fact sheet.

You can tow with any 50mm ball but any Al-Co / Brink guarantee will be void.

 

[andrewk]

Though the Bath information was interesting it does not address the problem directly as does the Al-Co fact sheet.

It wasn't intended to. My post was a reply to PLANKs.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

Jonantahn M, the alko ball is definately spaced higher not just slimmer, i fitted two last week and held them side wit normal onces to compare. by side to compare.

I agree with andrew K though i have towed many large caravans much heavier than the towing vehicle with no problems! and have always been disapointed by troopers towing ability, for a big car i expected them to be better!

i remember the big old gass windowd Romas and Buccaneers never swayed an inch depite being much heavier than the towing vehicle.

In addition to the advice given by Andrew K, I have allways found having the height of the caravan nose right helps. idealy it should be level or slightly nose down, with a nose weight close to the max allowed for the caravan, towing vehicle. Not over inflating tyres on towing vehicle and caravan also helps!

to be hnest i have never found 4x4's in general to make great towing cars, many have good toruque and performance but this means litte to safe towing, and speed causes more problems than it solves!

My towing favourite is a good old rear whlle drive transit van, the floor is level with the vcaravan floor saving 'under currents' from lifting the nose of the caravan, and the head on profile reduces wind drag (and hence swaying) along with it being wide enough not to need those silly add on mirrors that you can never actualy see anything in!



BUT bet advice of all, take your time, make a pint of staying calm and relaxed and ignore the idiots on the road! who drive up behind etc. etc.

you have as much right to be on the road as anyone else and can by safe driving set a good example, speed isnt everyhting, and it is virtualy the only objection i ever hear about caravans, that is usually unfounded when it is though about in a logical way!

 

[andrewk]

and have always been disapointed by troopers towing ability, for a big car i expected them to be better!

Weird ....... your Trooper(s?) must have had a problem of some kind. I'm just hoping that the Patrol is anywhere near as good as my MKIV 3.0D Trooper was. It can't be better - in terms of stability, there ain't no such thing as better. Neither of the two vans I towed with it twitched at all under any circumstance.

I have allways found having the height of the caravan nose right helps. idealy it should be level or slightly nose down, with a nose weight close to the max allowed for the caravan, towing vehicle.

Yep - agreed.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

the last 3 litre diesel, with the self destruct engine was the only one we didnt have, i understand they were very powerfull, but i never felt like taking a chance on one. the 2.8 td's were good but the 3.1 tdi's lacked the all round ability i would expect from such a big vehicle.

having said that if 4x4's is what your used to towing with you may not otice the difference as they are nearly all fairly unstable, and only benefit you once on the wet camp site. I think 4x4's do come into their own when towing very heavy trailers as they do have the tourque for it, but caravans arent really that heavy as trailers go. I basically a big empty box for the wind to blow around.

having said all that i do tow large caravans with 4x4's all the time so im not knocking them! its just be wary as they do seem to make for a more unstable caravan than some other vehilces!

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

out of interest ths is worth a look at!

http://www.whattowcar.com/

stick in your caravan and car combo and get their towing match opinion!

 

[andrewk]

the last 3 litre diesel, with the self destruct engine was the only one we didnt have

Quite a few self-destructed, but in the end Isuzu paid for replacement injectors which fixed the problem. They also paid for new engines to replace blown ones - at least, they did if you asked nicely. It all got a bit easier when Caterpillar (who designed the injectors) accepted liability. Mine ran for 120,000 miles whilst I had it with no problem at all.

Powerful? Maybe - but I think that apart from being a bit gruffer sounding the 3.0Di in the Patrol just might be a bit better - more torque at lower engine revs and a bit smoother, not as strained at high speed. It'll pull 30mph in 5th on the flat or on a slight incline with no problem at all. I'd have been in 4th at 30mph in the Trooper.

I've only towed the caravan a couple of times with the Patrol - from home to Todmorden & back, to take the van in for a service at MG Caravans. Not much of a test - but I'm pretty optimistic. I'm going to Cruachan Farm on Loch Tay for Easter - towing 600 miles round trip should give me a much better feel both for how the Patrol tows and for diesel consumption.

having said that if 4x4's is what your used to towing with you may not otice the difference as they are nearly all fairly unstable

I'm sure this is a wind-up. :smile: :smile:

I towed the same Lunar caravan with four different motors over a period of 14 years - three of which were NOT 4x4s. The Trooper was several classes better than the next best, which was a (newish) Peugeot 406 saloon. So much better in fact that I gave away the Bulldog 200Q stabiliser I used with the Pug. It no longer had a purpose (if it ever really had anyway). Did you ever consider replacing the dampers in any of these wobble-boxes that you've owned?

i do tow large caravans with 4x4's all the time so im not knocking them! its just be wary as they do seem to make for a more unstable caravan than some other vehilces!

Like I said, maybe your Trooper(s?) were not on top form - but mine was actually better with a van on the back than it was solo. Slower - but less roll and less understeer on corners. Some 4x4s are relatively unstable towing caravans but they're mostly made in the midlands - not in Japan. :smile:

Cheers
Andrew

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

i'm never going to hear the end of this am i AndrewK? Is this a wind Up?

just pointing out a simple factbased on experience of towing different caravans with different vehicles on a weekly sometimes daily basis, if you dont agree thats your choice :wink:

 

[jace]

i ran two 2.8tds good trucks but no where as good as a nissan 2.7td let alone the 3.0l.
good on izuzy on there 3l recall our local dealer was full of em,wheras nissan deny any fault with navara d22 2.5 engine chargin 8k for new engine