ALKO STABILISER WON’T UNHITCH - what to do
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2022
- Hope fully this won’t happen to you but there is a problem that can occur with ALKO stabiliser hitches where it can become impossible to unhitch from the tow vehicle. This happens when one of the pads breaks inside the hitch and can leave you with the car and trailer locked together.
Fortunately, there is a solution for most tow bar types which I explain in this video.
![Alko Friction Lining repair 2019 [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ruxzwVYutkQ/mqdefault.jpg)
This video has helped enormously!
We took our caravan home to give it a good going over after being in storage for 2 years. There was a bang just as we were beginning to move away, so that was probably the ball being banged up into the hitch because it was probably misaligned.
We got home and no matter what we tried we couldn't unhitch the caravan. I'll try and remedy it using your method. It's not an Alco hitch, but I'm sure the principal is the same.
Thank you, I hope you got your hitch sorted. I haven't used many other hitch types but if it has a built in stabiliser then it will likely have similar pads. Either way removing the towbar to release any tension on the hitch should help.
Excellent advice given here most caravaners will not know anything about this potential problem myself included much the wiser now thankyou so much Dave
It is certainly one of those issues that has you scratching your head when it happens so I thought it would be useful to share. Glad you liked it.
Thank you for this information. It happend for several times. Now I know why.
I'm glad you found it helpful. Hopefully you'll be able to avoid the issue now.
It happened a month ago and my tow bar is a fixed swan neck one so we had to call a mobile caravan repairer who released it with a squirt of silicon spray and then replaced the broken pad. Wish I had seen your video before it happened. Very good vlideo.
Thanks glad you oiled the video. Useful idea to know about the silicon spray.
Thanks for this video - we have just suffered exactly the problem you describe. We were lucky and were able to detach the hitch but it was very reluctant to separate. Once the ball and cup separated, the upper pad fell out! I will be replacing the pad and probably do as you suggest and carry a spare.
We've not had the van long and I don't recall giving it a jolt whilst hitching up, but it's possible the previous owner did and that the pad was cracked but not broken. So this is probably something that's worth checking visually from time to time. The hassle of getting it properly stuck is definitely worth avoiding if possible!
It certainly does induce some mild panic followed by a lot of head scratching when it happens doesn't it. 😀
"Dropping" the hitch on is just a guess at the probable cause but it's easy not to remember like you say it quite likely that the previous owner may have done so.
Glad you managed to release yours though.
Dave, thank you so much for this. Having just driven 300 miles after hols to put van in storage, won't unhitch! Problem was just as you described, now car is free ready for hitch repairs tomorrow. Thanks again.
Really glad it helped you and that you got home OK. Hope you had a nice holiday
Thanks for that, useful tip and what a rip-off those pads are! since I have had one of these hitches I find it locks on my car when parking on driveway, as caravan on a bit of a slope. Very difficult to remove, probably not recommended, handbrake on caravan, reverse an inch or so releases the pressure.
Brilliant needed to understand how that part of the caravan functioned. Thanks for that.
You're welcome. Glad you found it helpful.
really big help thankyou!
You're welcome :)
Great advice! Thank you so much for the info.
You're welcome. I'm glad you found it helpful.
Exactly this happened to me today! Top pad broken as you describe and only my third time with the new van hitched. Also somehow then managed break the plastic jockey wheel while manoeuvring on gravel driveway - oh the joys!
Hope the video helped. The fact that you had an issue with both the pads and the jockey wheel makes me wonder if it's worth checking your nose weight? We had issues with the jockey wheel and our nose weight was high. Correctly so, as our land cruiser can handle a high nose weight but it caused issues with ground clearance on speed ramps and generally put an excessive load on the jockey wheel. Just an idea, hope it helps.
This system was an option the salesman I just bought a trailer from was unable to explain the purpose of and how it functions. Excellent explanation sir, pro's and cons. Only thing I like about this system without looking further into it is that it's still a regular coupling underneath - seems like you could pull all the pads out an go about your business if it failed. I won't be retrofitting this system.
Hi glad you found it helpful. I think running the hitch with no pads in could cause a problem as it would significantly reduce the area of the bearing surfaces. This could cause wear on both the hitch and the tow ball. That's why I now keep a spare of the top pad in case it breaks again.
Thanks Dave, good advice😊
Thankyou glad it helped.
Interesting video. Had this happen to me this summer, on phoning a local engineer he suggested trying to lift the car up with the jockey wheel and at the same time violently wriggle/rock the coupling, after a number of attempts the small broken part fell out and the two separated. It was quite a nerve racking time not knowing how to split the unit.
I can see how the lift and wiggle approach would work. I think I prefer disconnecting the tow bar where possible but in situations where that's jot possible the approach you've described is certainly worth knowing. Thanks for contributing
@@DTSquared Unfortunately my tow bar was a factory fitted electric type, so removal wasn't an option.
I must confess I'm not a fan of this Alco system...I don't like the way it affects the handling of the car when you encounter a uneven road at speed so I spray some dw40 on the tow ball and wipe off the residue before I hook up...have been caravaning for 20 years and have found as long as you distribute the Waight properly then fish tailing isn't a problem!!.🤔💕🇬🇧
Never happened to me Dave but it's definitely one of those things you should be aware of as it could be such a pain. As the only solution seems to involve removing the tow bar/ball I am a bit concerned as mine is an eclectically deployed system. Looks as though removal would be a MAJOR job. I suppose you could work from the other direction and remove the hitch from the caravan! Failing that I suspect i'd be resorting to brute force or walking away and pretend its not mine 😳
Lol yeah sometimes you do wonder if denying all knowledge is the simplest option!!
It probably is, in theory at least, possible to detach without removing the towbar but the van and car would have to be perfectly positioned with zero stress on the coupling. Something that would be very difficult to achieve. Even once we detached the tow bar, if I remember correctly, it still took some waggling to get it detached.
Can’t a good caravan troubleshooting outfit sort this out…..the AA ??
This has happened to me twice. The first time was when I arrived back at home on uneven ground and, with a detachable tow ball, it was impossible to release it due to the tension. The way around it was to undo the two hex bolts on the hitch and detach the whole hitch assembly. Once off the tension has gone and the tow ball can be separated. Use a torque wrench to reattach the hitch assembly to about 90nm.
Thanks for posting solution for removable hitch. Do you recall letting the hitch drop on prior to it getting stuck? I know ours did but wondering if there are other causes.
Nice video, but would advise to leave the breakaway cable to last, I one forgot to apply the hand brake before unhitching the caravan, if I hadn't left the breakaway cable attached the caravan would of rolled out of control down a hill, but the breakaway cable saved disaster.
Thanks glad you liked it.
Great video. Unfortunately some tow bars can’t just be unbolted. Examples are tow bars that swing out from under the car. These are usually OEM tow bars. What can be done in such a case?
Thanks glad you liked it.
You're correct some tow bars would be either difficult or impossible to remove. (I think I alluded to that in the video) Someone else recently commented that they had this problem and the engineer that they called out used silicone spray to reduce the friction and then managed to release it whilst still attached to the car. This would be harder to do at cwrtain angles id guess. I'd you did use this approach then you would definitely have to replace (or thoriughly clean) all the pads as the lubricant would stop them from providing the damping (stabilising) effect.
Thank you for the video. How good is this stabiliser from alko? I live in South Africa and here the most popular ones are those with a side bar connecting the tow vehicle and the trailer A frame.
Hi, I’m glad you liked the video. I think I’m familiar with the type of stabiliser you are referring to. It’s the type with a pre-bent flat metal bar that is attached to the car and tends to drag along the ground if you leave it on after unhitching right?
We don’t see many of those here in the UK, my father had one on his caravan but that was probably more than thirty years ago.
In terms of how effective they are compared with the new ALKO I don’t have any data or experience to compare though I expect they are similar since they are both effectively stiffening/damping the connection between car and trailer. I’ve known a few (very few) people that say they “don’t like the feel of the alko” but I suspect that is entirely subjective and most likely imagined. At a guess I’d say the new ALKO would have less collateral effects since the steel bar type is also (from memory) putting downward pressure on the coupling joint but the effect is probably minimal.
From a usage and convenience aspect the new ALKO is almost certainly better since it requires no modification to the tow car hitch (apart from you are supposed to sand of the paint I believe) and there is nothing to carry once the trailer is unhitched. Usage is also easier I think since the new ALKO is simply a case of pushing the lever down whilst. The bar type requires pulling the bar up and into the receiver on the trailer which, again from memory, I recall as being quite awkward. Also the ALKO places no limits on the maximum angle in the joint if for example reversing and pushing the hitch at an extreme angle.
The only downside I can think of is that the ALKO requires replacement pads, for us they probably last about three or four years but obviously it’s the milage that is the real factor.
Bit of a long answer but hope that helps.
I have the AKS 1300 Hitch - and it happened to me 3 times - I released it with a tent peg Rubber Mallet not sure why it jammed and released with the Mallet maybe you can explain - - also how can I tell if the pads are worn and need replacing - can you measure the ware ...joe
Hi Joe, there's two ways to measure the pad wear (on the side pads) the first is there should be an arrow indicator on the top with a graduated scale (that's often colour coded) You should check when you start you start to feel resistance as you lower the stabiliser lever. If its in the last (red) section then the pads need replacing.
The other way is that with worn pads the lever become much easier to push down fully. If you aren't having to push quite hard then they are likely warn. I just changed mine and the effort required now is much more.
It should go without saying that the lever should always be FULLY depressed.
Not sure about how the tent peg / mallet released it. Where did you hit it?
I had the hitch stick today. Managed to get it off with a bit of waggling side to side and pitching it up and down. I have had a good look inside using my phone. There is nothing broken. Could the hitch be worn rather than the pads? This may be that the handle isn't causing the pads to move as they should. Or it could be the other handle beneath, not releasing the ball? I am moving on tomorrow and don't want it to happen again!
If the pads aren't broken I'd say it's either some tension between the tow vehicle and the trailer or possibly the handle isn't quite releasing the latch. I often put the vehicle in neutral with the hand brake off to release any tension. Obviously won't work on a hill. Also if the last maneuver was reversing then the hitch piston will be compressed which makes it difficult to unhitch. Hope that helps and your journey tomorrow goes ok
Good information, sadly the solution would not help me as my tow ball is electric.
I think the only option in that case is to get the car and caravan onto a flat and smooth a surface as possible and wiggle the van until you can release the tension totally. Which won't be easy. Failing that it's probably a case of removing the hitch from the van, which is much more involved.
Thanks for the video but that is a coupler the hitch is on the car.
Thanks for the clarification, and I'm glad you liked the video.
You didn’t show how to take the ball out off the hitch after you removed from the car.
Or does it just fall out 🤔
Yeah just wiggle it and it comes out then. The issue when it is still connected to the car is that there is too much tension on it.
What if you’ve got an electrically operated fold out tow bar…??
I suspect with an electric folding towbar you would probably struggle to remove it from the vehicle, especially with the caravan attached. A few other people have commented though with similar issues.
One had a folding towbar (not sure if electric or manual) and could not remove it so removed the coupling from the caravan instead.
Another actually called out a caravan engineer and they sprayed silicon spray into the coupling and waggled it (I would assume that ALL the pads would then need replacing or at least degreasing).
The other approach someone found worked (recommended by a caravan engineer) was to use the jockey wheel to lift the rear of the car and then violently waggle the coupling / van until it released.
Hope that helps
Also remember that if you do remove the tow ball bolts, they should be replaced with new ones.
👍
Normally a bit of brute force works
Usually does with most things:)