My caravan is fitted with an Alco stabilizer. My car is fitted with the
correct tow ball that came with the alco. Now, someone is towing my caravan
250 miles next week on the rear of a Luton van and obviously wont have the
correct tow ball.
Will this be a problem? I am a complete novice and I apologise in advance if
this is a stupid question.

thanks si

SLF wrote:

My caravan is fitted with an Alco stabilizer. My car is fitted with the
correct tow ball that came with the alco. Now, someone is towing my caravan
250 miles next week on the rear of a Luton van and obviously wont have the
correct tow ball.
Will this be a problem? I am a complete novice and I apologise in advance if
this is a stupid question.

thanks si

There's a description of the potential problems he
http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/su...Proddata32.doc

In normal road use you are unlikely to use the full plus/minus 25
degrees of coupling head articulation.

Manuals specific to the various models are he
http://www.al-ko.co.uk/support-misc.asp

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:36:07 +0000, Dougal
DougalAThiskennel.free-online.co.uk wrote:

|SLF wrote:
|
| My caravan is fitted with an Alco stabilizer. My car is fitted with the
| correct tow ball that came with the alco. Now, someone is towing my caravan
| 250 miles next week on the rear of a Luton van and obviously wont have the
| correct tow ball.
| Will this be a problem? I am a complete novice and I apologise in advance if
| this is a stupid question.
|
| thanks si
|
|There's a description of the potential problems he
|http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/su...Proddata32.doc
|
|In normal road use you are unlikely to use the full plus/minus 25
|degrees of coupling head articulation.

Best not to try to reverse with reduced articulation.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst*
method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a
newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These
will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies.

"SLF" wrote in message ...
My caravan is fitted with an Alco stabilizer. My car is fitted with the correct tow ball
that came with the alco. Now, someone is towing my caravan 250 miles next week on the
rear of a Luton van and obviously wont have the correct tow ball.
Will this be a problem? I am a complete novice and I apologise in advance if this is a
stupid question.

Think you need a dry towball for that one.

Nick

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:49:03 GMT, "Nick \(Scots\)" wrote:

|
|"SLF" wrote in message ...
| My caravan is fitted with an Alco stabilizer. My car is fitted with the correct tow ball
| that came with the alco. Now, someone is towing my caravan 250 miles next week on the
| rear of a Luton van and obviously wont have the correct tow ball.
| Will this be a problem? I am a complete novice and I apologise in advance if this is a
| stupid question.
|
|Think you need a dry towball for that one.

If OP is a complete novice he may not realise that you meant "degreased"
not dry.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst*
method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a
newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These
will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies.

"Nick (Scots)" wrote in message
.uk...

"SLF" wrote in message
...
My caravan is fitted with an Alco stabilizer. My car is fitted with the
correct tow ball that came with the alco. Now, someone is towing my
caravan 250 miles next week on the rear of a Luton van and obviously wont
have the correct tow ball.
Will this be a problem? I am a complete novice and I apologise in advance
if this is a stupid question.

Think you need a dry towball for that one.

Nick


The towball needs to be the right size or the brake discs inside it won't
grip the towball enough to be an effective stabiliser

and yes it has to be TOTALLY grease free


--
Regards
From
Gray
The Madcaravanner from Chesterfield and Sharm El Sheikh
www.madcaravanner.co.uk
You don't have to be mad but it helps

Pictures at http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j115/Madcaravanner/

"Graham Wilson" wrote in
:

The towball needs to be the right size or the brake discs inside it
won't grip the towball enough to be an effective stabiliser

and yes it has to be TOTALLY grease free

More importantly, as described in the document posted upthread
(http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/su...Proddata32.doc) the towball must
have sufficient clearance both vertically and horizontally to allow full
articulation of the hitch head. If the necessary clearance is not present,
the hitch might decouple on sharp bends, at the crest or trough of some
hills, or when reversing.

The towball itself on either the more common standard A50-1 is the same
50mm diameter as that of the extended A50-X needed for AKS stabilised
hitches.

If the Luton has a gooseneck-type towbar, it probably has the required
clearances and all that will be needed is a thorough degreasing with brake
cleaner or similar. However, if it has a two-bolt flange, I'd suggest
downloading the referenced Al-Ko document and checking the towball to
ensure it meets the spec. If it doesn't, I suspect that twenty quid spent
on an A50-X towball at Halfords (or a little more at a caravan shop) will
be less than the repair bill if the caravan does decouple!

HTH,

--
Geoff

"SLF" wrote in message
...
My caravan is fitted with an Alco stabilizer. My car is fitted with the
correct tow ball that came with the alco. Now, someone is towing my
caravan 250 miles next week on the rear of a Luton van and obviously wont
have the correct tow ball.
Will this be a problem? I am a complete novice and I apologise in advance
if this is a stupid question.

thanks si

Thanks for all the replies Ekk

I think then from the responses its best we tow it with our proper towball.
I haven't towed it for 8 months but have bought some brake cleaner and will
clean the towball and the alco stabilizer inside before I use it, where the
pads are.

I wouldn't have a clue if the luton towbar was the right one to use. Problem
I have is we are moving and a "relative" is doing it and he said what
doesn't fit in the van can go in the caravan and he will tow it. I
personally think its a bad idea but he assures me it will be fine. I don't
want it coming off on the M5 with a lorry up my jacksey so will give it a
miss.

Thank you all very much for the help much appreciates