My new (to us) Elddis caravan has BPW chassis and a Winterhoff stabiliser fitted. My car however has a standard tow hitch fitted which is bare metal and not greased etc. We used to have a FC for which this was fine with a bit of grease.
My question is, do I need a different tow ball for the above set up? I understand that this is the case for Alko stabilisers but not sure about ours?
We had a standard hitch for our folding camper but when we bought our caravan from a dealer they changed the tow ball as it was not right for the Winterhoff.
the towball size is a standard 50 mm,if you use an ALKO type hitch you need the long neck towball. the winterhoff does not require this towball.NO grease anywhere when using both types.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
As Michael says. It's only the AlKo stabiliser that needs a special hitch, the Winterhoff is fine on any hitch. You do need to clean any grease off the towball before hitching up though as the grease will contaminate the pads.
You have confirmed what I had assumed but always good to check! I have been very vigilant around keeping the tow ball free of grease and debris so far (though only used it a couple of times).
Seems to me that the Alko set up is a bit restrictive. What if you need to tow your van with a different vehicle such as a recovery truck?
Anyway pleased to learn that for once I seem to have the right stuff!
I agree about the AlKo setup, it is a pain, one of the reasons I lefdt the AlKo towball on my car despite not having an AlKo hitch on the caravan anymore. At least if someone with an AlKo hitch needed a hand I can still hitch up and tow it for them.
Quote: Originally posted by audicab26 on 28/9/2011 Seems to me that the Alko set up is a bit restrictive. What if you need to tow your van with a different vehicle such as a recovery truck?
That would be no problem as any tow truck would have a suitable ball but it would just need cleaning prior to use.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
Quote: Originally posted by audicab26 on 28/9/2011
...Seems to me that the Alko set up is a bit restrictive. What if you need to tow your van with a different vehicle such as a recovery truck?
The Alko ball isn't restrictive - the only difference it it has a slightly longer neck to allow better clearance for the Alko hitch.
Both the Alko hitch and Winterhoff must be used on a grease free towball (for reasons already mentioned) and you would in fact have the issue of recovery, should your Winterhoff equipped van need retrieval too.
You can in fact tow any trailer/caravan etc with an Alko towball, which you can't do with a standard towball, as you'd be able to tow Alko hitch equipped caravans too.
Quote: Originally posted by DaveCoaches on 28/9/2011
I agree about the AlKo setup, it is a pain, one of the reasons I lefdt the AlKo towball on my car...
Exactly how is it a pain? It's a towball with a slightly longer stand-off neck.
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Topic: Do I have the right tow ball for Bpw?
