Picked up my first van yesterday, a 1999 ABI Sprinter. All went well until I got home and the hitch would not detach from from the car. I tried pulling the car forwards, backwards, waiting for a bit, driving around the block, straightening car etc and playing around for ages but still no joy. In the end I unbolted the hitch from the caravan and after a lot of messing about the hitch became free form the tow ball.
I am getting the van serviced next week so will have it looked at and would probably prefer a new hitch fitted so I know its ok.
What could be the cause of this?
The guy I bought it off coupled the van up for me ( I just checked it) and he didn't want to let me near him when he was doing this which makes me think it has a problem he knows about.
Had a similar problem with a caravan I had just bought years ago.
The lever which releases the towball inside the hitch had rusted up. liberal use of wd40 and light grease should ease it. Remember to clean all traces of the oil from inside the hitch
I get the same problem sometimes, don't know what causes it but ours is an old van with a standard alco chassis & hitch, not one of the newer ones. when i have been towing the van & reach my destination sometimes it unhitches no problem, other times i have the devil of a job to get the car and van part company
not sure make of hitch but its a 1999 van. Hopefully the service guy will take a look but if its in any doubt I will change it because I don't want this to happen on site.
We are having exactly the same problem and this time nothing appeared to be going to unhitch it so my daughter sat in the back seat and bounced up and down whilst I was winding up jockey wheel yet again, this worked but hardly the ideal answer so look forward to advice
new van ,you don't know what type of hitch fitted ,without being funny = user error .there are several types of hitch fitted to various vans ,the alko and winterhoff types are dry fitted ,no grease or oil to be used on the towball at all ,as they have built in stabilisers .
the older normal type hitches need to be well greased before use .also the two types of hitch dry or greased /alko or non are completly different tow balls .so you should really know what you have fitted for your own safety .
your best bet is to research it further before spending any money on something you don't need .
off the record based on the age of the van i would GUESS its a standard fitting and therefore would require lots of grease on the tow ball was yours greased up ,if not its the reason it jammed on .research it before wasting money
thanks for all of your replies. The guy who serviced the van thinks it could only have got stuck because it needed some grease, which he has done. Otherwise he couldn't find anything the mater with it so advised not to change it.
our maiden voyage this weekend so we will see how we get on.
So you still don't know actually what hitch you have fitted then like 'the black fox' asked in their previous post? It all depends on what type of hitch type you have fitted as to whether it needs a grease application or not as all hitches are not identical. After all, the service guy only THINKS the towball needs greasing which doesn't sound like he has much knowledge or confidence in his comments. As advised, you need to do some basic research otherwise you may be greasing a towball that doesn't need it and if it's an Alko hitch with internal friction pads then you will do more harm than good.
yes i moved the van into storeage and it came off fine. He fully tested it and isn't the type of bloke to leave you stranded. If I do get any more issues I will be replacing it.
Glad you sorted it ,do a bit more reading up as most questions asked have been asked before ,and I,m sure you'll have plenty of queries after your first outing LOL
I often arrive at site and find my hitch doesn't lift off. Like one of the previous posts I simply open my tailgate and sit down on the car. It pops right off! no probs and I don't give it a second thought.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: car stuck to caravan
