does anyone have a cure for winterhoff hitch creaking , we have just bought a new to us van fitted with a winterhoff hitch towed it behind our new range rover and the hitch was creaking badly ok when on the motorway but when manovering and going slow around the side roads it drives you nuts.
It sounds like the hitch pads are contaminated with grease or paint. Did you clean the tow ball of paint or protective coating and degrease it before hitching up? If not then that is probably the cause of the problem.
Perhaps the pads were contaminated by the previous tow car. On an Alko hitch it is easy to pop the pads out and clean them with emery cloth and brake cleaner, it doesn't always work but it's worth a try, I presume Winterhoff pads can be done in a similar way.
I know how annoying that noise is, and it always feels like everybody on site is looking at you as you drive to your pitch with that loud groaning noise every time you make a slight turn.
on our old audi the hitch was new and i had to clean off the paint before i towed with it so the last car and the new one both hitches clean, but that said the audi never creaked
I have a Winterhoff hitch and it is very susceptible to groaning if the slightest amount of dirt or damp gets on the pads. I normally give the tow ball and pads (you don't need to remove them) a quick clean with brake cleaning fluid before each journey and this is usually sufficient. However, on very wet journeys the pads do get damp and this sometimes causes the groaning to return.
I use a scotchbrite pad and brake cleaner on the pads, as well as the towball every time its used.
I wouldn't try to remove the pads as the plastic lugs have a tendency to snap off.
Just a thought; our Winterhoff hitch used to make those noises, but they stopped when we changed the car. Both towballs were shiny & clean, but I suspect that the issue may have been with the towbar mounting bolts on the previous vehicle.
I mention this because you say you have a new Range Rover....
pterodactyl
first thing i did when i got the range rover was to check all the bolts on the tow bar as i like to know everything is as tight as it is supposed to be.
Quote: Originally posted by cliffbrown on 05/1/2020
Like said I always rub the pads with wet n dry then spray with brake cleaner never have a problem, same with the tow ball
Yes, what the man said. You need to do this regularly. It seems to be caused by pad dust becoming impacted and you can see this by a glazed appearance on the impacted areas. Aim for a matt finish on the pads.
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Topic: winterhoff hitch creaking
via mobile 05/1/2020 at 8:49am
