Hi at the moment i have a bulldog stabiliser and am thinking about buying a alco one,i just wanted to know if they are much better and are they easy to fit ?cheers.
I have 05 Tabbert Tab caravan - it has an AL-Ko chassis / frame with surge brakes. So far it has preformed flawlessly here in the Arizona heat - up and down mountains ( 2000 - 9000ft elev.) and thru our desert ( 119F plus ). I have never liked the surge brakes systems and have always had electric brakes on my caravans and cargo trailers - but the brakes on the Al-Ko are the best surge brakes I have ever owned.
Just my 2cents worth.
------------- John & Juli
05 T@B - "T@Basazi"
YMCA Indian Guides & Princesses 95-05
YMCA Adventure Guides 05-06
Sioux Nation,Hohokam Nation, San Tan Expedition, Anasazi Tribe.
Im onto my second Alco and personaly cant fault them,,,,,,,, no more cold sweats when i see the county hoping coaches coming up in the rear view mirror. I fitted one myself to my old van took about 20 minutes, just follow the very clear instructions, they even supply the star key for the bolts. An absolute breeze to fit.
One bit of advice is either hire or borrow a torque wrench.
There are a couple of points about the Alko. Remenber to add the extended neck on the towball, I think if you buy the kit from towsure they include the ball. When I had my first AKS I had tremendous problems unhitching from the my 4x4 it tended to stick on the towball. It got to such a point that I was going to remove it and use my trusty old Bulldog stabiliser. In the end I emailed Alko they rang me the next day and explained that if you reverse on to a pitch just pull forward a couple of inches to disengage the overide mechanism. If that didn't work then there was a small cam which locks the hitch to the ball just lightly oil the pivot pin as this was probably sticking. Since then never had a problem and do recommend them as to fitting it I am not sure.
We got an alko fitted to our van we got last year. Worked so well. We take delivery of new van in the morning. Would have fitted it to the new one other than it is coming with one,but most importantly would have needed another larger model. I tow up to 60mph on the motorways and never a problem. They do a few different types. Which one you need depends on the weight you are towing. You could always do the safest thing and get the largest one. Then it will fit any van you get in the future. We got the smallest one and I think it only tows up to about 1200kg. Van was less than 900kg though.
Ok, I thought they were talking about brakes - they meant the anti-sway ( as we call it here in the states ). I have not used the Al-Ko anti-sway but I imagine they are as good as anyones.
Here in the States most larger caravans and cargo trailers come with electric brakes. We use the hydrualic ( surge ) brakes on the smaller caravans, boat trailers, etc.. I prefer the electric brakes - they offer much more control on the mountain roads - you can apply the trailer brakes with out applying the car brakes if you have to ( to straighten things out ).
Quote: Originally posted by JohnG on 12/1/2006
Wow a reply from Arizona
The question was about the Alko hitch that incorporates friction pads and is thus a stabiliser to combat snaking etc
This is nothing to do with the brakes
Its interesting to read that you have electric brakes as the norm
I have the Reich electric brakes as an after market accessory and find them an advantage.
Post last edited on 13/01/2006 06:51:58
------------- John & Juli
05 T@B - "T@Basazi"
YMCA Indian Guides & Princesses 95-05
YMCA Adventure Guides 05-06
Sioux Nation,Hohokam Nation, San Tan Expedition, Anasazi Tribe.
hI John, we had an Alko fitted to our caravan when we picked it up as BIL said they were far better, all i can say is they are great as you get no/little sway when wagons pass. Sometimes we have to look in the rear view window to check the van is still there as everything is so smooth.
I was a total sceptic when we had one on the Ace 4 years ago but they are far less hassle to use than the blade type and I have been totally won over.
I have tried to sell my Straightliner which is slightly better but as Alko say that you should not use 2 stabilisers I put it in the for sale but nobody wants it so far
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Topic: alco stabiliser
