Hoping someone can help us, we have a 93 luna 400 clubman which we got 2 and a bit years ago and went on fine on the tow bar we had on our tow car.
3 weeks ago that car was written off thanks to a kind van driver and the back of the car is so bad there is no way we could rescue the towbar even if we wanted to. We had a new towbar fitted to the new car we have had to purchase and went to hitch the van uptoday to move it to a different storage slot to find the new tow ball is to big.
Hubby has done reasearch and in the measurments being changed from metric to imperial (or what ever way round it was) they made the tow ball bigger.
So we now have a caravan that we can not move :(
Does anyone know:
a) if you can replace the coupling bit on the caravan?
b) where you can get the parts
c) is it a job hubby can do or do we need to pay out for someone to come to the van to do it?
Hubby has done some looking but thinks it may have to be a new unit or something like that (sorry he is the technical one but I said I'd post as the stress is getting to him)
Hope this makes sense and any help would be grately appreciated.
the towbar was fitted buy the garage we got the car from, we went to towsure to see if we can get a smaller one but no luck, we only need to be able to move the van to another pitch and then to home as we pick up a new van next weekend!
A '93 caravan will have the same 50mm hitch as any caravan/trailer, 2 inch couplings went out in't 70s. Your hitch could well have 'gone over the cam', if you look underneath, you can lever it back with a large screw driver but it would be better to replace hitch.
You need to check make of caravan chassis. If Al-ko you will probabley have a 35mm shaft so you need Al-ko coupling for that size, 50mm bolt spacing. Simple to replace. you will need 19mm ring spanner & 19mm socket & breaker bar because nuts will be tight. Rear bolt holds front of hitch damper so you must make sure bolt goes thru it when you replace it.
Remove coupling & take it to a caravan shop to match up. A standard Al-ko hitch is about £20 odd.
If you can't understand this post you will need to pay somebody to do it.
If you only need to move 'van a short distance, look under hitch as you lift handle(you need to release safety catch & lift handle as far as it will go) & check metal wedge at back of underside of hitch is moving right back.
All this assumes you have a standard hitch, or do you have a stabiliser hitch? Whatever the problem it is with your caravan hitch not the towball.
thanks tentz I will print off and show to hubby I think it is a standard hitch as the caravan came with a bulldog stabalizer bar.
Just could do with out this all as I am not in a good position to help hubby due to back pain from the accident as I was in the other car at the time, may be calling on friends for favours me think !!!x
To clairfy a bit more & try & save you dosh, as you lift up the handle it relases the wedge underneath & allows ball to slide over it, wedge then springs back under ball. Releasing handle holds wedge in place. If hitch is worn, wedge can be forced under bottom end of handle so wedge cannot spring back as you drop hitch onto ball.
You can sort it out by levering it back into place with large screwdriver or nail bar. Once back in place with safety catch on, it will be safe to tow.
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Topic: replacing caravan coupling/hitch
