I have an ABI Brooklyn 2001 and need to buy a Hitch Lock.
The van is in Cornwall and i am Nr Bristol, i need to know what type of tow hitch i have on the van, without going for a 320 mile drive to have look for myself.
Any advise would be appreciated.
bob
------------- Mitsubishi Pajero 2.5 LWB.
ABI Brooklyn 600eb 2001
Or perhaps go for one of the universal hitch-locks? Especially as the Alko ones are very expensive, & they don't just go on straight away, they come with a fitting kit which involves nuts & bolts. (a kit I'm trying to get hold of myself, without buying the whole lock assembly).
There are many different types of hitch lock on the market. As Mike says, if you have any pictures it would help.
At that age hitch could be either standard or stabilizer so without knowing that you can't really buy a hitchlock. If you have to go to the caravan to fit the lock then it shouldn't be too hard to locate a caravan shop near the carvan & buy one there.
If you can find out if caravan has standard hitch then the box type hitchlock will ok otherwise you will need a more specific lock.
The hitch is interchangable so it may not have the original hitch fitted. It could have been replaced with a Winterhoff or maybe an Alko which is very popular but there again there are different types of Alko hitches that require different types of hitch locks. Alko have produced the 1300 model, 2000 AKS and the 3000 to name a few and although I have the Alko AKS 2000 I had to change my hitchlock as my previous caravan was an Alko 1300 and the designs are quite different to which only certain types of hitchlock can be used which are not universal. So you really need to find out first what hitch is fitted to your caravan before you buy a hitchlock but if you have any photo's of the hitch then you will certainly get help on here to explain what hitch you have.
Quote: Originally posted by bob cole on 08/1/2012
Thanks for the replies so far, Looks like i have to put that on hold till i go down again and will have a look then.
regards.
bob
Buy one when you get down there - you've got to go down to fit it in any case? Penrose at Scorrier?
Depends how secure a lock you want, there are several universal types that will fit any hitch, one, a yellow one has a ball that goes into the hitch and a bar that goes over the top and locks in place. Another is a metal box type that goes over the hitch and locks in place.
Both are on Amazon, and cost around £15. Dont know how strong they are.
Hi Bob, there are only one or two that cause theives any relatively serious delay in nicking you van. Depends on what you have at the business end of you van though.
A hitch lock. or for that matter any security device can be removed in a few minutes by someone 'experienced in that sort of thing'. They are better to deter the 'opertunist thief'. If you have two identical vans next to each other, one with hitch lock, one with no lock - all things being equal, guess which one they will go for!!
I have an ALKO stabilizer hitch & I use the Bulldog mini hitch lock that I used on my previous non stabilizer hitch on my previous van http://www.bulldogsecure.com/category/22/1/hitchlock
It works very well & can be fitted when the van is hitched to the car (but not for towing)the advantage is they can be bought quite cheap on Ebay & are more thief resistant than the ALKO hitch lock
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Topic: Hitch Locks
