Hi, I have bought a tow ball to take an Alko hitch.
Can anyone tell me, please, if I need to scrape off the black coating on the new ball before I connect the caravan. The Alko hitch works byfriction and I'm a bit worried that if this coating is paint that it might destroy the friction properties in the hitch.
On the same vein, as I have bought a secondhand van, would the used hitch pads need adjusting to fit the new ball properly ?
I have just been through this myself. Yes you will need to remove the paint from the ball part using a fine emery paper. Some people dont bother doing this.
You should be able to adjust the pads accordingly. There should be a visual gauge/markers on the hitch to give you a guide to how worn your pads are.
You don't mention which Alko hitch, but I assume it's the AKS3004. The previous comments are correct with regards to removing the paint etc., however officially there's no adjustment available on the friction pads.
If you haven't got a copy, you might find the user guide useful for the hitch; you'll find a copy by clicking here
When you have removed all the paint from the towball it is advisable to spray the towball with clutch and brake cleaner as 'geoff+emmy' has said but also spray inside up inside the hitch too onto the pads to remove any contamination. When you drop the hitch onto the towball you will see a small red/green peg rise up, this is to indicate that the hitch is fully connected when the green shows. If the green peg doesn't show then it's an indication that the internal friction pads need replacing.
I have a small bag with a bit of wire wool, a tin of brake cleaner and some paper wipes so that I can clean the ball before hitching. I've been amazed how much rust a "clean" ball can get in a week on site next to the sea (even with a tow ball cover fitted).
Thank you for all your contributions, especially yours G7ACU. Having read the download I now understand how the system works and I'll feel a lot better picking up the van on Thursday.
Thank you for all your contributions, especially yours G7ACU. Having read the download I now understand how the system works and I'll feel a lot better picking up the van on Thursday.
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Topic: Alko tow ball
