Alko Stablizer - Towball Access (Help/Advice)

Hi, new to the forum and hopefully help is out there somewhere.

My problem.....

My Defender 90 has a drop plate type towbar and a rear door mounted rear wheel. The drop plate is set with the towball at the lowest setting.

My caravan has an Alko Stabalizer unit. When I first attempted to hook up, the available room between the Alko release handle and the bottom of the spare wheel did not allow me to hook up. Initially I had to resort to taking the spare wheel off to hook up and carrying the spare in the back, not ideal and unsightly.

Second time, I realised that if I backed staight onto the van, with the rear door open, I could connect up, remove the jockey wheel and then close the door (The jockey wheel handle preventing the door closing unless removed).

There must be an answer but all enquires with towbar type suppliers have been unhelpful. I am considering a swing away rear wheel carrier or a NAS rear step/towbar, but do not want to buy if this does not cure the problem, or if there is an easier solution. Any advice welcomed.



Regards
Dale

to combat this other cars are desinged with an offset on the spare eg disco.its a pain in the arse, but most people ive with it

Yep. No problems hookin up the alko on the Disco. Never had a swing away wheel carrier but it sounds like a plan that might work or you could go old school and bung ya wheel on your bonnet. With the spare on the boot it would stop ya van getting pinched when your parked up at the services.

Thanks for replies so far, this was never a problem with the Disco due to the offset of the wheel, and bonnet mounting has its own problems. I am looking for an enginnering or product solution to keep things standardish..

Get a bonnet mount bracket and fit it to the caravan.That way you can pop the spare on there when out "blocking the roads up".seems logical and cheap.

Beast o Bodmin said:

Get a bonnet mount bracket and fit it to the caravan.That way you can pop the spare on there when out "blocking the roads up".seems logical and cheap.

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:wtf: So your gonna suggest mounting a spare wheel on the caravan?Wheres that gonna go?Caravans have a nasty habbit of being made of fibreglass.Not so goo for mounting tires on.

goonarmy said:

:wtf: So your gonna suggest mounting a spare wheel on the caravan?Wheres that gonna go?Caravans have a nasty habbit of being made of fibreglass.Not so goo for mounting tires on.

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oh just ignore him, everyone else does

he's just the village idiot

or is he a troll?Was milfhunter a troll in the end or are we getting more than our fair share of muppets at the mo?

Oh FFS if you cant make a sparewheel bracket for a caravan theres no helpin ya

make a plate mount for the chassis under neath .OR back plate the fiber glass .

easiest way is to stick one of the thicker type spacers between the ball and the drop plate, or get one of the tow balls that is more like a swan neck.

Thanks, I had thought of that and tried a 1" spacer with the normal Alko Ball, still not enough room though. I can't find a swan neck Alko Ball towball, unless anyone knows of a supplier. The comments about fixing to the caravan are noted but I really want to keep the wheel on the rear door, and not drill holes in a brand new caravan. Please keep the ideas coming, there must be someone else out there who has encountered and oveercome this problem.

hope i'm not teaching granny to suck eggs, but it doesnt need to be an Alko ball, any standard ball is ok. just looked and found this one: Land Rover Parts and Accessories Special Offers Repairs and Servicing in London and Herts
4th item down is the one we have.

Hi I am sure you can get a replacement handle for the alco that is smaller and it comes with an extender that hooks on enable you to push the alco down into place when used on a 4x4.or you could fit an adjustable height tow bar and a 25 mm spacer to give you a little more room to lift.

the smaller handle is for the older model i believe.

y not just put ur spare wheel in caravan wen towing it

Still listening to ideas. the Alko is perhaps the best friction damper on the market, yes I could easily do away with it but then the problem of no stabaliser are there, with a 80" pulling a 8m twin axle caravan are still there.
Yes I could put the wheel inside the caravan/ rear of LR when towing, but this still involves undoing the three securing bolts and handling it. I want a solution that leaves everything in place, even if I have to buy something, there must be a solution.

buy a range rover.....job done.:crazy_driver:

Dale Turrell said:

Still listening to ideas. the Alko is perhaps the best friction damper on the market, yes I could easily do away with it but then the problem of no stabaliser are there, with a 80" pulling a 8m twin axle caravan are still there.
Yes I could put the wheel inside the caravan/ rear of LR when towing, but this still involves undoing the three securing bolts and handling it. I want a solution that leaves everything in place, even if I have to buy something, there must be a solution.

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get rid of the shed and use a hotel or b&b unless your a pikey selling tarmac

nothing wrong with caravans I have one (i'm not a pikey either! )

have a look here AKS2004/3004 4x4 Adapter Handle from Discount Towing