What a tow!

Been away for the weekend with Caravan. Its the 1st time i've towed it with a Freelander (55 reg TD4 HSE). Got it hitched up o.k. Got to site, couldn't get it off

The caravan has an Alko stabiliser and the FL is fitted with a gen LR towbar(with spacer) and an ALKO ball. When you lift the habdle on the stabiliser it lists up but fouls the spare wheel. You pull the release handle but stabiliser pads are still gripping the ball!

When i was coming home I had to angle the car so i could get it back on.

Does anybody else have problems with this?

The new flasher relay was playing up as well. everytime you touch the brake pedal the relay clicks in and out but doesn't light the indicator on the dash or the indicators. To start with I kept thinking I had left the indicators on! Any ideas? I've put the original back for now.

Other than that I was pretty impressed with its performance.

Cheers

Tony

i would imagine you have a bad earth connection from the 7 pin socket to your vehicle, are you saying if the spare wheel was not fitted the hitch would work properly?

Freelance thanks for you reply. The earth connection should be sound. Its a brand new socket (plug-in) type and seems to work o.k. with trailer board.

Yes if the spare was removed it would work fine as the handle could be raised fully.

tonyt37 said:

Been away for the weekend with Caravan. Its the 1st time i've towed it with a Freelander (55 reg TD4 HSE). Got it hitched up o.k. Got to site, couldn't get it off

The caravan has an Alko stabiliser and the FL is fitted with a gen LR towbar(with spacer) and an ALKO ball. When you lift the habdle on the stabiliser it lists up but fouls the spare wheel. You pull the release handle but stabiliser pads are still gripping the ball!

Other than that I was pretty impressed with its performance.

Cheers

Tony

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Hello there
The Alko stabilisers have to be released separately before pulling the hitch off. mines an older one and has a red dial on the side that you turn to apply or release the stabiliser, new ones are slightly different. The amount of times i've been on site looking like a total tw*t trying to release the tow ball before remembering to release the stabaliser, i've lost count:doh:.
Glad you liked towing. I put Millers diesel performance in mine, it gives it a bit of extra punch and cleans the injectors.

tonyt37 said:

Freelance thanks for you reply. The earth connection should be sound. Its a brand new socket (plug-in) type and seems to work o.k. with trailer board.

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Surely that suggests the problem is with your caravan not the Freelander

had same problem with mine when first towed my caravan.It helped to open back door before hitching and unhitching.Then i bought a modifacation for the alko its a short removable handle that replaces exisiting one.Just unscrew the old one and the new one slips onto the two levers to use and you remove it when towing.solved problem.

davie said:

had same problem .....
Then i bought a modifacation for the alko its a short removable handle that replaces exisiting one.Just unscrew the old one and the new one slips onto the two levers to use and you remove it when towing.solved problem.

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Excellent advice, forgot cos mines a 3 door:doh::doh: and the spare wheels in a different place. You need one of these adaptors (check out some caravan forums), or you can get a longer swan neck ball but this costs loads.

Hi

If you search on ebay for alko 4x4 adaptor you will find what you need

Gordon

Cheers Guys. I found one on e-bay for £50. Is that about right?

Sounds about right to me, from what I remember. Should make things alot easier for you.

Hi Tony

Keep searching i only paid around £25 and it was new and i got one for my Dad for about the same

tonyt37 said:

Cheers Guys. I found one on e-bay for £50. Is that about right?

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Is it gold plated

Al-Ko do a genuine one for £32.71 for the AKS2004/3004, see:

AL-KO KOBER Ltd Stabilisers/Accs

Hi,
i had the same problem with the Alko stabiliser...was not going to pay £40 for a shorter handle, so removed the long handle from the stabiliser, easy, 1 bolt, then cut a piece of brush handle to fit between the two forks of the stabiliser handle (you will know what i mean when you take the long plastic handle off), drilled a hole down the centre of the wooden piece and then fitted it back between the forks. OK it doesnt look as nice as the Alko solution, but does the job and costs pence. The main drawback with either solution is the amount of effort then needed to push the handle down (and pull it up) to activate the pads onto the towball, guess thats why a long handle is fitted in the first place!!

Skinny Mike said:

Excellent advice, forgot cos mines a 3 door:doh::doh: and the spare wheels in a different place.

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Is it?

Why, where do you put yours?

Cheers

Blippie

Fitted a Hella relay today. Seems to have solved the electrical problems. Just need a handle and i'll be sorted to try again next weekend.

Got a handle (£30 + del - new) from ebay. Much better although it was a pain to get to as i put the bike carrier on. hella relay works like a dream. Sorted for the big off to cornwall at the end of the month.

tonyt37 said:

Got a handle (£30 + del - new) from ebay. Much better although it was a pain to get to as i put the bike carrier on. hella relay works like a dream. Sorted for the big off to cornwall at the end of the month.

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Hi Tony

Pleased you got sorted enjoy your Cornwall trip


Gordon