I had no alternative but to drive it quite a few hundred miles without the stabiliser engaged and all was fine but the van did feel a bit twitchy on occasions, such as when braking when descending hills on wet roads.

I've replaced the pads today and put a smear of copper hmp grease on the shafts, the roller bearings and the spacers.I also removed the ratchet head and greased the threads and the ratchet mechanism. It had originally been lubricated with a thick white (lithium?) grease but the ratchet itself was quite dry..

I note that ALKO recommend that the pads should be cleaned with fine emery paper after each 'journey'. Do they mean journey or holiday I wonder? I suppose it all depends on the distance travelled between cleanings.

On occasions I have been unable to release the hitch from the ball due to the pads being too close to the ball so I suppose that's why I wound it out too far and caused the problem. I'll be more careful next time.

What was the condition of the pads Brian and have you changed them before?
Randa

To be honest, I couldn't see a whole lot of difference between the old ones and the new ones. The old ones were certainly glazed black and should have been cleaned some time ago and one was a bit damaged where I'd been trying to hammer it out from the opposite side before you posted Rodders' repair guide.

Interestingly, the old pads are made of a beige coloured material (so it's easy to see the black glazing on their surfaces and know when they are clean) but the new ones have black friction material which could make things a bit confusing.

The pads were the ones supplied with the van when I bought it second-hand from AL in 2011 so I've no idea how old they were or what sort of mileage they'd done.

Quote: hob wrote in post #16

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There's a how to topic for fitting new pads at my last service the engineer said wind it in to the first click to engage it and wind it out until you feel the slightest resistance then in 1\2 turn when dis engaging.

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Yesterday, I went to check out the ALKO 1300 tow hitch on our Eriba. The paint has been flaking off it for a few years so I decided to smarten it up a bit (not a lot).

However, I discovered that the friction pad adjustment wheel was very difficult to spin and was continually clicking as if the ball was giving the pads a resistance. The pads were new and professionally fitted this time last year. I suppose they must have seized up over the winter although the tow hitch has been covered.

Anyway, I did as Mr Crow suggested Problem with the stabiliser. Suggestions? and it worked a treat.

Although I knew that this thread exisited and after a fruitless search for it, Mr Calder found it for me so I though I would "bump it" in case others have the same problem.

One thing I've noticed since the new pads were fitted. The locking lever is very easy to push down and appears to offer little extra resistance. Any ideas?

Randa