Cheap caravan hitch cover

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Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 5:03 pm
by Yogi (deleted)

I have just bought a Puck L 230GT. I decided that I needed a cover for the hitch, handbrake etc and very nearly bought one yesterday from a caravan accessories shop but stopped myself when I saw the price and decided to improvise in some way. I was looking in the shed for something when I noticed an IKEA carry out bag hanging up, the blue woven type with handles. tried it on the Puck hitch and it fits perfectly, the handles can even be used to tie it on. My wife tells me these bags are 40p! saved £9.60!

All the best, Yogi

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 5:34 pm
by Pepé Le Pew •

| 2.752 Posts

Nothing personal, Mr Yogi - and especially because you got a cover for nowt - but I still don't really get the point of hitch covers.

Other than providing free advertising for whatever company's got their monicker emblazoned all over it, what are they actually for?

It's not as if the parts covered by the cover (as it were) need protection from the elements or anything - the hitch assembly gets much more of a pounding from water and dirt while the van is being towed than it's ever likely to get from being rained on.

I noted with interest that some CaravanTalk people swore by them because they stopped their knobs fading from a bright Al-Ko red to a careworn pink in the sunlight. That's as maybe, but any other uncoverable red bits exposed to the sunshine will fade just as much.

And there are those who argue that it makes the hitch easier to see - and therefore less likely to trip over - for anyone walking around a caravan site.

I reckon that anyone who trips over a hitch on a caravan site deserves a crack on the shin for not having noticed that all towable caravans have hitches sticking out of the front.

And if they still trip over a caravan hitch on a caravan site full of caravans all of which have hitches, they've probably had too much beer.

And if they have had that much beer, a hitch cover is isn't going to prevent a drunken face plant into the hardstanding anyway.

Serve 'em right.

Last edited Sun Dec 29, 2013 5:40 pm | Scroll up

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 5:47 pm
by hob (deleted)

My TV aerial clamps onto my jockey wheel stem so no cover for me during the season and in the winter nothing that traps the damp in so no cover.

Time flies like an arrow...................fruit flies like a banana

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:02 pm
by Yogi (deleted)

Yes I take your points Mr Pepe'. I have had quite a few caravans over the years and have always thought it to be a good idea to cover up the hitch, especially over Winter, protects the mechanical parts etc. Yes, when you are towing the hitch is exposed to the elements, but the time when towing is just a fraction of the time that the van is parked or laid up over Winter.

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:49 pm
by Steamdrivenandy (deleted)

There again you can blow your whole years caravanning budget and get a silver Eriba/Hymer branded hitchcover which really looks the dog's dangley bits. Available from your Hymer/Eriba dealership of choice without telephone no., address or silly slogan.

P1010634.JPG comp..JPG - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

However even such a sooper dooper cover has issues as it's really shaped for the hitch on a Puck which isn't Al-Ko like the rest of the range and this means that your swish cover spends most of its time in a state of unreadable twisted discomfiture.

As to my current van's cover it's designed to cover all the red bits Mr Al-Ko chose to detail his hitch with, however it's a pity that the van spent nearly two years out in the blazing heat of West Sussex before I bought it, making the cover very necessary to hide the shame of red bits turned almost transparent white.

P7150802 comp.JPG - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Amber a Lunar Quasar 464 Sussex Amberley Sussex Caravans dealer special pushing a \'59 reg. Kia Cee\'d 3 SW 1.6 CRDi Automatic, a rough towing ratio of 86%.

Last edited Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:52 pm | Scroll up

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:51 pm
by Pepé Le Pew •

| 2.752 Posts

Quote: Yogi wrote in post #4
Yes, when you are towing the hitch is exposed to the elements, but the time when towing is just a fraction of the time that the van is parked or laid up over Winter.

But when you're towing the spray and dirt and stuff is forced by the eddies behind the car into places that would never even get wet while you're parked up in a British shower, even one to BS112933 rev. d.

Besides, any moving parts should be protected with whatever lubricant they should be protected with, and a lot of the hitch gubbins is galvanised in any case.

Still not convinced.

I do appreciate that you've had far more experience over a much longer period than I have, but I would humbly contend that doesn't necessarily make you right on this particular issue any more than my relative inexperience makes me wrong.

I await your reply with eager anticipation

Last edited Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:52 pm | Scroll up

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:13 pm
by Yogi (deleted)

I think it's one of those occasions where the old saying 'horses for courses' is appropriate. I'm now looking for a 40p cover to protect the whole caravan, minus the hitch that is, any suggestions!. However, having had one of these 'all over' covers on a previous van I'm not sure whether the advantages of such a cover outweigh the disadvantages. Any thoughts?

Yogi

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:19 pm
by Yogi (deleted)

Hey that looks a nice cover Steamdriven, I'm envious Puts my IKEA one to shame, colour coded with the logo as well

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:39 pm
by Steamdrivenandy (deleted)

I'm now looking for a 40p cover to protect the whole caravan, minus the hitch that is, any suggestions!.

You could ask Ellen nicely and she might knit you one, though I'd specify waterproof wool if I were you.

Amber a Lunar Quasar 464 Sussex Amberley Sussex Caravans dealer special pushing a '59 reg. Kia Cee'd 3 SW 1.6 CRDi Automatic, a rough towing ratio of 86%.

#10

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:10 pm
by marmite •

| 405 Posts

Remember Big Niko? He had a really stylish hitch cover - made by Dunlop available in black or green -

#11

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:24 pm
by Randa france •

| 13.283 Posts

Whatever happened to Big Niko? I don't remember his "stylish hitch cover" (more info. please?) but I do remember seeing photos of his remarkable "ablutions system" although don't ask me to describe them, far too technical....
Randa

1999 Eriba Troll 530 pushing a VW Touran 2L TDi Match

#12

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:55 pm
by Pop540 (deleted)

the other key holders locked the door, so was left on step... according to the rumors

#13

RE: Cheap caravan hitch cover

in Improving your pride and joy and how to fix things Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:08 am
by Crow (deleted)

It is possible to get a customised hitch cover, I had an Eriba cover but it seemed a very tight fit.
These covers do make a row of caravans look smart, and if each has a different logo, interesting.