Al-ko friction pad failure

TandR replied on 06/08/2022 22:38

TandR

Posted on 06/08/2022 22:38

New Bailey van this year, fourth trip out and we couldn’t get unhitched due to failure of the top friction pad in the hitch. It had fractured at the weak point by the indicator hole. Previous Bailey was 11 years old and still on its original hitch pads. We were assisted at the time by a kind chap from a neighbouring pitch - also in a new Bailey who had suffered the same issues only weeks earlier. When we were getting the replacement kit at the nearest repair centre we were told that this had been a more frequent problem for about the last two years. Anyone else suffered this issue, and is there any information on cause and how to avoid a recurrence? TIA

2 replies

Fozzie replied on 07/08/2022 00:38

Member

Fozzie

from Kent

Posted on 07/08/2022 00:38

One possible explanation of the top friction plate failure is on hooking up if the caravan is "dropped" on to the tow hitch,with sudden thud,sometimes this cannot be helped if the line up is not exact.

We were at Warwick Racecourse site when a caravanner just could not remove the caravan from his car.Eventually the towball was removed from the car to free up the site access,and the problem addressed by a caravan engineer.