Trailer towball coupling adjustment

[Hydroman]

Hi all,

I have noticed lately a bit of a bang coming from the towball if I hit a big bump in the road. I had a look and there is about 5mm endplay on the ball, most likely due to wear. Do people normally adjust the screw (I have not needed to do this before) as I read a couple of posts on a caravan forum of people snapping off the screw after adjustment. I had a look on the AL-KO site and they say it should be adjusted but I was a bit hesitant.....I have adjusted it with about a mm of endplay now and will test next weekend or back it right off again based on advice given.

Cheers
Terry

[coln72]

In my experience, its operator error when people break those bolts off. They do them up too f^&*ing tight, thinking that wee little bolt is all that is holding the tow bar in.

[purple5ive]

Yes the screw is there for that reason, to accomodate different sized towball.also check if the towball tounge on your vehicle has the screw tightened on it to avoid movement/play

[Nude up]

Have a look on you tube there is always someone out there posting how to videos

[drew 2]

That might be a bit tight Hydroman,they need a bit of play so as you can get them on and off the ball if the rig is on a bit of an angle but won't do any harm. As coln said, they dont actually do anything in holding the trailer on the ball,it's just to stop it rattling on the ball.

[Hydroman]

That might be a bit tight Hydroman,they need a bit of play so as you can get them on and off the ball if the rig is on a bit of an angle but won't do any harm. As coln said, they dont actually do anything in holding the trailer on the ball,it's just to stop it rattling on the ball.

Thanks everyone.

Drew.....so you think about 1mm of endplay is not enough? When taking the trailer off the car, the trailer is level but the car is slightly uphill and I used to have problems at times getting it off the car but not over the last 12 months or so....probably the time when I stated to notice a bang coming from the rear. I will back it off a bit more as I really dont travel that far to the ramp so its not a big issue but getting the trailer off the car will be more concerning.

Thanks again everyone.
Cheers
Terry