Towbar creaking Issue
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The front pad cannot come through two far as its screwed in front the front outside.
If the rear screw hasn't been screwed enough then it could protrude, as that is screwed in from the inside where the ball fits, I would say its unlikely through.
Are you 100% sure they did change all pads?
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When I first took it back they put in two new side pads. Then when the problem persisted they then put in new front and back pads. They also cleaned the tow ball with emery paper although it was already as shown in my earlier picture. So we will see what happens next week when I take it back to the service place. This is a certificated Lunar organisation. Hope they resolve the issue as it is a 40 mile each way journey once we leave the caravan storage so we have to amuse ourselves whilst it is being fixed. Will keep you posted on the outcome in case it will help others. Thanks for your responses.
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Suggest cleaning stabiliser pads and tow ball with Clutch & Break Cleaner to remove the build up friction pad residue.
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As promised here are the actions taken to stop the creaking. It can be caused either by contamination of the pads usually caused by paint on the ball becoming detached and impregnating the pads. However, the cause of my creaking was because I had cleaned up the ball too well. I had used emery paper to remove the paint and this left a polished surface. This meant the ball could not be gripped properly by the pads and the slight slipping caused the creaking. The cure was to get really course sand paper (he used a sanding disc in his hand) and he roughed up the surface to a dull finish.
I hope the above may prove interesting to some of you suffering with this issue, and thanks for those who contributed.
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The creaking noise on our caravan was due to the pads on the hitch being contaminated, I think the contamination is from the soot from the car exhaust, also see this soot in and around the jockey wheel area and on the plastic A frame cover, it's not much in the way of soot but its enough.
If you remove the pads you will see that the ball area of the pad has an almost perfect shine finish like a gloss finish this is the ground in soot.
I normally take the pads out about twice a year and use a course wet and dry with methylated spirits to break up this gloss finish back to a dull matt black finish then giving the pads a good wash off in methylated spirit and let them dry off.
With the van tilted back with the hitch as high as it will go for easy access give the internals of the hitch a good clean with a rag soaked in the methylated spirit.
The first time will result in quite a lot of black dirt being present on the rag, keep going with a new rag until the rag no longer has any dirt present, when clean dry the hit off with another clean rag and place the pads back in.
Use the same wet and dry on the tow ball and clean off with the methylated spirit job done.
The van is nearly 4 years old and the pads still grip fine when the lever / pads are engaged. I think it will take a lot of wet and dry polishing to wear the pads out.
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Some days mine creaks some days not, sometimes at the start of a journey and not at the end and vice versa.
Has anyone never had creaking??
I've noticed a change of pads can make a difference but it does'nt last. I'm guessing that it is part and parcel of friction or more likely stiction between the ball and pads. There is a force that needs to be overcome before the two parts move and this transition from static to moving generates the creak.
Unlike car brake discs the two parts are moving very slowly which make stiction creaks highly likely, also it is probable that the towball is optimised for strength not as a friction part such as a cars brake disc. I've noticed that similar creaking can be induced on a car if you very gently release the brakes on a steep hill.
Although they sometimes sound alarming I tend to ignore the towball creaks.
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Just a contrary thought.
Maybe creaking indicates the maximum friction is in action on the towball so everything is working as it should be. ie the surfaces are perfectly mated = maximum friction. This why new pads or sanding pads or ball reduces creaking by reducing friction therefore stiction by lowering the surface area in contact.
I would not sand towball at all as this will reduce it's life, in fact there are ISO regs that stop stabiliser manufactures using excessive clamping force to prevent premature wear of the towball (ISO11555-1)
Might be worth asking Alko.
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The link given by viatorem is ideal and shows the details well.
Reducing the two ball diameter using wet and dry would eventually take place but would take weeks and weeks by hand, think the car would be ready for a change before the ball is worn down, not sure what the minimum diameter is 50mm - 0.5 mm ??? not sure.
Even if it was say - 0.2mm this would take for ever to wet and dry off this off..
My first attempt to clean the pads did not give a very long lasting result, without cleaning the hitch internals any dirt left inside the hitch seems to transfer back on to the ball and then back on to the pads.
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