New Volvo XC90 noise from towball?

Marshruka
Marshruka Forum Participant Posts: 2
edited April 2016 in Towcars & Towing #1

We have recently bought the new XC90 to tow our caravan and have lots of creaks and groans coming from the towball,  or is it the tow hitch ? The towball is not painted and appears clean,  so not sure what the problem is?  Any advice on solution? 

 

Comments

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #2

    If towball clean then it is almost certainly the hitch femove the pads and clean them until they are a sand coluor,also get some brake cleaner,i spray some on hitch and coupling befoere each trip

  • catherinef
    catherinef Forum Participant Posts: 647
    edited April 2016 #3

    This was exactly the same issue I reported a couple of weeks ago.  As JVB has said clean it up before you tow again with sandpaper at the very least. May also be worth cleaning the friction pads on the alko hitch too.

  • xtrailman
    xtrailman Forum Participant Posts: 559
    edited April 2016 #4

    Is the ball a alko one?

    If its not contaminated pads its not unknown for the towbar to be loose, i've had that happen twice, but usually after a year or two in service.

  • IanH
    IanH Forum Participant Posts: 4,708
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #5

    More to the point, Marshruka.....how well does the new XC90 tow?

  • Tigi
    Tigi Forum Participant Posts: 1,038
    500 Comments
    edited April 2016 #6

    I had this on the last outfit no amount of cleaning ever cured it, the tow bar was a Westfalia Detachable and Alko Stabiliser.  

  • Marshruka
    Marshruka Forum Participant Posts: 2
    edited April 2016 #7

    Thanks for the responses. Took a more abrasive paper to the ball and found a shiny one! Still a little bit of noise but vast improvement.  Hitch is a Winterhoff and still cautious of cleaning pads up too much as wear indicator is heading for the midpoint.
    (IanH, haven't really driven it far enough yet to highly recommend but initially seems effortless. ) Thanks all M.

  • IanH
    IanH Forum Participant Posts: 4,708
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #8

    I'd try sticking some new pads in. I did this in France last year after alerting the whole camp site to my arrival with the creaking and groaning. Fortunately I had a set of new pads with me.

    I was amazed at the amount of effort needed initially to push the red lever down, but now it's fine and no more noise for a while.

  • Metheven
    Metheven Club Member Posts: 3,987 ✭✭✭
    1,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #9

    I have the Winterhoff hitch and last year had a few groans out of it whereas previously it was quiet, a cleanup of the pads and it was silent. Assume the inside gets contaminated from time to time with moisture/pollution so a periodic clean with something
    like brake cleaner never goes amiss.

  • IanH
    IanH Forum Participant Posts: 4,708
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #10

    Mine had already had several rub downs and cleans and were at the limit of the 'wear indicator'......I'd bought a replacement set but didn't fit them until I felt I absolutely had to (being a tight Yorkshire git
    Wink)

Categories