Thankyou, I'm glad you found it usefull.

Thank you, I hope you got your hitch sorted. I haven't used many other hitch types but if it has a built in stabiliser then it will likely have similar pads. Either way removing the towbar to release any tension on the hitch should help.

I'm glad you found it helpful. Hopefully you'll be able to avoid the issue now.

It is certainly one of those issues that has you scratching your head when it happens so I thought it would be useful to share. Glad you liked it.

Thanks glad you oiled the video. Useful idea to know about the silicon spray.

Winding down the jockey wheel and hmm "adding some weight" is a great suggestion.

It certainly does induce some mild panic followed by a lot of head scratching when it happens doesn't it. 😀 "Dropping" the hitch on is just a guess at the probable cause but it's easy not to remember like you say it quite likely that the previous owner may have done so. Glad you managed to release yours though.

Really glad it helped you and that you got home OK. Hope you had a nice holiday

You're welcome. Glad you found it helpful.

Hope the video helped. The fact that you had an issue with both the pads and the jockey wheel makes me wonder if it's worth checking your nose weight? We had issues with the jockey wheel and our nose weight was high. Correctly so, as our land cruiser can handle a high nose weight but it caused issues with ground clearance on speed ramps and generally put an excessive load on the jockey wheel. Just an idea, hope it helps.

You're welcome. I'm glad you found it helpful.

Hi glad you found it helpful. I think running the hitch with no pads in could cause a problem as it would significantly reduce the area of the bearing surfaces. This could cause wear on both the hitch and the tow ball. That's why I now keep a spare of the top pad in case it breaks again.

Thankyou glad it helped.

Thanks for the suggestion about using the motor mover. This was not an option for us as we don't have a motor mover fitted but useful option for those that do have motor movers.

I can see how the lift and wiggle approach would work. I think I prefer disconnecting the tow bar where possible but in situations where that's jot possible the approach you've described is certainly worth knowing. Thanks for contributing

@@DTSquared Unfortunately my tow bar was a factory fitted electric type, so removal wasn't an option.

You're welcome :)

Lol yeah sometimes you do wonder if denying all knowledge is the simplest option!! It probably is, in theory at least, possible to detach without removing the towbar but the van and car would have to be perfectly positioned with zero stress on the coupling. Something that would be very difficult to achieve. Even once we detached the tow bar, if I remember correctly, it still took some waggling to get it detached.

Can’t a good caravan troubleshooting outfit sort this out…..the AA ??

Thanks for posting solution for removable hitch. Do you recall letting the hitch drop on prior to it getting stuck? I know ours did but wondering if there are other causes.

Thanks glad you liked it.

Thanks glad you liked it. You're correct some tow bars would be either difficult or impossible to remove. (I think I alluded to that in the video) Someone else recently commented that they had this problem and the engineer that they called out used silicone spray to reduce the friction and then managed to release it whilst still attached to the car. This would be harder to do at cwrtain angles id guess. I'd you did use this approach then you would definitely have to replace (or thoriughly clean) all the pads as the lubricant would stop them from providing the damping (stabilising) effect.

Hi, I’m glad you liked the video. I think I’m familiar with the type of stabiliser you are referring to. It’s the type with a pre-bent flat metal bar that is attached to the car and tends to drag along the ground if you leave it on after unhitching right? We don’t see many of those here in the UK, my father had one on his caravan but that was probably more than thirty years ago. In terms of how effective they are compared with the new ALKO I don’t have any data or experience to compare though I expect they are similar since they are both effectively stiffening/damping the connection between car and trailer. I’ve known a few (very few) people that say they “don’t like the feel of the alko” but I suspect that is entirely subjective and most likely imagined. At a guess I’d say the new ALKO would have less collateral effects since the steel bar type is also (from memory) putting downward pressure on the coupling joint but the effect is probably minimal. From a usage and convenience aspect the new ALKO is almost certainly better since it requires no modification to the tow car hitch (apart from you are supposed to sand of the paint I believe) and there is nothing to carry once the trailer is unhitched. Usage is also easier I think since the new ALKO is simply a case of pushing the lever down whilst. The bar type requires pulling the bar up and into the receiver on the trailer which, again from memory, I recall as being quite awkward. Also the ALKO places no limits on the maximum angle in the joint if for example reversing and pushing the hitch at an extreme angle. The only downside I can think of is that the ALKO requires replacement pads, for us they probably last about three or four years but obviously it’s the milage that is the real factor. Bit of a long answer but hope that helps.

I think the only option in that case is to get the car and caravan onto a flat and smooth a surface as possible and wiggle the van until you can release the tension totally. Which won't be easy. Failing that it's probably a case of removing the hitch from the van, which is much more involved.

Hi Joe, there's two ways to measure the pad wear (on the side pads) the first is there should be an arrow indicator on the top with a graduated scale (that's often colour coded) You should check when you start you start to feel resistance as you lower the stabiliser lever. If its in the last (red) section then the pads need replacing. The other way is that with worn pads the lever become much easier to push down fully. If you aren't having to push quite hard then they are likely warn. I just changed mine and the effort required now is much more. It should go without saying that the lever should always be FULLY depressed. Not sure about how the tent peg / mallet released it. Where did you hit it?

If the pads aren't broken I'd say it's either some tension between the tow vehicle and the trailer or possibly the handle isn't quite releasing the latch. I often put the vehicle in neutral with the hand brake off to release any tension. Obviously won't work on a hill. Also if the last maneuver was reversing then the hitch piston will be compressed which makes it difficult to unhitch. Hope that helps and your journey tomorrow goes ok

Thanks for the clarification, and I'm glad you liked the video.

I suspect with an electric folding towbar you would probably struggle to remove it from the vehicle, especially with the caravan attached. A few other people have commented though with similar issues. One had a folding towbar (not sure if electric or manual) and could not remove it so removed the coupling from the caravan instead. Another actually called out a caravan engineer and they sprayed silicon spray into the coupling and waggled it (I would assume that ALL the pads would then need replacing or at least degreasing). The other approach someone found worked (recommended by a caravan engineer) was to use the jockey wheel to lift the rear of the car and then violently waggle the coupling / van until it released. Hope that helps

Yeah just wiggle it and it comes out then. The issue when it is still connected to the car is that there is too much tension on it.

👍

Usually does with most things:)