Stabilisers

[Yorkie V8]

When the van hooked up to the Rangie I find the stabiliser pops out of the shoe on the draw bar too easily when towing. Two questions then, can I turn the shoe upside down to raise it or Is a stabiliser something not really needed on the Rangie for towing the van.

Yorkie.

[OldFart]

Hi Yorkie :)

Which stabliser do you have, is it the bulldog ?
Tried it with mine off for one trip as i was going off roading and the bracket sometimes grounds out, needless to say it went back on where its stayed ever since, its the HGV's overtaking on the motorway that caused it to sway uncomfortably :yikes:
Now i take the braket off when i get to where we're going :)

[jack]

hi yorkie
you can get ajustable one's that you set to the hight you want.look at www.towsure.com
andy

[Otter]

I bought a Winterhoff stabilised hitch head off ebay. Easy to fit and the van now corners on rails. A tiny initial buffet from HGV's is instantly damped out. The downside is you need to fit a swan neck tow ball (not hard and about £15). I got away with it as I have a pinball wizard and a spacer fitted.

[Yorkie V8]

Thanks chaps, it seems I have a snakemaster, having visited the link in the above post ( thanks Jack). All I need is an adjustable shoe. The winterhoff looks a nice piece of kit but a bit pricey at the mo'

Yorkie.

[Otter]

I paid less than £100 for mine! Money well spent, you must disconnect before lowering the jockey wheel otherwise it does not like disconnecting though!

[Bush Tucker Man]

The Winterhoff is a nice bit of kit, I retro-fitted one to the Elddis.
The price, especially as you'll need a new hitchlock is high.

I've only noticed the initial buffeting like Otter, but even that's dependant on the type of semi-trailer.
I find that curtain-sides cause a greater sway, as the air-flow is more disturbed.

A Winterhoff (or Alko) does, however, remove the need for a stabiliser bracket hanging down below the tow-ball & drop-plate which in turn decreases the departure angle.
A point worth considering???

[jack]

hi again
i have a bulldog stabiliser.but i deliver caravans for work so have tried a few i think the best i have used is the AL-KO 2004 a bit to dear for me.
andy

[Otter]

I liked the Winterhoff because it had the pad wear indicators and it was single lever operation. The ALKO 2004, IIRC, has a 2 lever operation but has 4 pads instead of the 2 on the Winterhoff.

The new van has the ALKO fitted and once I get it and have a chance to play with it I shall give you a report!

[Janine]

We've got a Bull-dog on the disco.It's on all the time and causes no probs.I agree the departure angle is altered but I try not to get into situations often where I need a greater angle.:p