hi, can anyone help?
i have have just bought a 2010 Santa Fe, it had a whitta tow bar fitted and I've noticed that when a load is put onto the tow bar there a creaking noise coming from it.
its not the suspension as I've tested that separately, definitely coming from the tow bar or its mounting points.
If your caravan has an Alko stabilizer hitch & it creaks when coupled up, that will be the hitch creaking. The towball needs to be clean shiny metal with no grease, if it isn't then the hitch will creak.
sorry should have said, it creaks without the van attached and with me standing on the ball.
i thought it was the alko at first but tested it by standing on it.
Not noticed that without the van attached ('09 SF) - I do get some creaking when the van is on but that's my own fault - I forgot to sandpaper the paint off the new towball, so I've probably contaminated the friction pads in the Alko unit.
I've got self-levelling suspension - maybe if you haven't, it's something to do with that? Best ask the dealer (although they're useless with anything that can't be diagnosed by computer ).
------------- 'In later life, you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the things you did.' - Mark Twain
Quote: Originally posted by richardrobinson on 20/5/2013
hi, can anyone help?
i have have just bought a 2010 Santa Fe, it had a whitta tow bar fitted and I've noticed that when a load is put onto the tow bar there a creaking noise coming from it.
its not the suspension as I've tested that separately, definitely coming from the tow bar or its mounting points.
Has anyone had the same problem?
I've come across this thread whilst searching for answers to exactly the same problem. My 2011 Santa Fe with a newly fitted Witter detachable hitch craeks when you stand on it or hitch the 'van. It's not the suspension but the towbar itself.
I've cured my creaking (for now) by spaying WD40 araound the bolts and mounting plates. From the Witter fitting instructions http://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/uMedia/FittingInstructions/HY57Q.pdf , you'll see tree bolts marked "H". Whether it's just the way mine was fitted or a design issue, the lower most of the three bolts is around 1mm too long. When it goes through the sidearms (B&C), the end of the bolt touches the rear bumper cross member of the car. Any slight flexing in the towbar causes this bolt to rub on the subframe and the resulting noise is accentutaed throughout the car.
Try WD40 to see if things improve. Long term, and god knows how because the bolts are very inaccessible, I'll be removing said bolt/s and taking just a few mm off each end or trying to buy shorter bolts.
I have a Witter fixed bar on my 62 S/F 7 str Premium. Only towed van to dealer for recent service so can't comment long-term till France hol a few weeks away, but just stood on the tow-ball and moved the back-end a few times - but no creaks or rubs evident.
Can't imagine its down to suspension (7 str has self-levelling, 5 str does not)- more I think it's a fitting issue (note the underslung full size spare is very close to the main bar).
If you have a competent friendly towbar fitting company nearby, perhaps you should drop in for a more expert opinion.
Had bar fitted by supplying dealer and within a week or so of picking it up noticed a metallic vibration at tickover usually when hot. Apparently the bar was occasionally touching one of the exhausts (nearside I think)especially when exhaust was hot. They noticed the bar was fitted "a few mill out" so applied some kind of tape to the contact point, which has resolved the issue.
All I can offer is:
(i) there isn't a lot of room spare underneath to fit a Witter bar (esp. fixed one) and contact may be the cause &
(ii) I'd get a second opinion (towbar specialist)just in case the cause is something more serious like a loosened bolt, on what is a three year old vehicle and one that you do not know the towing history.
Alternately as pebble131 indicated it may be some idiosyncracy with the detachable Witter fitting mechanism.
Good luck - but I'd get it checked out just for peace of mind and less distraction when towing.
I can tell you that you are not alone. I have had a witter tow bar fitted to my 2013 Santa Fe since February and it has had the same problem. After doing battle with Hyundai for the last seven months, they have finally admitted it is a fault with the fitting. It is rubbing on the underneath of the car. A dealer in the Midlands has recognised this fault and carried out a local mod. to rectify it. Hyundai has taken pictures of the problems and according to their customer relations they have sent details of the mod to dealers to carry out.
My Santa Fe is in my dealers (for the third time) to carry out this mod, but even now there are mutterings of I should have had it fitted by them in the first place! A comment I feel is completely irrelevant as the fault is with the Santa Fe and the Witter tow bar fit!
quote 'A dealer in the Midlands has recognised this fault and carried out a local mod. to rectify it. Hyundai has taken pictures of the problems and according to their customer relations they have sent details of the mod to dealers to carry out.'
I have the same problem athough my dealer is being very helpful there has never been any details sent to them by Hyundai. Could you let us know exactly what the mod was and / or let us have the dealers name and address.
The mod to the towbar was carried out at my dealers ( Haddocks of Colchester)according to Hyundai's instuction and the fault has finally been sorted. I have just taken my caravan up to the North of Scotland and back with not a single Squeak or groan! If you contact customer.query at hyundai-car.co.uk or ring them on 0800 981981 they will know about this mod. It was them that told me about the mod and they sorted out with my dealer to get it done.