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I have an Abbey Piper (1992) on a  Alko chassis and have just got a new stabilised  tow hitch for it made by "Stabifix", looks like a Winterhoff.

 Made in Sweden or Holland or Germany.

It's about 15 -20 years old but brand new out the box.

Anyone else got a Stabifix ?

Here is the question,

Do I use a Alko tow ball or an ordinary one

An Alko towball doesn't just give extra clearance from the flange to the centre of the towball but also has extra clearance underneath too which a standard towball doesn't have. It is designed this way because if when you are travelling over uneven ground and the car tilts one way and the caravan the opposite way you need that extra allowance for the hitch to swivel. Click on the first link and see directly under the towball as this a standard towball without the extra clearance. On the second link look at the difference in clearance.

http://www.wilstow-trailers.co.uk/17kn-standard-towball-528-p.asp

http://www.towequipe.co.uk/products/alko--geniune-alko-towball-for-alko-stablizer-system.html?gclid=CJjYspW5yLACFcQKfAodv1cbMQ

Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 12/6/2012

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has extra clearance underneath too which a standard towball doesn't have. It is designed this way because if when you are travelling over uneven ground and the car tilts one way and the caravan the opposite way you need that extra allowance for the hitch to swivel.

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Ref quote by Andy JC:  I was always under the impression that this was the only difference between a standard and Alko ball hitch. Is there also a difference between the distance from the ball and the bumper as well?

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The two differences between a standard towball and an Alko towball are the clearance below the towball itself and the centre distance from the centre of the towball to the bolt on flange. Some think that you can just put in a spacer between a standard towball and the towbar to give the extra clearance but it still doesn't offer the extra clearance needed on the lower part of the towball. In other words there's no quick solution as it has to be a proper Alko towball designed to do the job.

As mentioned also is the swan neck towball. This type of towball is satisfactory to use because as there's no bolt on flange there's no restriction for the hitch to turn and there is always sufficient clearance underneath too. So basically, if you want to use an Alko type stabiliser you have to either have a swan neck type towball or an Alko towball with the fixed bolt on flange type. I have a proper Alko towball fitted but I also have a half inch spacer too in between the towball and flange to allow any extra movement on tight manouvering such as reversing etc. plus there's extra clearance for the rear of the bolts that which enables you to clean the rear bumper when washing the car down. I tried shorter bolts but I prefer a full thread on each of the bolts for maximum clamping efficiency.