How to Fix a Noisy Creaking Caravan Stabiliser

A stabiliser that clamps to the towball, such as the popular Winterhoff WS3000, uses friction pads clamped tightly to the towball. This helps to prevent the caravan or trailer from swaying or snaking, and with some stabilisers, pitching and rolling as well. The pads are made from a similar material to brake linings, so that when in contact with the steel towball they will form a high resistance.

One of the consequences of this type of stabiliser is that they do creak a little, this is just the nature of the product. Should the creaking become noticeably louder then there are a few things that need to be checked.

Contamination is the most likely problem, commonly caused by contamination from vehicle exhausts. The picture below shows both clean friction pads and those where exhaust soot has polished onto the surface.

Other contamination can be from the towball, this should be bare steel and always kept clean. A new towball should be cleaned of any dull silver corrosion protection, zinc plating or other paint coating prior to use.

Cleaning the pads is fairly straight forward, simply rub with light sand paper grain size 200-400 and then ideally clean with aerosol brake cleaner. If cleaning is not possible due to extreme contamination or they are worn then they must be replaced. Replacement friction pads can be purchased online here:

• WS3000 Mk2 & Mk3 friction pads
• WS3000 Mk1 friction pad (No longer available)
• Al-ko AKS2500, AKS2700, AKS2004 & AKS3004 Friction Pads
• Alko AKS1300 friction pads

Other less common problems that may cause a noisy stabiliser are:

1. The towing vehicle and caravan or trailer are not towing level.
2. The nose weight is too high, check that the maximum nose weight permitted for you caravan and stabiliser.
3. The towball has become worn, rusty or deformed. In this case the towball must be replaced.

When replacing the towball any coating must be removed using light sandpaper,  grain size 200-240, to expose only bare steel.

Regular maintenance of the stabiliser is also essential, make sure all movable bearing points and bolts are lightly lubricated in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions.

Please contact us if you need further advice on 01392 216336 or visit our website