Hi all, my neighbor recently stripped the thread on the anti rattle bolt on his Ford Territory tow bar. He was then advised by two different tow bar suppliers in Adelaide that one should never have the bolt tightened when towing which I find bizarre and question whats the point in having an anti rattle bolt in the first place if you have to leave it loose?. Any thoughts?, Rgds RR
ROAD RUNNER - excuse my ignorance but what is an anti-rattle bolt and apart from the obvious, why do you need one? I'm interested because our 'towbar rattle' turned out to be a cracked chassis!
The towbar gooseneck will only rattle when no load is attached, or near zero ball weight. With the anti-rattle bolt done up it will have to support the shifting load of the trailer and will eventually fail. Finger tight with no load, and undone when loaded, but probably wouldn't make much difference to a 6 X 4 garden trailer coupled to a standard gooseneck. If using a heavy WDH then you won't need a anti-rattle bolt at all as WDH's are usually a pretty snug fit.
But then again, why have the gooseneck or WDH fitted if no trailer is attached? Best excuse I've heard is to reduce damage if rear end shunted. Ozjohn.
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Retired Engineer, Ex Park Owner & Caravan Consultant. Holden 2.8 Colorado - Roma Elegance 17'6" Pop Top. Location: Mornington Peninsula Vic.
well i got a 2012 colorado and the rattle nut pulled of when i was tightening it up 3 spot welds if its only supposed to be used when you have nothing on the back i wonder why the dealers dont tell you when its fitted . cant wait to hear holdens excuse when i take it for a service.
The towbar gooseneck will only rattle when no load is attached, or near zero ball weight. With the anti-rattle bolt done up it will have to support the shifting load of the trailer and will eventually fail. Finger tight with no load, and undone when loaded, but probably wouldn't make much difference to a 6 X 4 garden trailer coupled to a standard gooseneck. If using a heavy WDH then you won't need a anti-rattle bolt at all as WDH's are usually a pretty snug fit.
But then again, why have the gooseneck or WDH fitted if no trailer is attached? Best excuse I've heard is to reduce damage if rear end shunted. Ozjohn.
Exactly, seems so logical. We used to fit a lot of the old style towbars before the Hayman Reese design became the norm. No rattle because there was no moving parts.
I solved the problem by welding a piece of 8mm rod to the side head of the bolt that seats in against the towbar tongue. That way I can adjust it to whatever torque I like by hand as I connect or disconnect my trailer. I don't bother adjusting mine normally as I only tow my tinnie to the local boat ramp, about 4 klms of smooth tarmac from my house. There's no way the few threads in the welded nut will ever support the stresses applied by a van on a tow bar. One upside of the Hayman Reese bars is you can put them away to prevent injury to your shins at the rear of the car, that has to be worth more than the odd stripped thread.
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You don't know what you've got till it's gone so I gave it all away to see what I had.
ozjohn, when you are say the anti rattle bolt doesn't need to be tight while you are towing,(as an example, a caravan)(my words) i have got a heavy duty H/Reece and it has a bolt that is screwed into a threaded hole,up until now i have tightenedit whenever i am towing caravan/trailer.do you suggest that i stop doing this?(maybe i am missing something upstairs)
Yep! leave it undone as it serves no usful purpose with the van attached, and on rough roads it may even flatted the end of the bolt making it difficult to remove or fit the WDH shank. With a standard gooseneck not under load, then finger tight will stop any rattles. Cheers Ozjohn.
-- Edited by ozjohn on Wednesday 12th of June 2013 10:01:49 PM
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Retired Engineer, Ex Park Owner & Caravan Consultant. Holden 2.8 Colorado - Roma Elegance 17'6" Pop Top. Location: Mornington Peninsula Vic.
Thanks for providing some insight and good explanation. My last 4x4 (Nissan GQ) didnt have a rattle bolt at all and I never had a problem or heard any rattle whatsoever. My current 4x4 (Landcruiser 100) has a bolt as standard and I leave it tightened all the time as a bit of insurance in case someone tries to take off with the tongue. I also found that having the bolt located on the underside of the tow bar can quite easily seize up if you don't loosen it occasionally. I think these days they fit the bolt on the topside edge which seems to be a smarter idea. Have fun out there wherever you may be. rgds RR
It's all good to say leave it loose when towing but I only tow a Suzuki on an A-Frame leave it loose and the rattle drives you mad, almost no ball weight but the load movement when accelerating or slowing makes it rattle like hell. Spoon drains and driveway are even worse. Needless to say mine is done up and will stay that way!
Could I ask a question? I have a 2004 Nissan Patrol fitted with a Nissan towbar (was on the vehicle when I bought it). From what I found from the previous owner, the car had towed a van of unknown size around Australia before he bought it. I assume it was on the original towbar assembly.
Last year I made Mk 3 version of a stone guard. This time it was bolted to the car, not the van & bolted to the body underneath & also fixed to the gooseneck (for added support). When we arrived home, the LHS bracket had snapped, the RHS had started. As I was rewelding a new bracket, it hit me - I have the bar connected rigidly on the sides but moving up & down with the goose neck. For a lot of the trip, we had our camper on the back (est ball weight of 120Kg) & we went over some "interesting" roads - well I assumed they were roads!
Can anyone tell me why the goose neck is loose? There must be a valid reason other than to frustrate amateur engineers!
Warren
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
