Hi.
last week I purchased a 2014 Tekna 173 HP at 40,000 miles and in very nice condition.
The car has Witter detachable vertically mounted swan neck a tow-bar preciously fitted when I purchased.

Problem.
the car tows very well though I have only towed with for aprox five miles because when I move off I am hearing a "creaking" noise from the rear of the car at any speed.
I have tried lifting the A frame of the van whilst still coupled to the car and sometimes the creaking noise appears to be coming from the rear left side of the boot.

I checked all ten fixing bolts under the car finding all very tight but of course cannot check any others which are hidden under the bumper.

I loaded the rear of the boot with 100kg of sand bags to try and emulate the vans nose weight and there was no unusual noise on a test run.

Has anyone had any problems like this please as I really cannot feel safe driving the car as it is.

Do you have friction pads in the vans coupling? These creak badly at the start of a journey. Is the towball smooth and rust free?

The creaking noise from a coupling could appear to come from elsewhere but friction pads would be my first thought.

Again, IF, you have friction pads, are they contaminated?

Thanks X trail Nut.
Yes I have and I cleaned the four pads with brake cleaner and also the tow-ball.
I did run a few yards without clamping the pads and the noise was still there.

I once had a clunk from the towbar which turned out to be a few nuts that were not 100% tight, but not a creak.

The creak is very typical of friction pads, every time I take my caravan out it seems noisy to begin with but soon settles down. I think 5 miles is not enough for it to settle, but I understand your concern, you don't want the van dropping off! I suppose you could pay a towbar fitter to check it.

Have a look at this

http://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/ ... try1472534

It reminded my that on mine I did have a creaky noise that came from the caravans brake actuator rod, the one that goes from the hitch to the brake balance bar (middle of the axial), half way along, mine had a crude sheet metal bracket with a hole through it to support the brake rod, so the rod scrapes inside this hole making a horrible noise. A quick squirt of chain wax cured it.

Assuming its an alko hitch ......

Has the hitch been serviced and greased on the grease nipples. Does the overrun piston push in smoothly with a bit of effort and return again.

If all seems ok then if you can hitch up another caravan or laden trailer and see if its the same.

Best regards
Milton

What van and hitch type have you got?

The Witter detachable is identical to mine.

Another thread
http://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/ ... bpw-hitch/

Mines a bpw hitch and I believe the pads are about £100. However, they are the original 9 year old ones and the indicator shows little wear.

Mine was creaking and groaning on the way down to Poole. When I got to reception on site I lifted the alko arm and when I drove to the pitch, silence. I have removed and cleaned the 2 side pads which were glazed shiny which apparently they shouldn't be which causes the creaking according to posts on the Web. Have not got kit to remove the front and back ones. Will see if has cured it on the way home.

Firstly thank you all for your thoughts.

I have only had the car for eight days, I took my concerns to the Nissan Dealer from whom I had purchased the car from and it is now booked in to have the rear bumper removed to allow all the tow-bar fixing bolts to be inspected and re-torqued and at the same time they will inspect the rear suspension and chassis area.

Assuming that all is found to be OK then at least I will feel confident that the above checks have been made and then I will take the van out loaded and for a good run and see how things go from there.

a few years ago I had a new Renault Megan which I had a tow-bar fitted by the garage and after quite a few trips out with the van i checked underneath for something and discovered that four of the main chassis fixing bolts were loose as in only finger tight.
Hence my concern.

Sorry folks that it has taken a while to get back.

On reporting the creaking noised to the Nissan garage I purchased the car from and after a lot of discussions with the service manager they decided to have the car back and at my request remove the bumper to check that all the tow bracket fixings were tight and they also said they would visually check the chassis and rear suspension.
The result was, they found the cut out in the bumper which fits around the tow bracket was very tight.
they have now cut back a little more of the bumper to give a slightly better clearance and though I was not convinced this appears to have solved the creaking noises.

the garage assured me that fixings were tight and everything else appeared OK.

I have since "Tugged" the van (a 2009 Bailey Pageant Burgundy) to the east coast a return journey of around 200 miles and all was OK. the car performed great and is so much better and more relaxing to tow with than my T30 which I had always been satisfied with.

Again thanks for all the comments.