Did you have a caravan before you had the Hyundai?

My first thought was that if you have the very common Al-Ko type stabiliser on the hitch then these can creak alarmingly. They have little 'brake pads' that clamp on to the ball (which should be dry, not greased) and the stick-slip motion between ball and pad when the joint articulates can only be described as a creak. I could hitch up my caravan and demonstrate it for you at will.

Cleaning the towball and wiping out the cup of the hitch, especially the faces of the pads, with a dry cloth reduces the creaking a lot.

This is so common, and well known, that someone must have mentiopned it during your saga - have you eliminated this, if so how did you do that?

I would have suggested just towing the caravan without the stabiliser clamped to see what difference it makes.

Edited by Manatee on 04/11/2014 at 15:54

Only two things cause tow bar noise.

1/ loose tow bar, had that twice.

2/ Contaminated Alko hitch, had that once on a new caravan.

I really don't understand why you have had more than one towbar fitted?

Hi. I took delivery of a new generation Santa Fe at aboout the same time. Purchased a new Elddis caravan ( hadnt owned or towed before ) and experienced creaking from the offset. I found that the tow bar had worked loose after collecting the caravan 300 miles away. ( caravan has winterhoff chassis ) The tow bar is a Witter item that was Hyundai dealer fitted.....badly! I had the dealer check the installation and they said it was carried out correctly. But the tow bar worked loose again. I was told that it should be checked after each use by the Hyundai main dealer! I installed two M8 bolts drilled into the two flanges with M12 bolts fitted to prevent the pivoting action of the assembly. It hasnt worked loose since but I still get the constant creaking noise even though I do not exceed the nose weight. The sound does appear to be coming from the two bar bracket where it drops down from the round cross bar as this is in constant contact with the spare wheel. I can simulate the creaking sound by standing on the tow bar and ' bouncing ' the suspension. I also wonder if the rear springs are too weak as the rear of the car drops rather more than I would expect for a car of this type so I am going to install some Grayston spring assistors. I measured the gap at 43mm so the insert required would be a GE15 for this generation of Santa Fe. The next time I tow I will remove the spare wheel to see if the creak is eliminated.

I hope this helps and I will reply again if I get a result. Regards.