AL-KO Rear Suspension Torsion Bar FAILED

Well a little update seems in order.

I left the fantastic Fraser Brown Engineering, rear axle completely refurbished and re fitted.

I cannot thanks Fraser, Dougal, Jim and Tim enough for not only work of the highest quality (remember you can also have them arrange an overnight courier, for your axle if you even in Cornwall or beyond)

I can't post every detail on open forum, as i am sure some of the very clever, technical things might be stolen by others in a vain attempt to copy the skills and expertise they have developed in a lifetime of REAL engineering. I was, however allowed to follow my axle through every single stage, so if you have an Alko axle of generally around this age, they are the people to advise and guide you and obviously ask me anything.

Also, a special thankyou to Fraser and Sue for insisting on making me a most welcomd guest in their home, during my stay.

So, fully suspended, relaxed and refreshed I set off Coast to Coast, to Inverewe Gardens (2days) up to Ullapool (2 more days) and up again to Durness (yes, 2 more days) now i have just wild camped at Duncansby Headhouse (one of the most amazing wild camping spots i have ever overnighted at)

So i have put my new fully reconditioned axle through its paces on some winding and undulating terrain and, i must say it feels like a new camper.

I now even have accessible nipples and not only that, my nipples that hit the spot!

Right, having said that, a spot of breakfast and a mooch down to Wick, seems like a plan.

See you all soon

Ed
 
Ed on Toast said:
Well a little update seems in order.

I left the fantastic Fraser Brown Engineering, rear axle completely refurbished and re fitted.

I cannot thanks Fraser, Dougal, Jim and Tim enough for not only work of the highest quality (remember you can also have them arrange an overnight courier, for your axle if you even in Cornwall or beyond)

I can't post every detail on open forum, as i am sure some of the very clever, technical things might be stolen by others in a vain attempt to copy the skills and expertise they have developed in a lifetime of REAL engineering. I was, however allowed to follow my axle through every single stage, so if you have an Alko axle of generally around this age, they are the people to advise and guide you and obviously ask me anything.

Also, a special thankyou to Fraser and Sue for insisting on making me a most welcomd guest in their home, during my stay.

So, fully suspended, relaxed and refreshed I set off Coast to Coast, to Inverewe Gardens (2days) up to Ullapool (2 more days) and up again to Durness (yes, 2 more days) now i have just wild camped at Duncansby Headhouse (one of the most amazing wild camping spots i have ever overnighted at)

So i have put my new fully reconditioned axle through its paces on some winding and undulating terrain and, i must say it feels like a new camper.

I now even have accessible nipples and not only that, my nipples that hit the spot!

Right, having said that, a spot of breakfast and a mooch down to Wick, seems like a plan.

See you all soon

Ed
Click to expand...

Its nice to hear your good news, and that there are still engineering shops that do such a good job.

:dance::dance::dance:
 
Resurrecting this thread unfortunately ...

I have had a torsion bar break - I heard it go whilst reversing but I didn't realise what had happened.

Since then there have been a few loud cracks from the nearside rear, and following discussions with my mechanic who looks after the 'van and Jim at Fraser Brown, the diagnosis has been confirmed by measuring the ride height.

The nearside rear has dropped about 25mm, slightly more than the 15-20mm that Jim suggested might be the case.

So my mechanic is going to remove the axle and it will be despatched to Fraser Brown for refurb. I am going to opt for the remote greasing option so I can grease at the suggested 1,000 mile intervals without crawling under the 'van.

Given that I now full-time it's going to be odd staying in the 'van for around 10 days in the garage yard!

It's worth noting that Fraser Brown no longer offer the option of taking your vehicle to them. They don't have sufficient space.

Very impressed by how helpful they are. There's an interesting video about the refurb process here:

AL-KO Axle Repair and reconditioning
 
Now that sounds like a solid recommendation...

I would certainly put Fraser Brown's services up there at the top of the list when we need anything similar done.
Sounds like you found a winner there.
Thanks for sharing too.
Slainte, Growlie69
 
More than a year since i had my work done by Fraser Brown Engineering and it is still faultless.

I could not recommend the team there any higher, 10 out of 10 in all areas.

Ed
 
I've had a few conversations with Jim and he has been most helpful and clearly very knowledgeable.

My axle is being removed on 1st October and shipped north. I'll update this thread in due course.
 
round torsion bars

I see they also sell the round torsion bars like I replaced on my shed, handy to know as alko will not sell to the public anymore. public being lots of people with broken alko bits on their motorhomes.:mad1:
 
With the state of the roads and all the speed humps it no wonder suspensions fail.
 
That and motorhomes run at maximum weight or over, combined
with a bit of poor design.
 
With the state of the roads and all the speed humps it no wonder suspensions fail.
Click to expand...

whilst no doubt true of suspension systems in general (my wife has has replace front spring 3 times on her polo) the problem with ALKO is that they need wheels off the ground greasing every 12 months and these days most people dont even own a grease gun let alone know how to use one!

lifting a three ton (or more) motorhome wheels off the ground and crawling under to grease it is more than can reasonably be expected of the average owner (and who would trust a 'service center'?)
 
According to Fraser Brown, and given their experience there's no reason to doubt them, there's a design problem with Al-Ko axles.

No matter how you grease these axles they will fail because the grease doesn't go where it's needed.

My 'van has been greased with wheels off the ground in the three years I've owned it but may not have been greased in that way before, but that appears to be irrelevant.

Fraser Brown modify the greasing system to ensure that the grease does what it should. They advise greasing every 1,000 miles and the suspension does not require unloading.

A remote greasing system is offered to remove the need to crawl underneath. I am having this fitted.
 
POI Admin said:
According to Fraser Brown, and given their experience there's no reason to doubt them, there's a design problem with Al-Ko axles.

No matter how you grease these axles they will fail because the grease doesn't go where it's needed.

My 'van has been greased with wheels off the ground in the three years I've owned it but may not have been greased in that way before, but that appears to be irrelevant.

Fraser Brown modify the greasing system to ensure that the grease does what it should. They advise greasing every 1,000 miles and the suspension does not require unloading.

A remote greasing system is offered to remove the need to crawl underneath. I am having this fitted.
Click to expand...


I note that FB do have an aftermarket solid torsion bar replacement, seems to make much more
sense than a multi leaf spring torsion suspension setup, assumes the aftermarket firm know exactly what their doing of course! The axial twisting of several flat bars just seems 'unnatural' somehow, the leaves would be constantly rubbing against each other, and how it could it have been expected for grease to migrate the full length between the leaves and to the bushes via one grease nipple per side, seems to be expectation of hope
over reality. On parabolic and semi elliptic leaf springs, there are usually leaf separating pads or shims,
to prevent wear and rust binding.
Still what do I know, I'm not an Al-Ko design pro engineer.

And the rectification remedy isn't cheap either. Al-Ko should be paying a pro rata rate
based on a time/usage criteria, even now.
 
They advise greasing every 1,000 miles and the suspension does not require unloading.
Click to expand...


which without remote greasing is totally unrealistic - even with its a bit much (who wants to be carrying a grease gun around with them?)
 
malagaoth said:
which without remote greasing is totally unrealistic - even with its a bit much (who wants to be carrying a grease gun around with them?)
Click to expand...

I do.
Wait a mo though don't laugh.... yet! But I go away for 4000 miles. I choose to grease the required 7 points on
my van around 2000 to 3000 miles. Reasoning that 10 minutes spent under the van (no jacking) is
a worthwhile tradeoff against the hassle of premature replacement of the kingpins (not an easy job).
 
whilst I admit that I am not the greatest 'hands on' vehicle owner I cant remember the last time I used a grease gun - it was probably 10 years ago when I was still trailering a boat and had to grease the bearings before and after every trip
 
Some AlKo axles don't need greasing ... and they don't have brass bushes fitted.
 
No greasing, Hope they at least last longer than the hit and mostly miss greasey variety!
Brass bushes? I'd have expected bronze at least, but Al-Ko know best of course!
 
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