Alko Torsion Bar expert needed

[johnnerontheroad]

The N+B Flair I have had a broken Torsion Bar on an ALKO twin axel before I purchased it, both rear axels were recommended to be changed and were at a cost of £2134.98 in Oct 2005.

The previose owner gave me an artical from MMM Dec 2008 page 174 on how to service the torsion bar it must be carried out every 12500mls or every year.

1. The vehicle must be jacked up so that the wheels are clear of the ground and the rear axel is totally unloaded.

2. Greese has to be pumped in using a power-operated pressure gun; a portable hand held is not suitable.

3. typically this takes around six pumpings actions although the tube can't be over-filled.

4. The mileage and date should be recorded in the service book.

ALKO recommended Shell RENTINAX LX grease and Cardex 3746 SP (Fa. CONDA)

The above is copied from the MMM artical.

I hope this helps.

Good Luck


Dave

 

[barryd]

Thanks Dave

Yes it would have been a great help 18 months ago. It will be priority maintenance now. Out of all the checks and research I did before buying the van I am gobsmacked that I didnt know about this one.

Nobody mentioned it to me on any of the forums yet clearly it is critical maintenance.

Bummer.

BD

 

[johnnerontheroad]

I now need to find a garage to service the ALKO as it is about a year since it was last done, so if anyone knows of a garage in the Durham area that can lift 4500kgs please let me know?

Dave

 

[biggirafe]

I shall be doing this myself asap, One side at a time with a hand pump. I'm sure the ideal would be to lift both sides together and pump the grease in with a power operated gun but anything is going to be better than nothing

 

[johnnerontheroad]

I shall be doing this myself asap, One side at a time with a hand pump. I'm sure the ideal would be to lift both sides together and pump the grease in with a power operated gun but anything is going to be better than nothing

Looking on the ALKO site you may get away with what you propose Al-Ko Kober there is also a link to the handbook.

Dave

 

[Davesport]

2. Greese has to be pumped in using a power-operated pressure gun; a portable hand held is not suitable.

I can't think why this should be the case ? I can tell you from experience that compared to other things I've greased the grease goes into the Alko axle very easily. If grease at high pressure is required a different "high pressure" nipple is generally used that is completely different.

FAO biggirafe.

Raising one side at a time is not good enough I'm led to believe. Don't ask me why. I've done this job three times now & I've never seen any grease coming out from anywhere on my axle. I don't know where it goes. I put a dozen good squirts in each side. It's got to be better than nowt.

D.

 

[bigboack]

I now need to find a garage to service the ALKO as it is about a year since it was last done, so if anyone knows of a garage in the Durham area that can lift 4500kgs please let me know?

Dave

al-ko.co.uk just type in your postcode for nearest

 

[maingate]

Johnner,

Give Hoddy`s in Gateshead a ring. They can lift heavy vehicles and can do all kinds of maintenance and repair. They are just off the Felling bypass.

 

[Deleted member 32]

I would have thought you could easily look to see if it has leaf springs? If not it has to be the torsion bars. I thought all the Kontiki's were on the Alko with the torsion bars, would Swift know from the year?
You should have a chassis number & type, I remember when I rang Alko they told me where to look for it & from that they could give me the information.

 

[barryd]

The vans been into the garage today and they have confirmed its an Alko Chassis with Torsion bars and is lower than it should be. They talked to Alko who reckon the splines on the bars are probably worn and have slipped down. Alko have said it needs a complete new Axle. Bugger bugger bugger and bugger again.

Having said that the garage have quoted me £1500 all in with a 3-6 week lead time on the Axle, not the £2K plus fitting and VAT Alko quoted.

I asked about the rubber suspension helper kit from Ride Solutions (mentioned earlier in the post) and the garage reckons it wont fit.

Do you reckon its worth pursuing getting some kind of upgrade or air ride system on the back or will a new axle last me a few years before I flog the van? I reckon its just age and use and lack of greese thats knackered it not the weight.

Its official, its only Tuesday but this week is now officially crap.

BD

 

[biggirafe]

The vans been into the garage today and they have confirmed its an Alko Chassis with Torsion bars and is lower than it should be. They talked to Alko who reckon the splines on the bars are probably worn and have slipped down. Alko have said it needs a complete new Axle. Bugger bugger bugger and bugger again.

Having said that the garage have quoted me £1500 all in with a 3-6 week lead time on the Axle, not the £2K plus fitting and VAT Alko quoted.

I asked about the rubber suspension helper kit from Ride Solutions (mentioned earlier in the post) and the garage reckons it wont fit.

Do you reckon its worth pursuing getting some kind of upgrade or air ride system on the back or will a new axle last me a few years before I flog the van? I reckon its just age and use and lack of greese thats knackered it not the weight.

Its official, its only Tuesday but this week is now officially crap.

BD

Sorry to hear about this buddy, personnaly given the age of the van I would go for the cheapest option and only repair the damaged torsion bar. The van has lasted 16 years on the original torsion bar which most likely has only had issues due to a lack of maintenance so a new one should last you a good few years again.

ALKO do sell a moped load carrier so its not as if you are doing anything out of the ordinary so long as the weight is within their design limits. Might be worth having a chat with them.

Hope things come good soon, the weather is getting better and we wanna see you out and about

 

[barryd]

Sorry to hear about this buddy, personnaly given the age of the van I would go for the cheapest option and only repair the damaged torsion bar. The van has lasted 16 years on the original torsion bar which most likely has only had issues due to a lack of maintenance so a new one should last you a good few years again.

ALKO do sell a moped load carrier so its not as if you are doing anything out of the ordinary so long as the weight is within their design limits. Might be worth having a chat with them.

Hope things come good soon, the weather is getting better and we wanna see you out and about

Cheers. (14 years but its still not bad I guess). Just had a look at the Dunlop Aire ride suspension kit for my Chassis here AL-KO Air Assist Upgrade 1994-2002 Standard Entrance Shop UK : Marcle Leisure AL-KO Air Assist Upgrade 1994-2002... and its over £700 just for the system. It seems a lot and it doesnt officially increase the payload.

I reckon just get it fixed and make sure its maintained. Its guarenteed for a year anyway I suppose.

Well its my Birthday on the 12th and we were thinking of going off in the van. this will be pre-new axle. Do you reckon this is tempting fate? I reckon its been on the way out since France in late July August and weve been away for a month at Christmas.

Maybe wont go too far!

 

[biggirafe]

Cheers. (14 years but its still not bad I guess). Just had a look at the Dunlop Aire ride suspension kit for my Chassis here AL-KO Air Assist Upgrade 1994-2002 Standard Entrance Shop UK : Marcle Leisure AL-KO Air Assist Upgrade 1994-2002... and its over £700 just for the system. It seems a lot and it doesnt officially increase the payload.

I reckon just get it fixed and make sure its maintained. Its guarenteed for a year anyway I suppose.

Well its my Birthday on the 12th and we were thinking of going off in the van. this will be pre-new axle. Do you reckon this is tempting fate? I reckon its been on the way out since France in late July August and weve been away for a month at Christmas.

Maybe wont go too far!

Well in theory if the torsion gives out the 'stops' will prevent the wheels hitting the wheel arches, as its already going to be replaced you are not going to damage anything you want to keep, just keep the weight down - only 1 case of beer maybe
But maybe get a professional opionion on that

Out of interest whats the distance between the top of the wheel arch on the outside and the ground so i can check mine (god do I really wanna know this)

 

[biggirafe]

Well in theory if the torsion gives out the 'stops' will prevent the wheels hitting the wheel arches, as its already going to be replaced you are not going to damage anything you want to keep, just keep the weight down - only 1 case of beer maybe
But maybe get a professional opionion on that

Out of interest whats the distance between the top of the wheel arch on the outside and the ground so i can check mine (god do I really wanna know this)

By the way have you considered Spring Assisted Shock Absorbers. Not sure if you can fit them to the ALKO chassis but they can be used on some vehicles to help prevent roll and bounce when loaded or towing
Shock Absorbers
http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/mon_loadlevel.cfm

 

[barryd]

It gets worse. I just got back from the garage where I went to pick up Hank the Tank who is now in discrace. It seems Alko priced for a caravan axle!

The one thats currently on is the leaf springs or bars that go all the way through so I asked the Garage when they speak to Alko about fitting the new Axle with the torsion bars. They have just called me and said yes they can do that but its now going to be £2200!!

He also said Alko said this will give us an upgraded Payload to 3800KG. I said that this is great but wont it have to be replated and DVLA informed. He reckoned not but Im not so sure.

Heck of a lot of dosh but if its going to be much better then so be it.

They are ordering the Axle in the morning, I just hope that this is the right thing to do!

Im going to try and get some pictures of before and after and post them on here. will measure the ride height when I can, its dark now and the vans back on the drive (to tight to get down the side and measure)

cheers

BD

 

[barryd]

Now ive cropped some pictures and compared last summer to this Jan the evidence is conculsive. Its lower. Perhaps slightly worse on the drivers side. You can allow a bit for uneven ground or the van not being quite flat but which ever way you look at it I have a new Low Profile Kontiki

Passenger side rear wheel in June 09

Same wheel this January

Drivers side rear in late June 09. Note fully laden with bike on

Same wheel in Jan with no bike on and very light mad person in the back (sorry about that)

 

[biggirafe]

Your right Barry no doupt that you have an issue, bummer of the worst case

My neighbours are now 100% convinced that I'm insane taking photos of my back wheel, Really sorry you have had this problem, I'm still ok from what I can see, I've greased mine this weekend and intend to do so a couple more times over the coming weeks. Although I'm sure you are gutted you have maybe stopped a couple of us having a similar issue.

 

[Coolasluck]

What a bummer Barry,but you cant put a price on the memories you will and have made in your van and if you are like us you will probably have saved a fortune on hit or miss package holidays.Chin up mate it will be worth it in the long run.

 

[barryd]

Cheers Mark

Yours looks fine, in fact it looks slightly better than mine from June last year so maybe mines be slowly disintegrating. I got the manual out today (yes I know its a bit late now) in the garage and did find burried away some info saying they should be greased every 5000 miles or evey year. Well I reckon we have done 14000 miles since we got it in May 08 and god knows what the owners before us got done but I havent seen any greasing on the service records.

A lesson learned for all!!! For saving all you axles by me falling fowl and you all going out and checking and greasing yours I will happily take donations towards the £2200 bill.

If the garage is right and this will increase my max weight to 3800KG can I now put a big bad 600cc enduro on the back or am I asking for trouble?

I just dont think anyone has ever made a Barry proof vehicle. I seem to break or smash up everything I ever drive. Perhaps I should have asked them to fit a military tank axle or something.

Cheers
BD

 

[Deleted member 32]

You have to inform the DVLA if you want the van plated at a higher level. There is nothing to stop you upgrading the suspension for a higher weight but the weight limit will still be at 3500 kgs unless it has a plate stating the new weight & the V5 having the weight on it.

My van requires no mechanical changes but it is sold plated at 3500 kgs & 3850 kgs.

You do save a little bit on the road tax if you are in the PHG class (over 3500 kgs)