Alko Axle Problems

I is about time the government got into the caravan industry and made the manufactures give proper warranties backed up by hard penalties like having their licences taken away till the product is fit for purpose , but cannot see it happening and we still get shit products 

Who needs the government? It's in the customers own hands not to buy stuff that's known to be rubbish. The terms of the warranty are there to be read and understood before the purchase. One can take them or leave them. The customer only has himself to blame. And what licences are you talking about?

As a collapsed axle sufferer I have looked into the bumpstop issue and Alko caravan axles don't have them, hence if the rubber in compression suspension fails completely/shears there's nothing to stop the wheel wrecking the wheel box. Ok the shock absorber may temporarily act as a bumpstop if fitted but will fail under this load. I raised this with the DVSA and sent them Alko design recommendations to no avail.

Bailey unicorn vans show abrasion of the wheel box early as they have a design giving minimal clearance, combined with full profile tyres. Other manufacturers will have "invisible" failing axles and may well suffer more severely from the lack of a bumpstop.

Alko themselves recommend a wheel box design below, so far asI can tell no one adheres to it.

I also find this interesting taken from Alko comprehensive catalogue. In my opinion if you have a failed axle and it rubs on the wheel box then how can they or Bailey possibly defend it. Alkos published statement not ours.

DVSA require more people to report the failings and the failures have to be consistant with same make/ model (as per DVSA code) before they can pursue the likes of Alko legally to get a successful outcome. Concerns raised thus far will be held on record, so hopefully in the background their case for Alko/ Baileys to explain the cause of failures will overtime get stronger. I just hope its not a serious accident that brings it to ahead.

Unfortunately, the caravan industry take little notice of manufacturers recommendations for lots of other caravan fitments - combi boilers being one, and I'm sure there are lots of other examples where 'design' wins out over recommendations/common sense 

I thought I would change my 7 yr old Adria this year . I have been looking at Baileys ,they have an all composite body ,like my Adria,and what looks to be a very good construction system .A few years ago I wanted to upgrade my MTPLM. I was told no possible as the chassis was only 1500 kgs . I thought I would change the axle so contacted Alco ,he was looking into it . Did some more  research and was told by Adria that my chassis could go up to 2000 kgs .While I have been looking at Baileys ,Swifts ,Eldis Coachman ,I had a coachman once before they were bought out .Now my family have bought a Coachman and had some problems (a brand new van with problem good heavens ) anyway , they are not too happy with aftersales. So I decides to look into ISO 9001. and NCC  , Who is registered with which.  I have been considering Bailey Of Bristol ,but after reading and hearing about the Axle problems ,I begin to reconsider .In the Alco manual Page 40 are the list of chassis  with Max Loads and part numbers . It seems that some single axle caravans have MTPLM's very close the Max loads of the chassis . Here is link to info

 https://www.alko-tech.com/sites/default/files/uploaded_files/EN/499668_htk-caravan_12-2018_en.pdf

It does seem that the main improvements to caravans ,have been Adle Central heating , Tall skinny Fridges and wonderful graphics .Oh and maybe a Solar panel on the roof .

Alde heating Too heavy ,bought a small freezer , got a solar panel I lean on the van and move with the sun . 

Not too sure why I need to change the van .

Isn’t the freezer heavy?

Alde isn’t new - it’s been around for 30 years or more. 

Is anybody trying to persuade you to change the van?

Be happy 😀

I've got an 10 yr old Adria and a Bailey Unicorn 3, imo stick with Adria.

......although we had our axle replaced 'as a measure of goodwill',  I know several people have used this company to refurb axles that have been subject to 'collapse'.  Reposts have been very positive.

https://www.fraserbrowneng.co.uk/index.php?c=irs-axle-repair

David