Alko Axle Problems

I first reported this axle problem two years ago and I am amazed that nothing has changed with caravan axles. The discussion has been interesting and frustrating to follow with other caravanners having the same problem and not getting a satisfactory reply from Bailey or AlKo and getting no support from the Caravan and Motorhome Club.

There was a discussion on whether the axle failure could affect the structure of the caravan or be dangerous. The way I noticed the problem was "small black pellets" under the offside bunk and under the cooker. This was the result of the tyre rubbing through the wheel arch liner due the lack of clearance of the failed axle.

Could this cause a tyre blowout or fire?

It has not happened yet!

Something to ask the salespeople at next month's show at the NEC

Georgevan your quite right, but if a failure does at anytime cause a serious incident or at worse fatality (which i hope never happens), then due too the length of time and amount of reported issues highlighted to Baileys and Alko without a solution, then i wouldn't want to be in their shoes when it comes down to accountability!

I would think if you go to both stands at the nec you will probably get an answer as from most these days "we have no knowledge of this problem with our products"

Our 4 year old Bailey Pursuit 550/4 axle has collapsed,and we have been quoted up to £1850.00 or thereabouts to have fixed and it is not under warranty anymore. We need to contact Bailey and Alko about this but having read other people's experiences this is going to be nearly impossible to get any help in getting this paid for. Is not our fault, there are only two people that use the van me and my husband and it would be grossly unfair for them to say that we had overloaded it. We always put heavy stuff like the awning in the car. It being a 4 berth one would expect it would stand up to more rigorous use than two retirees. Any help advising us what we can do would be appreciated.

Investigate using the Small Claims Court and the Sale of Goods Act.

I suspect that any settlement would take account of you having had 4 years use out of a reasonable service life, however long that service life should have been.

I also think that your claim must be against the dealer that sold you the van, for that is where your contract is.

In case you don't know about Fraser Brown for axil repairs.

Millan, just out of curiousity what does the MTLPM weight show in Kg on the sticker plate by your door? The reason i ask is that some owners of the Pursuit 1 range who purchased the weight plate upgrades were issued upgraded plates to 50kg beyond the axle rating! 1500kg instead of the maximum 1450kg. Being your van has had this upgrade it would put the resposibility of failure back on to the manufacturer. I had an axle replaced on my Pursuit for £1060 through an Alko approved repairer, so who ever quoted you  £1850 is ripping you off!

 I cant agree more as its a design fault and owners should not be paying for it, it affects all makes but importantly those that put all the heavy appliances and storage facilities on one side of the van,it probably is not  ALKO at fault, they supplied an axle that exceeds the weight requirements but due to re design of layouts its not good enough.

I agree its disappointing that the club has not done nothing to highlight this problem and other van quality problems. Members need some support on these issues and we probably wont now buy another caravan due to poor after sales service and warranty issues that are not fairly resolved to owners satisfaction, they will in the long term loose members if they are seen to do nothing at all to help. 

We have had much pleasure from owning and using a touring caravan since 1992 but I have to say our latest caravan bought in 2014 has cost more in repairs than any of the others added together and it cost a lot more to purchase. 

If the caravan industry does not get a grip on design and quality issues I think many people will give up up on it, they have spent to much time adding refinements which are good but the same old problems are still there, water ingress, axle problems, poor build quality, poor service from dealers only interested in selling caravans.   

It is tragic to read these comments. I have a Coachman VIP 2018, and it has been back to the dealers several times for annoying defects to be repaired/replaced, not helped by the wrong part (roof blind) being sent twice, resulting in wasted journeys and frustration. On taking the caravan to the dealer for the third time to repair a defective blind, the dealer's service engineer spotted that the nearside suspension had dropped. Further investigation found a tiny burst in a furniture panel above the wheel arch, which he said was consistent with the axle having been damaged by impact with a pot hole or similar. The caravan was only 6 months old, with only light use. It had never been overloaded, there are only two of us. The repair was expected to cost about £1300, and the van was not safe to use. An insurance claim had to be made, and caravan has been off the road since, awaiting parts for approximately 10 weeks so far, with no indication of when it will be repaired. This is down to parts supply from the manufacturer, which I can only describe as pathetic, and no fault of the dealer.

I have caravanned for over 34 years, and had many different caravans in that time, mostly from new. I have never had this issue before, and I have no recollection of hitting a pothole or similar with the van. I regard myself as an experienced and careful tow car driver, especially when towing, and had never had any such issue previously. The dealer commented that he had a number of other caravans with similar damage, awaiting repair. There seems to be a serious issue here, and I would suggest a design failure evidenced by the number of caravans with AL-Ko Kober axles that are failing. When will something finally be done about it - will the Club take up the problem on behalf of members ? That seems unlikely ! Sadly I conclude that despite the fine claims by the British caravan industry about customer care, my experience over recent years suggests it is a shambles, with abysmal back up and support for customers who have parted with a lot of money for a product that is without true customer care support. Solution - buy German ? Or perhaps the Japanese or Chinee should show them how to build caravans. Remember the British Motor Industry of the 1960/70's !! A sad parallel but true in my opinion.

My 2 year old Bailey Unicorn 3 has just been diagnosed with Axle failure. I have spoke to the workshop people and to Al-Ko I can't be bothered to waste my time contacting Bailey, I am only customer and the caravan industry see us as idiots in fact we are idiots for putting up with there shoddy work and practices.

I will get the van sorted and then get rid of it.

It's worth going through bailey as they may well replace axle foc. Worked for me and saved over£1000  +.

Although the vans are shoddy the warranty on mine has been honoured on 3 occasions. Roof, axle and brakes.