Alko Axle Problems

Have any of you looked at the Fraser Brown Engineering website?

Alko axle issues make interesting reading.

They provide an alternative and better solution I feel.

I stand to be corrected, but the axle repair Fraser Brown offer appears to be for torsion bar axles, as fitted to MH not the rubber based 'triangular' axles fitted to caravans, although I note that again the design of the original Alko torsion bar axle described obviously leaves a lot to be desired!  Their service would appear to be light years ahead of Alko too -door to door turnaround in 10 days or an exchange that could have you back on the road in a day.

I sent an Email to alko asking if the axle loading on our Genoa caravan would be compromised when on a pitch when entertaining max  6 persons,they replied the same day that the Mptlm is down to the c/van manufacterer, ,I then asked Bailey the same question and the reply was that they have forwarded my email to alko and will advise me of their reply ,that was 5days ago ,interesting that nothing has been received  yet

If nothing is received by early next week ,I will try to visit Alko and Bailey at Birmingham,

It might also be an Idea for others on here who have had a problem(thankfully not us,yet)to also try contacting   

Lying in bed the other morning it occurred to me that the following are all on the same side of the van: ALDE water heater, Leisure battery, fuse box, microwave, sink, caravan table, oven, sink, toilet and one wardrobe.

Just thinking out loud...

My van is currently in storage  I will have a look at the next opportunity.

Guys my caravan has a grey waste pipe running behind the wheel at the edge of the caravan. The brake coupling that comes out of the wheel drum towards the top has been hitting this pipe which has stressed the pipe and worn the metal on the brake coupling. I believe this pipe has been hindering the natural travel of the wheel on the axle for which it was designed for. If any one gets a chance have a look to see if you've got the same problem, (there will markings on the grey pipe or even touching it) let me know as all the Baileys I've  looked at from 2012 onwards appear to have the grey pipe running in the same place as mine and lunars and coachman don't and aren't reporting axle failures like our Baileys are! Cheers

Has anyone weighed the left and right wheels unladen and compared these figures with the axle rating? I know that when I did this for my last Swift, although the caravan MRO was just inside the maximum axle load capacity, because of the offset design of the caravan the off side was over the limit. 

22 February 2017 and I am still waiting a reply from Alko, Bailey and the DVSA (Driver Vehicle and Safety Agency).

Alko and Bailey are giving the same excuse as they did October last year - the show is on at the NEC.

The last contact I had with Bailey was the 21st of October and with Alko was 05th December last year - the customer service seems to be as bad as the reliability of their axles.

My caravan has been of the road for 6 months whilst waiting for the answers to my questions - Why did the axle fail? What are the safety implications of the failure (wheel jam or fire)? and Will the replacement axle fail in the same way?

Every owner of an Alko axle caravan should check the gap between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch - less than 15mm get it checked

JVBB66 has a good idea when he suggests that you ask the Alko and the Bailey representatives at the NEC Birmingham

I wish I could go!

We tried to chat to Alko staff at the NEC one year (not about our previously mentioned axle problem with something else about MTPLM) - and I hope you get a better response than we did.  The staff manning the stall appeared to be just salesmen, with little or no technical knowledge at all.