teflon2 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 While in Belgium last week on site sitting at the rear of my Autostratus FB thre was a loud noise smilar to a tuning fork being rung. Checked all round and couldnt find a problem. On returning home and parking in my usual spot the van looked to be about 50mm lower at the rear than I remembered. Tried to contact AL-CO for advice as my local registered AL-CO service company mainly do caravans and were unaware that AL-CO make chassis conversons. AL-CO seem to have taken a leaf from Fiat as far as customer relations are concerned so can anyone out there offer any advice before I take the van to my local commercial engineering company and have them replace the axle torsion springs an expense that as a pensioner I can ill afford. *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Have you tried this link to an Alko approved repairer? http://www.multimap.com/clients/places.cgi?client=alko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I could be corrected on this, but I read somewhere that some AlKo torsion axles need regular greasing. Not a lot of Fiat garages know that, Motorhome service centres should. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike H Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 You are right Tony, Alco torsion axle does need greasing annually, Two grease nipples, one each side, just inboard of the hub. They have to be greased whilst the weight is off the wheels. Normally about 6 to 7 strokes of the grease gun. I have mine done at the local garage while they are doing the MOT and it is up on the ramp and the rear axle is jacked up, nice and easy to get at then. Now I read somewhere, and I might be wrong on this, but some of the axles cannot be overhauled and a complete replacement is necessary. I hope, in this case, I am wrong. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silicongyro Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Mike H Just a small clarification to your advice which is that the weight needs to be taken off the wheels and the axle when grease is pumped in. In other words the ALKO chassis needs to be jacked so that the wheel and axle are hanging free on the side being greased - then repeat on other side. In fact ALKO told me some years ago that it is unsafe to jack/support the axle(case) itself. As an aside it was nice to finally read that a hand pump is perfectly adequate (rather than powered grease gun) in last MMM. The incorrect information had circulated for many years and probably put off owners attempting this simple job themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Mike H - 2009-04-15 9:18 PM Now I read somewhere, and I might be wrong on this, but some of the axles cannot be overhauled and a complete replacement is necessary. I hope, in this case, I am wrong. Mike. I believe that's so, particularly with earlier axles - though it will depend on the extent of the overhaul needed. AL-KO should be able to advise on whether it will be technically/financially preferable to replace a damaged axle or attempt repair. Personally, when I've contacted AL-KO, I've always found the company very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike H Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Silicongyro - 2009-04-15 10:15 PM Hi Mike Just a small clarification to your advice which is that the weight needs to be taken off the wheels and the axle when grease is pumped in. In other words the ALKO chassis needs to be jacked so that the wheel and axle are hanging free on the side being greased - then repeat on other side. Thinking back, I think they might have jacked it on the chassis, just forward of the wheels. They use the hydraulic jack that slides along the ramps and adjusts to width and height. I read recently, on a forum or in a magazine, that it is OK to use a hand grease gun, and that each side normally take 6 or 7 pumps. Also it stated that you can't put in too much, it stops accepting when full. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teflon2 Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 Thank you to all who replied to my thread. I have greased axle with both wheels suspended just before trip I have resorted to D.I.Y. because I dont think that the mechanic I used bothered. The noise occured after driving 360miles and after checking my motorhome for return journey it behaved impecably even at speeds of 70mph. Its the 50mm diference in ride height that bothers me as I am hoping that the greasing freed something and its not the warning of forthcoming suspension failure I was hoping that someone would be able to guide me as to accepable ride height when fully loaded as this would show if there was torsion bar failure. Thanks again for your comments. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 There is a fair sized section on AL-KO chassis in John Wickersham's book "The Motorcaravan Manual". This includes advice on servicing the rear axle and says "pump in grease using a pressure gun", adding that "a hand gun is not adequate". I suspect that a "hand gun" may refer to the dinky little 'Pom-Pom'-type grease guns much beloved by DIY mechanics 50-or-so years ago (I know I had one), rather than high-pressure 'side-lever' guns, and it's this ambiguity that has led to ongoing confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silicongyro Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Derek Yes, that same advice on using pressure guns was also included in an article in MMM some time ago also by John W. However if my axle is anything to go by hardly any pressure is needed to inject the grease - even the historic pom-pom type would probably work. However this is all a dis-service to AL-KO chassis motorhome owners who should have been told (in the Motorhome Manual amongst other things) that greasing is regularly required and achieved very quickly and simply with a cheap side lever grease gun available everywhere. Instead owners have been somewhat put off attempting it thinking professional workshop kit is needed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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