monique.hubrechtsgm Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 This is not alko but independent rear suspension axle. No torsion bars. Any user of it yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted December 25, 2018 Author Share Posted December 25, 2018 Very strange a Hymer chassis. Is this made by Who? Hymer had recall on large numbers of chassis where they had a misfit whit the ESP system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 This video-clip shows the SLC chassis fitted to a Mercedes Sprinter front-end. and, although there are fleeting glimpses of the outer parts of the rear suspension, it is not obvious how the ‘independence’ of each rear wheel is achieved. I can’t find any on-line photos of the underside of an SLC chassis that clearly show the rear-axle arrangement and how the stub-axles are connected to the main axle ‘cross tube’ and how the main axle is connected to the chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted December 26, 2018 Author Share Posted December 26, 2018 Right Derek. But i have seen it in detail. Chassis galvanized like al-ko and a similar interface to the sprinter like al-ko. That interface is patented by al-ko. They claim lower weights than alko- sprinter. There are more video clips about this. Detail al-ko uses also more the word super light chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 Yes, I know all that... What I do not know (and cannot find any details about) is the design of the rear suspension used on the SLC chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted December 26, 2018 Author Share Posted December 26, 2018 Most of readers think it is alko. Even dealers mix it. Came back on this later on. Have a nice new brand new year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted December 27, 2018 Author Share Posted December 27, 2018 Sorry it is a alko-hymer development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 AL-KO’s involvement in the development of the SLC chassis was reported in March 2018 on this French-language website https://tinyurl.com/yacklv4v and on plenty of other websites subsequently. (I’d still like to know what the rear axle/suspension design is though...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 Derek, it is a alko torsion bar axle chassis. Whit a interface to fiat and the new sprinter. But a slightly higher double floor. There weight claim is not clear compared to the classic low frame. They have a new lighter axle block. Not having their famous bolts. It looks like a alko high frame chassis, axle goes under the ladders. Their low point of gravity is never compared to fiat camping car chassis which sits at the same level on paper. If this axle still needs grease they are to blamed for it. Since the merge they close and buy. Including the plant in the north of the uk, and one in france closing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Some pictures of the SLC chassis, with the 1st relating to the Fiat Ducato Hymer B-Series and the 2nd and 3rd to the Mercedes Sprinter version. The concept seems to be based on a ‘bathtub’ principle, with the water tanks and habitation technical equipment and services being placed on the chassis’s undertray and a flat floor being attached to the chassis’s top. Hopefully, if anything major goes wrong, access to the stuff buried between floor and undertray will be accessible without disassembling the motothome. It should also be easier to carry propulsion batteries in this type of chassis if ever Hymer decides to resurrect the hybrid system they toyed with in 2011. Prety much inevitable that, as the SLC chassis was developed by AL-KO, a ‘traditional’ torsion-bar axle would be used, though the changed position of the damper-units suggest that there will be more vertical wheel movement and an improved ride quality. Presumably the AL-Ko air-suspension options that are available with the non-SLC chassis will be offered for the SLC variant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Nit picking, I suppose, but as the Sprinter is RWD via a solid "cart" rear axle, the claim that this chassis offers independent rear suspension must be suspect, mustn't it. The springing may be more sophisticated than the Merc original, but it isn't independent. To achieve that it would need to be completely re-engineered with a fixed differential mount, and independent drive shafts (splined or otherwise) to each wheel (however located). I don't see the evidence of that degree of change, or have I missed it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Brian Kirby - 2018-12-29 1:00 PM Nit picking, I suppose, but as the Sprinter is RWD via a solid "cart" rear axle, Sprinters are now available as Front Wheel Drive with the intro of the 2019 Model Year. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 The SLC chassis is only offered on FWD Sprinter ‘chassis-less’ cab or cowl units, or on FWD Ducato chassis-less cab or cowl units. 10 years ago there was an AL-KO chassis for RWD Sprinters (and having a single or twin rear-axle configuration). That was indeed complex and expensive. Photos here https://www.truck-news.de/99-2/299/ http://www.camping-car-deluxe.com/actualites/al-ko-et-mercedes-de-nouveau-ensemble/ http://www.lemondeducampingcar.fr/actualite/infos/chassis-mercedes-al-ko.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Ah! Thanks chaps. I hadn't seen that bit of news. "Independent" it is, then. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted December 29, 2018 Author Share Posted December 29, 2018 Suspension is a complex matter, and their chassis. Nice to read a Thesis from the university of Bath on line in pdf . It is about caravans but very comprehensive but still standing. including alko. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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