CARAVAN SUSPENSION

[Parksy]

HI, I LIVE IN AUSTRALIA AND AM LOOKING AT PURCHASING A 1998 ELDDIS HURRICANE CARAVAN. THERE ARE NOT A LOT OF THESE VANS OVER HERE SO THERE IS NOT A LOT OF INFORMATION ON THEM ESPECIALLY THE EARLY MODELS. MY MAIN CONCERN IS THE SUSPENSION. THE SWINGING ARM TYPE IS NOT SOMETHING YOU SEE HERE. BECAUSE OF ITS AGE COULD SOME BODY TELL ME IF THE RUBBERS ARE SOMETHING YOU CAN REPLACE OR SHOULD THEY STILL BE OK AND IS THERE A WAY I CAN CHECK FOR WEAR ETC IN THE SUSPENSION. AND ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD LOOK FOR. ANY HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED.

 

[Parksy]

Hi Warner
As you will see, I've moved your query to the Technical message board where it will attract more replies.
Please turn off your caps lock when replying

 

[Guest]

Although the rubbers are replaceable, the machinery to do is is 12000 miles away in the Alko factory! so highly unlikely to be cost effective to repair should it be required?!
The good news is it's not prone to fail so more likely to be in good servicable condition than not. As a rule of thumb then, the trailing arms with the weight of the van on them, should be pointing down between 3:30 and 4 o'clock.
As rubber is is pretty much universal in the UK, you could also look at pictures of UK vans and compare how your van sits on it's wheels with those in the pictures.

 

[RogerL]

It's relevant to ask whether this '98 caravan has spend 15 years in Australia where road surfaces outside cities are invariably poorer or whether it's been used in UK/Europe for 15 years and recently imported to Australia.
If it's had 15 years in Australia, I'd expect the suspension to be shot already!
If it's had 15 years in UK/Europe the suspension rubbers should be ok unless it's suffered exceptional wear/tear - at that age UK caravans weren't fitted with dampers as standard but easily retro-fitted - a number of UK owners did retro-fit them before they eventually became standard-fit - you'll definitely need dampers in Australia!
It's worth pointing out that European caravans on Alko chassis won't cope with poor roads like Australian caravans - they're designed for smooth tarmac and have relatively little suspension travel - mind you European bodyshells won't handle the Outback any better than the chassis.
Consider a Geist caravan, built by LMC, imported to Australia for a short while and using a heavy-duty version of the Alko chassis - after the Aussie importer went bust a number of these were sold off in the UK as "Aussie-spec" alongside the UK-spec Geists.

 

[Surfer]

I would suggest fitting shock absorbers if going ahead with the purchase.

 

[Lutz]

As far as I know, Elddis caravans (and Geist as well, as they are mentioned above) don't have AlKo chassis but BPW.
BPW's offshoot in Australia is BPW Transpec, Laverton North, Vic. Phone 1 300 651 652

 

[warner1]

Thanks for the info, i will give them a ring. Regards.

 

[warner1]

Thanks to everyone for there coments. I was interested to see most of them were related to the road conditions in australia, i should have mentioned that the van would not be leaving the tarmac as you call it, just travelling between caravan parks.