Cracks in chassis anchor points

[LLC]

Just had our caravan serviced and it's thrown up two cracks in the chassis that have arisen since last year's service (see photo links below).

I've never seen this problem before, has anyone else seen it?
Has anyone got any advice on what the repair work might be entail?
Our caravan is 10 years old with full service history. Will the manufacturer assist with the repairs?

Crack 1
Crack 2

 

[Hutch]

Your service engineer is obviousley very good. I would have thought a simple welding job to repair, but I would go overboard and have a re enforching plate as well.

Over to the technicals.

 

[Damian]

The chassis is galvanised, therefore welding is prohibited by Al-Ko.
At 10 years old the manufacturer will not assist with repair, or replacement.

 

[LLC]

Wow, that doesn't sound good.
Repairs are still possible though right?

 

[DrZhivago]

Never mind what AL-Ko might prohibit, they didn't write the Laws of Physics. Welding of galvanised steel is done a lot in industry. It is best to grind off the galvanising in the area first though.

In any case you will be taking this to professional welders, won't you? They will know what to do.

No, the caravan maker will not help you.

 

[LLC]

Yes, it looks like welding expertise is needed though I suppose finding someone with welding skills and knowledge of caravans is a tall order. If anyone has any suggestions they'd be gratefully received.

TBH I'm not sure where to start. All I know is by the last week in July it needs to be done and dusted.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

yeah, 10 mins with an angle grinder, 5 mins with a mig welder, slap of hammerite, job done, as long as someone who does it can get the van high enough it should not be a problem.

note, Damian is quite right, but the van is 10 years old so the manufacturer isn,t going to do anything about it and neither is Alko, so apart from finding a trailer place to swop the chassis :woohoo: go ahead,

 

[swpostie]

I agree with Colin - a simple little welding job that should only take a few minutes.

 

[Thingy]

I have heard of cracks before, never seen them though. The ones I heard of occurred around the mounting of some of the earlier motor movers. Looking at your second photo, is that the axle tube I can see??

If so, its in a similar area to the ones I mentioned. My first concern would be the cause rather than the symptom and given (if Im correct thats the axle tube, could that be the cause. Vibration form unbalanced wheels, wheel bearing causing vibration, anything along those lines. Im guessing its not the chassis per se at vault, but whatever is putting undue stress or movement on those bolts.

I agree with the others, forget the manufacturer, they wont help, and as your van is out of warranty there is no reason not to weld, but it must be done properly, not by wally the welder with his argos mig set.

Some years back, I had a problem with the drawbar on an Alko setup, and in order to win my case with the dealer, I got Alko to do me a report. That cost me £140. A report may just highlight the cause.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

I have heard of cracks before, never seen them though. The ones I heard of occurred around the mounting of some of the earlier motor movers. Looking at your second photo, is that the axle tube I can see??

If so, its in a similar area to the ones I mentioned. My first concern would be the cause rather than the symptom and given (if Im correct thats the axle tube, could that be the cause. Vibration form unbalanced wheels, wheel bearing causing vibration, anything along those lines. Im guessing its not the chassis per se at vault, but whatever is putting undue stress or movement on those bolts.

I agree with the others, forget the manufacturer, they wont help, and as your van is out of warranty there is no reason not to weld, but it must be done properly, not by wally the welder with his argos mig set.

Some years back, I had a problem with the drawbar on an Alko setup, and in order to win my case with the dealer, I got Alko to do me a report. That cost me £140. A report may just highlight the cause.

if you use the zoom on the photos you can see that it looks like the bolts are not tight as the washers are not seating right on the dome of the mounting point, they are tight at the front but have a gap at the back. this would have the effect of putting more pressure on one part of the mount causing it to crack, seen this before on boat trailers with indispension units, welding cures it plus realigning the bolts, I also noticed there is rust in the crack so they have been like that a while.