- Nov 11, 2009
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According to the quaint phraseology used to describe a suspension fault, I have what is called "relaxed axle" This basically means that the offside is 25mm lower than the near side, and accordingly tyre -wheel arch clearance is reduced. Alko no longer recondition or repair axles so its a whole new assembly Looking on the web its not that uncommon even on new caravans. Surprisingly apart from one blog where the owner went right through the courts for redress most complaints receive the reply "The caravan has been overloaded", or "its the condition of the roads" and get no redress under warranty.
Before my last trip to Shropshire I noticed that the wheel cover was quite difficult to fit, and it got worse after that trip, and subsequently when it was having its new rear panel in May the technician reported the 25mm difference in road height between the two sides. Since i bought it in 2017 the caravan hasn't been overloaded, and if it had it wouldn't/shouldnt have affected a road axle as it would be under 30kg at most. But it hasn't. All of its heavy kit is on the near side (battery, water heater, power centre, sink, fridge, cooker, worktop, toilet, shower) so its loading must be asymmetrical as I can't possibly counter that imbalance without grossly overloading the caravan.
The cost for a complete new axle assembly is +£1000, but as all future trips this year have had to be cancelled for other reasons I am going to get it sorted. As part of the repair I am considering fitting Alko shock absorbers, just to mitigate some of the dynamic loads on the suspension. Under normal towing conditions the caravan tows very well without much movement behind the car, and doesn't input any significant movements into the car either, so the fitting of shock absorbers would only be to reduce the likelihood of a future axle suspension failure. Although I know that they will bring other benefits.
Any technical views would be appreciated.
Before my last trip to Shropshire I noticed that the wheel cover was quite difficult to fit, and it got worse after that trip, and subsequently when it was having its new rear panel in May the technician reported the 25mm difference in road height between the two sides. Since i bought it in 2017 the caravan hasn't been overloaded, and if it had it wouldn't/shouldnt have affected a road axle as it would be under 30kg at most. But it hasn't. All of its heavy kit is on the near side (battery, water heater, power centre, sink, fridge, cooker, worktop, toilet, shower) so its loading must be asymmetrical as I can't possibly counter that imbalance without grossly overloading the caravan.
The cost for a complete new axle assembly is +£1000, but as all future trips this year have had to be cancelled for other reasons I am going to get it sorted. As part of the repair I am considering fitting Alko shock absorbers, just to mitigate some of the dynamic loads on the suspension. Under normal towing conditions the caravan tows very well without much movement behind the car, and doesn't input any significant movements into the car either, so the fitting of shock absorbers would only be to reduce the likelihood of a future axle suspension failure. Although I know that they will bring other benefits.
Any technical views would be appreciated.