Options for softening the rear suspension on an ALKO chassis?

[Miggs]

Seems all I have to do is drive over a grain of sand and I get a solid thump like there's little or no suspension travel. Noticed I've even managed to shake my rear reflectors off as their both missing lol! Already dropped tyre pressures from 80 to 60psi, - slight improvement.
Can't run to full air suspension...just too expensive. Sumo springs seem to be just for Ducato chassis.
Any other options? My dentist is making a killing out of me!

 

[Lenny HB]

How would one diagnose an issue with the torsion bar, would that be a workshop job?

You won't until the torsion bars break that's why it's important to grease them every year.

 

[jezport]

We have full air suspension but can still notice if the tyres are over inflated. Would never run them at 80psi cold.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Hi Lenny hope your well , interesting post tell me more about your tyres , and do you know my compactline Alko chassis 69 Reg does it need grease on rear axle for suspension thanks ?

You’ll need to check to see if your particular Alko axle type has the greasing nipples, most do, but some variations are sealed for life with no greasing points.
When greasing, your only putting enough in to lubricate the phosphor bronze bearings at the end, introducing fresh grease that’s pushing out the used grease, not filling the tube, as some advocate.
Thats why it’s no more than 8-10 pumps.
You need an EP (extreme pressure) Lithium based quality grease.

 

[Adam b]

we had a similar problem with our Rapido on a alko heavy chassis it turned out the rear shocks / dampers were shot.

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[ivorantony]

Mine are sealed for life with no nipples unfortunately, but the air suspension makes a massive difference to the ride,
I spoke with Michelins customer service and gave them my tyre size and load rating and axle weights but leaving out it was a Motorhome,
with the figures they gave me I run 55 lbs on the front and 62lbs on the rear with absolutely no problems for the last 8 years,

 

[Mitchell]

You can get semi-air for 2k or full air just on the rear for 4k.
Before you do anything with the suspension if you have CP (camping) tyres, get rid of them and fit decent commercial van tyres. The difference in ride quality is amazing.
I changed mine for Toyo Observe Van.

You will love the compactline, we have been to France winter and summer amazing quality vans

 

[Minxy]

Hi Lenny hope your well , interesting post tell me more about your tyres , and do you know my compactline Alko chassis 69 Reg does it need grease on rear axle for suspension thanks ?

Yes it will need greasing, it's quite straightforward, the only difficult bit was holding the end of the grease gun hose on the nipple whilst pumping the gun, especially as you need to be partly under the MH to do it, consequently I held it on whilst hubby pumped.

We bought a new gun on eBay so we could keep it just for that to avoid contaminating the grease but you need one with a flexible hose, the grease we used is in my previous post.

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes it will need greasing, it's quite straightforward, the only difficult bit was holding the end of the grease gun hose on the nipple whilst pumping the gun, especially as you need to be partly under the MH to do it, consequently I held it on whilst hubby pumped.

We bought a new gun on eBay so we could keep it just for that to avoid contaminating the grease but you need one with a flexible hose, the grease we used is in my previous post.

And you need to raise the van to take the weight off the axle.

 

[Minxy]

And you need to raise the van to take the weight off the axle.

Yup, link in my earlier post about that ... Do keep up old chap!

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[Lenny HB]

Yup, link in my earlier post about that ... Do keep up old chap!

But you didn't say it in that post & it's very important, silly girl.

 

[Minxy]

But you didn't say it in that post & it's very important, silly girl.

Well I suppose for ageing Carthago wannabes sometimes things have to be repeated as they have the memory of a goldfish!

 

[WESTY66]

You won't until the torsion bars break that's why it's important to grease them every year.

I suppose I’d better go under and have a look for a couple of nipples (oo’errr missus) where are they and what grease do we use? Have hydraulic jacks and grease guns will be doing it myself

Do they have them on Tag axles? Asking for a friend

 

[Lenny HB]

I suppose I’d better go under and have a look for a couple of nipples (oo’errr missus) where are they and what grease do we use? Have hydraulic jacks and grease guns will be doing it myself

I think the ones Al-Ko recommends are

Shell GADUS S3 V220
Co. Kluber GL 1501
Co. CONDA 3746 SP

Careful you don't overdo it or you will pop the seals out at the end of the axle, no more than 9 pumps on the gun I think.

Thread about it here.

ALKO Chassis Greasing

Anyone have any ideas how to grease the ALKO Chassis, tried the booklet that comes with the van but its not very clear. What do I need and how do I do it? Thanks in advance

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Good write up here.

Greasing / lubricating an AL-KO rear chassis on a motorhome - Motorhome Tour

How to lubricate and grease the axle on an AL-KO chassis. This needs to be done annually or every 20,000km or which ever comes first.

www.motorhometour.co.uk

 

[WESTY66]

I think the ones Al-Ko recommends are

Shell GADUS S3 V220
Co. Kluber GL 1501
Co. CONDA 3746 SP

Careful you don't overdo it or you will pop the seals out at the end of the axle, no more than 9 pumps on the gun I think.

Thread about it here.

ALKO Chassis Greasing

Anyone have any ideas how to grease the ALKO Chassis, tried the booklet that comes with the van but its not very clear. What do I need and how do I do it? Thanks in advance

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Good write up here.

Greasing / lubricating an AL-KO rear chassis on a motorhome - Motorhome Tour

How to lubricate and grease the axle on an AL-KO chassis. This needs to be done annually or every 20,000km or which ever comes first.

www.motorhometour.co.uk

Can’t find any nipples on mine

Full air suspension on rear wouldn’t have owt to do with it would it? I can see grease coming out of the swivelly bit but no nipples

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[Lenny HB]

Can’t find any nipples on mine

Full air suspension on rear wouldn’t have owt to do with it would it? I can see grease coming out of the swivelly bit but no nipples

With full air the axle is unchanged they just fit lighter torsion bars as they are needed to locate the swinging arm.
There was a period of a few years when Ak-Ko fitted axles that didn't need greasing but they went back to fitting grease nipples after 2 to 3 years, I assume they must have had some problems with them.
Good luck you might need it.

 

[minesapint]

I have an Alko chassis with Michelin Agilis tyres. I found when I dropped the pressure from 5.5 bar to around 5.0 bar nothing changed. Fast forward to a new set of Michelin and new shocks = transformation! I think the old tyres had flat spots or something due to age and standing around. The shocks where not working either
Would be interested to see what options are out there for a softer ride though

I fitted an air suspension kit on My 2010 Hobby van and on the 2004 Dethleffs Advantage before that, and now on my 2018 Burstner.
A kit now can be purchased from £230 pounds up on ebay, which is where I bought my kit. It is a relatively easy thing to fit, and most come with the compressor, unlike the early kits where you pressurised them by an airline.
It made a world of difference to the ride and handling.

 

[Lenny HB]

I fitted an air suspension kit on My 2010 Hobby van and on the 2004 Dethleffs Advantage before that, and now on my 2018 Burstner.
A kit now can be purchased from £230 pounds up on ebay, which is where I bought my kit. It is a relatively easy thing to fit, and most come with the compressor, unlike the early kits where you pressurised them by an airline.
It made a world of difference to the ride and handling.

Not on an Al-Ko chassis you are looking at £2k.
I think DIY kits are avalible again around £1500.

 

[Ingwe]

the only difficult bit was holding the end of the grease gun hose on the nipple whilst pumping the gun, especially as you need to be partly under the MH to do it, consequently I held it on whilst hubby pumped.

……..or errr! The image conjured has resulted in my going to lie down in a darkened room.

 

[Jev88]

How would one diagnose an issue with the torsion bar, would that be a workshop job?

A sagging rear end or bangs as you hit the bump stops is usually a sign. Not a DIY job I would take on.

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[Folkranger]

On my Alko chassis I have fitted Dunlop air to the rear, it makes a massive difference to the handling in strong winds
with a softer ride as an extra bonus,
I have also fitted Michelins Agilis alpin tyres ( Not the CP type) but with uprated load rating, 121 instead of 115
this has worked well for me after replacing the original Michelins CP tyres that where useless on grip very noisy and harsh ride,

I had Dunlop rear air on my last two vans. I'm surprised that it can soften the ride. you still have the same suspension and damping. The bump stops come off but you won't be touching these anyway. I would have thought that the air bellows add a further degree of firmness which would stiffen the suspension and help stop the van wallowing around. But how can it add softness? I'm prepared to be wrong, this is just my opinion.

 

[Folkranger]

A sagging rear end or bangs as you hit the bump stops is usually a sign.

That you need to cut down on the pies and increase the salads.

 

[minesapint]

Not on an Al-Ko chassis you are looking at £2k.
I think DIY kits are avalible again around £1500.

I think Marcle Leisure, who sell all sorts of air suspension kits may have a suitable DIY product, they seem to have all things air suspension wise.

 

[ivorantony]

I had Dunlop rear air on my last two vans. I'm surprised that it can soften the ride. you still have the same suspension and damping. The bump stops come off but you won't be touching these anyway. I would have thought that the air bellows add a further degree of firmness which would stiffen the suspension and help stop the van wallowing around. But how can it add softness? I'm prepared to be wrong, this is just my opinion.

Different suspension, their are no Bump stop on an Alko torsion bar suspension and if the Motorhome is already fairly heavy then the torsion bar’s don’t have much travel left, when the air suspension is fitted it takes a proportion of the weight so giving a softer ride,
I fitted my Dunlop air suspension 10 years ago and it transformed the handling and Ride, without doubt the best upgrade done on my motor home,

 

[Lenny HB]

I think Marcle Leisure, who sell all sorts of air suspension kits may have a suitable DIY product, they seem to have all things air suspension wise.

Yes, they used to sell the Dunlop one but that was withdrawn for DIY fitting.
They now sell the Al-Ko one for £1500.

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[Minxy]

I suppose I’d better go under and have a look for a couple of nipples (oo’errr missus) where are they and what grease do we use? Have hydraulic jacks and grease guns will be doing it myself

Do they have them on Tag axles? Asking for a friend

Can’t find any nipples on mine

Full air suspension on rear wouldn’t have owt to do with it would it? I can see grease coming out of the swivelly bit but no nipples

On ours they are located just on the inside near the front of the rear wheels.

 

[Miggs]

I was expecting them to be on the side of the beam but finally found them underneath pointed down just inside the chassis rail.

 

[RHD]

Run my Toyo's at 56 front 69 rear as recommended by Toyo. Axle loadings are front 1930 kg, rear 2300 kg.

Hi Lenny
I’ve only just bought my g740fc the ride at the front is horrible, I’ve bought the toyo tyres for the front , I will check the weight and tyre pressure ect once they are on , I have semi air on the rear which seams fine on the Michelin tyres , do you think it would make a big difference to change the rear ? It’s our first Moho as previous we caravaned 15 years , cheers

 

[Lenny HB]

Hi Lenny
I’ve only just bought my g740fc the ride at the front is horrible, I’ve bought the toyo tyres for the front , I will check the weight and tyre pressure ect once they are on , I have semi air on the rear which seams fine on the Michelin tyres , do you think it would make a big difference to change the rear ? It’s our first Moho as previous we caravaned 15 years , cheers

I've got Goldschmitt full air suspension that gave a big improvement in ride it now thumps over bumbs rather than crashes. The van came with the crappy Michelin tyres I changed them before they were worn out, mainly because of the lack of grip but the Toyo's improved the ride almost as much as the air did.
My van still has a very hard ride but a vast improvement on how it came out of the factory.

 

[jezport]

To be honest I think it's more about tyre pressures than anything else. 70 psi compared to 80psi makes a big difference

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[Lenny HB]

To be honest I think it's more about tyre pressures than anything else. 70 psi compared to 80psi makes a big difference

When I had the Michelins I tried lowering the pressure it didn't make any difference on my van.