In August 2011 my wife and I left home in our Autotrail Mohican and caught the Dublin ferry to Holyhead. We were heading to the Alps and Italy, stopping off with friends in Norfolk along the way. A week later we bade farewell to our friends and, after an all day drive from Norwich to the Dover Road Park n Ride outside Canterbury, we pitched for the night and had dinner. We were due to catch the Dover to Dunkirk ferry the next morning. About 2.30am we were awoken by an almighty crash and the van lurched. At first we thought someone had driven into us, I had a good look outside and could see nothing untoward. We settled down again, hardly able to sleep when an hour later it happened again. I thought that it might be the van moving in gear against the handbrake so I pressed the clutch in and the van banged down onto her rear offside bump stop, she was way down on one side. After a sleepless night I inspected the damage, obviously we had broken rear springs on the driver’s side. What do I do? I was in a quandary. Do I drive onto the ferry with broken springs and get it fixed in France or head home? I decided on the latter as I had no doubt this was serious and was going to cost a small fortune to repair. We cancelled our bookings and moved as much as we could to the other side of the van and headed for home. Nine hours, and 380 miles later we pulled into Holyhead docks and caught the first ship to Dublin. The drive was quiet and relatively uneventful except, with the van now on her bump stop, the rear tyre had rubbed through the plastic wheel arch and the torrential rain had soaked the floor inside the kitchen cupboard, this was all I needed!!!
Once home a lot of internet research was carried out and to my horror I found that my van is fitted with a German AlKo Kober torsion bar axle containing 3 round bars in each side. Earlier models (pre 97) have flat bars clamped together and cannot be repaired so a new axle is required; some owners have paid more than £2,000 for a new one, not including fitting! I considered myself lucky in that the round bars can be replaced, but who in Northern Ireland could do it? I phoned many dealers and was met with the same reaction, “sorry we can’t do that sort of work”. As a reasonably competent mechanic I even considered doing the job myself until I found out from Alko that special tools and presses are required. Hagan’s of Ballyclare were my saviours. After talking to their service department I was assured the job could be done so I placed an order for 6 torsion bars at £60 each, Alko recommend replacing them all, and I agree. A few weeks later they arrived and I paid £358 for them! Now all I had to do was get them fitted. Hagan’s couldn’t do the repair either but their service manager suggested a competent mechanic and my van was booked in. One week later I collected my pride and joy from Hagan’s and was immediately struck by just how much higher she now sits on the road, a good 3 inches on each side, she looked great. It seems that 2 bars were broken on the driver’s side and bone dry, if the third one had broken then the whole wheel/ hub assembly could have fallen out. I drove home another £400 lighter and couldn’t believe in the transformation, she had never driven so well. I had already fitted new rear shock absorbers from Alko but the bars must have been on their way out for years; evidence of which I gained from looking at old holiday photographs.
As my van is only 10 years old, well maintained, never fully laden and only covered 50,000 miles I was interested to find a reason for the failure. It transpires that this torsion bar setup requires very diligent maintenance indeed and many mechanics are unaware of this. The van needs to be jacked up twice a year, (not the axle) till the wheels are clear of the ground, (something to do with allowing the grease free passage round the bars), then copious amounts of grease needs to be pumped in. The manuals say 10 or 12 pumps but I don’t believe this is enough. It seems that inside the axle the bars can come into contact with each other as they twist, this grease is required to provide lubrication, (and I believe, to help keep them cool as they twist). I pump the grease in till I see it emerging from the swing arm seal/bush. From now on I will be diligently following this regime, especially before long trips.
Over the years I have seen many larger vans with this suspension setup and sagging badly at the rear, owners should now be aware of the reasons and not just put this sagging down to weak torsion bars, they could be broken and very dangerous indeed, even with air assistance. I have been assured that these bars hold the whole wheel assembly in place!
Happy trails.
Once home a lot of internet research was carried out and to my horror I found that my van is fitted with a German AlKo Kober torsion bar axle containing 3 round bars in each side. Earlier models (pre 97) have flat bars clamped together and cannot be repaired so a new axle is required; some owners have paid more than £2,000 for a new one, not including fitting! I considered myself lucky in that the round bars can be replaced, but who in Northern Ireland could do it? I phoned many dealers and was met with the same reaction, “sorry we can’t do that sort of work”. As a reasonably competent mechanic I even considered doing the job myself until I found out from Alko that special tools and presses are required. Hagan’s of Ballyclare were my saviours. After talking to their service department I was assured the job could be done so I placed an order for 6 torsion bars at £60 each, Alko recommend replacing them all, and I agree. A few weeks later they arrived and I paid £358 for them! Now all I had to do was get them fitted. Hagan’s couldn’t do the repair either but their service manager suggested a competent mechanic and my van was booked in. One week later I collected my pride and joy from Hagan’s and was immediately struck by just how much higher she now sits on the road, a good 3 inches on each side, she looked great. It seems that 2 bars were broken on the driver’s side and bone dry, if the third one had broken then the whole wheel/ hub assembly could have fallen out. I drove home another £400 lighter and couldn’t believe in the transformation, she had never driven so well. I had already fitted new rear shock absorbers from Alko but the bars must have been on their way out for years; evidence of which I gained from looking at old holiday photographs.
As my van is only 10 years old, well maintained, never fully laden and only covered 50,000 miles I was interested to find a reason for the failure. It transpires that this torsion bar setup requires very diligent maintenance indeed and many mechanics are unaware of this. The van needs to be jacked up twice a year, (not the axle) till the wheels are clear of the ground, (something to do with allowing the grease free passage round the bars), then copious amounts of grease needs to be pumped in. The manuals say 10 or 12 pumps but I don’t believe this is enough. It seems that inside the axle the bars can come into contact with each other as they twist, this grease is required to provide lubrication, (and I believe, to help keep them cool as they twist). I pump the grease in till I see it emerging from the swing arm seal/bush. From now on I will be diligently following this regime, especially before long trips.
Over the years I have seen many larger vans with this suspension setup and sagging badly at the rear, owners should now be aware of the reasons and not just put this sagging down to weak torsion bars, they could be broken and very dangerous indeed, even with air assistance. I have been assured that these bars hold the whole wheel assembly in place!
Happy trails.
