Alko Axle Problems

Though our caravan is now sixteen years old, we noticed a 'lean to one side' within a week of taking it home brand new.  Fortunately, at the time, it was sorted out by Alko/Swift without cost to us, and done very quickly because we were due to go on holiday.  It was actually done twice - a replacement axle assembly sent up to our dealer by Alko had the same problem (twisting of the inner rubbers which given the 'suspension' effect) as the one it replaced, so at that point Swift insisted it be towed back to Alko on a low loader, repaired with a complete new axle assembly, not refurbished, and returned within the same week - and it was.  The whole thing was sorted out within two weeks by our fantastic local dealer, Swift, and Alko.

There are many other posts about what is obviously an on-going design problem.  We were told a 'whole batch' was faulty!

If it's a similar problem of a 'lean', I wouldn't expect it from a caravan of any age and think it's an inherent fault, and would fight hard, quoting posts such as this one:  Alko axle problems and other similar ones which you can find by googling.

There are other posts related to over-heating wheel bearings - but the cost you quote sounds like a whole axle replacement, rather than just two sets of wheel bearings.

I am the owner of a 2013 Bailey Unicorn 2 Cadiz and have just been told that I will require the axle to be removed and sent back to Alko for refurbishment.

This will mean the caravan being off the road for 6 to 8 weeks and a cost of about £1000.

Is this due to bad design/production of the axle or the caravan layout ? - the gas locker, fidge and cooker are on the side that has failed.

Is this what we should expect from a 3/4year old caravan?

Write your comments here...If your van is just 3years old then unless it was because of a "mishap" on your part I would think it would be covered by "not fit for purpose" and Alko and your dealer should take the hitq

Hi, we also have a unicorn cadiz 2 2013 and have what they term a relaxed axle, ours is also not covered by warranty as we purchased the van in Oct 2012 therefore they are saying it is over the 3 year warranty. The dealer where we have the van serviced has
been in touch with alko and bailey but no joy as they wont take responsibility, therefore the bill is over to us as they state it could be due to  potholes or overloading.  The bill for new axle and fitting comes out at £1,230 ouch. By the way ours in the
other side to yours by the door, also not what we expected from a relitively new van  

Hello everyone,



Have a Bailey unicorn Vigo, and yes we have just had to have a new axle fitted, £940 inc labour. Only had it 16months. We were told by the dealer it's been overloaded, this is our third bailey and we have never had this issue, the side were the the cooker,
microwave, gas bottles and water system is, had no clearance hardly above the tyre, having had the new axle fitted I have noticed that that same side as less of a gap than the door side, and the van is empty.

The farther in law Also has a Vigo and it looks like he has got the same issue and Carrys little in the van, it looks like his may have dropped on the same side. It's in for its first service at the beginning of November, so let's see. Looks like a bad
design on the unicorns, having the gas bottles over the axle, cooker, microwave and water and heating system.

I hope "Wildwood " is correct but I think the Unicorn 1 had a 1600kg axle istead of the 1500kg fitted to the Unicorn 11. Strange with a Max Laden Mass of 1498kg

My Unicorn 11 is an early one so there may be more to follow - I hope there is not.

An esy check is to try to put your fingers between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch. Two or three fingers gap would seem to be normal. On the "bad side" of mine there was only room for about one finger.
If you are worried get it checked

When the insurance company weighed your van, what did it weigh?

We have a series 3 Vigo which now has to go back to the factory due to an axle problem. Our friends have an identical van which had to go back in the summer for the same problem. Bailey/Alko clearly have a problem and should accept responsibility. Why is the CC not taking it up on behalf of affected members? I have also had the thought about the position of the gas bottle.

I bought a brand new 2014 Bailey Pursuit 560-5 and on our first holiday in Dorset 280 miles from home and three months old the near side tyre had burnt through the wheel arch and then the hot water pipe which was routed above in the wheel arch cavity, i first suspected the fault to be because the hot and cold pipes were crossing each other within the arch rather than running parallel thus pushing down slightly more on the arch. I luckily took photos showing very little tolerance between top of tyre and burnt through arch and mentioned this in my email for the warranty claim which was successful. 2 and a half years on another successful claim for leaking roof strap and i ask the service department check the axle clearance because I've never really been happy with the clearance only to be told that the axle has fatigued/ dropped implying it has been caused by over loading??? Dealer has informed Baileys and they won't entertain warranty claim unless Alko have inspected it which apparently i have to pay for £250-300 even though its still in Warranty?? Dealer hasn't forwarded my photos from original claim to Baileys yet which i believe proves the problem lies with the axle and was pre-existing from my first claim. Anyone with any knowledge on successful claims or links to people with same problem would be welcome.

My Lunar Clubman CK was almost 2 years old when my service engineer spotted (July 2016) that both tyres were wearing on the inside.

The Van went back to the dealers in October for warranty work, FLOOR, LIGHTS, MIRROR and several other items and they declared the axle to be the cause of the tyre wear. The Axle went back to ALKO who produced the familiar "get out of jail card" of overloading and refused to accept that there was anything wrong with their substandard axle. Refurbishment and two new tyres came to over £600 and I am not in the least impressed.

These ALKO axles are seriously dodgy.