Alko Brake Problems
I have recently experienced the brake shoe lining on the nearside wheel of my Lunar Clubman SI completely wearing out on my last trip. The caravan is one year old and was serviced before my departure to Europe. Whilst in Genoa the AlKo agent removed the brake drums and found that the nearside brake shoes was completely worn out and metal to metal contact was made to the brake drum which is now scored. There was no damage to the off side brake shoes.
Has anyone experienced this problem?
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Thank you for coming back to me lornalou1
The repairer in Genoa undertook emergency repairs to get me back on the road. They are Alko agents with qualified mechanics.
There appears to be a problem with the braking system.
Alko deny this and are trying to say I left the brakes on which is not the case. This is proven by the fact that only the nearside brake shoes had worn out.
I have been told by the dealer that they have had another case of this problem on a Bailey to which Bailey did not quibble over compensation the caravan owner. It is suspected that it might be the ATC system malfunctioning?
I am trying to find out if any other caravan owners have experienced this problem and what caused it.0 -
I wonder if Alko have some problems with their 2016/2017 chassis' and brakes.
My Elddis Crusader has an Alko Chassis. Bought new Jan 2017 and probably built Dec 2016. After 5000 miles the brakes were terribly noisy and i contacted the local dealer (Supplier too far away) who took the van in - inspected and advised that the brake installation was faulty - and Alko accepted a full replacement claim which was made via Elddis. New brakes and drums now fitted and they are as quiet as a church mouse.
My dealer advised that they had replaced a few brake installations on all brands of caravans but all on an Alko Chassis, of late as there were a batch of faulty ones.
I suggest you speak to Alko directly or make a full claim via your Lunar Dealer.
Good Luck
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The ATC works by moving one shaft which controls both Bowden brake cables so don't think it will be that, but saying that it works the Bowden cables make me think that if the cable to the brake that was red hot had ceased and didn't release when you took handbrake off then the brake on that side would be on all the time while travelling. get the cables checked.
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There are dozens of unhappy customers with brakes which squeal, all on Alko chassis and all caravans from the UK's largest caravan manufacturer. Surely this is no coincidence?
I read on their forum that certain members had been back to their dealers on three occasions to try and solve the issue, eventually Alko sending out engineers to investigate
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Thank you to everyone who has replied with advice and information.
Here is an update on my brake problems.
Alko are refusing to accept responsibility for my claim.
They say the brakes failed on one side because of wrong adjustments and or possible incorrect usage.All communications have gone through the dealer to Lunar and to Alko.
An Alko engineer has visited and identified the brake linkages were incorrectly adjusted and there was a faulty repair to the brake show replacement undertaken in Genoa.
New brakes were fitted in Genoa in May and when inspected in the UK in July the nearside brake lining had again worn excessively.
Alko also identified that their approved service agent in Genoa had cross threaded the nut on the stub axle when re fitting the brake hub. Now an entire axle replacement is required.
The Alko engineer identified the caravan was overloaded when he visited. At the time we had stored our awning and other equipment in the van when not travelling thus it being overloading when it was checked by the Alko engineer. Heavy equipment is always put in the towing vehicle and not in the caravan when travelling.
There was a general comment about towing through mountains, my Dash Cam did not show any mountain driving as we used motorways.
I suspect that the brake linkages were out of adjustment when the van was delivered new to me. I am advised this is a factory setting. Having spoken to other caravan owners and reading the responses on this Forum, there is a problem with Alko brakes. I would very much like to have a meeting with the technical department of Alko to discuss this problem as I believe I am not the operational cause of the brakes wearing out on one side. But I am the one having to stand the cost of repair.
I am informed Alko appear to have a monopoly in this country. There is no alternative caravan running gear manufacturer.
This is all very upsetting, and expensive as well as spoiling my caravan experience.0 -
Not directly connected but a thought for others the Tyrepal system for tyre pressures also indicates temperature, whilst not an accurate indication in itself from my experience of observing over 2500` to Italy and back it should indicate either brakes are binding or as appears in this case one brake binding. The temperature was on average 5* higher than the air temperature shown on the dashboard, binding brakes or overuse soon raise the temperature of the brakes/wheels to glow point, as I once found out descending down into the Inn valley at Innsbruck in a motorhome!
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Hi everready, not quite the same but similar. I have just taken my 2017 Swift Elegance for its first service and they report that the brakes are "cooked". I had experienced some squealing on braking and had told the dealer this in June. En-route to the dealer today I felt the ATC system engage momentarily when the van was pitching slightly over a bump (not yawing at all). Then when I climbed a steep hill I had to engage first where 3rd or 4th would usually have been fine. I pulled into a lay-by and the caravan brake drums were hot, but not excessively so. I waited a while and the rest of the trip to the dealer was OK. I am awaiting more information from the dealer and anticipating a battle to get warranty redress. The van has only covered 950 miles from new and fuel consumption has always been better than with our previous smaller lighter van. So I am certain we have never travelled with the handbrake even slightly engaged, we always use the mover to hitch up and so the handbrake is off. I also feel that the consumption and towing experience indicate that brake engagement does not occur when pulling except for ATC engagement which we have sensed a few times again then the van is pitching over significant inclines. (Approaches to Rookesbury Park for example) So I am inclined to believe the excessive heat is caused by braking on over run or ATC. I will report further when I get some feedback from the dealer.
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We have a 2017 (model) Lunar Clubman SE. As far as I know this was the first Lunar model to have self-adjusting brakes. It was serviced by the dealer we bought it from one year old in November 2017 - no problems reported with the brakes. Whilst travelllng in France in September 2018 the collision avoidance system on our car activated as we entered an autoroute toll gate, which meant the brakes were applied automatically. Nothing too severe, and our speed would have been less than 15mph. As we pulled away all seemed normal - no evidence of sticking brakes. However, during the rest of our trip the caravan was shunting the car on anyihing other than the gentlest braking. When we got back home I booked the caravan in for service, mentioning to the dealer about the shunting issue. Next day I got a call from the dealer telling me the brake drums were scored and the linings 'crumbling'. I authorised the repair as we were going on a trip a couple of days later. When I collected the caravan I was initially given a FOC invoice for the brakes work, but then this was withdrawn and I was give a bill for over £600, which I paid. The dealer said they thought it unreasonable for such a problem on a caravan less than two years old and they were going to submit a claim to Alko (or Lunar). As this was only a week ago I haven't had a response from the dealer.
During our trip, covering about 250 towing miles in the last week braking was smooth and progressive, so at least the dealer did a good job of the repair - at least so far so good!
I would be interested to hear if anyone has made a successful claim against the dealer, or Alko, or the manufacturer in these circumstances.
Johnosh aka John O'Shaughnessy
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We have a 2018 Coachman VIP 460 which had a slight brake squeal from new which I put down to it having been in storage for months over winter and was probably rust. This was clearly not the case as the squeal worsened dramatically and the 'van was returned to the dealer.
There are, apparently, two 'fixes' from AL-KO for this problem, one of which is the paste mentioned by xtrailman. I am not sure what the other is. Since this work was carried out the problem has not reappeared and we have towed over 500 miles.
I sincerely hope that we do not experience the brake wear problems mentioned above. Just a word of warning, although it may not be totally relevant in this case, our previous caravan was a Lunar and Lunar themselves were TOTALLY useless at resolving it.
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Had a new Alko axle fitted early this year after a "collapsed" axle, this included new brake assembly. Towed approx 600 miles with increasing decibels of brake squeal. Investigation found scored drums from possibly faulty shoes , all replaced under warranty. Known fault not uncommon on late 2017 - 2018 Alko brakes apparently!
Nothing left to go wrong now lol
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An update to our Lunar Clubman's disintigrating brake problem.
The dealer asked me to send photos of the 'axle plate' Only with Google's help, not the dealer's, did I find out that this is a sticker hidden on the underside of the axle. I had to jack the caravan as high as I could then crawl underneath with camera and torch. With a lot of discomfort, and a bit of risk, I got some photos, more by luck than skill, that showed the data relating to the axle weight limit, manufactured date etc. I have now sent these to the dealer and wait for their feedback. They seem still to be on my side.
Given the difficulty I had meeting their request for the photos I think it was unreasonable for them to ask me to do the job myself - I think they should have sent a mobile engineer.
Waiting and hoping for my £620 back!
Elliot
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A happy update to the crumbling brakes problem on our Lunar! The dealer is refunding the £620, so Santa can come down our chimney after all this year. I must admit I was mentally preparing for a fight over this. Incidentally I had searched on-line for the cost two Alko brake drums and a set of linings - totalled less than £300 so there must have been an awful lot of labour involved!
Johnosh
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That brings back unpleasant memories……..Lunar……...Alko Brakes!!
We bought a new Lunar Clubman in May 2014, after a few local trips with no problems apart from minor niggles we set off for the South of France in July 2014. As we arrived in Provence, after a few weeks of touring I realised that the caravan was giving a gentle “nudge” as we braked. Thinking we needed an adjustment I towed home with a little more caution than usual. The caravan now about 4 months old was booked into the caravan supplier to look at the brakes. I was horrified to be told that the brakes were “burnt out”, the caravan needed replacement linings and drums with a cost of about £500. When I queried the warranty I was told that it was not covered as “you have obviously towed with the hand brake on”. We argued, we had been towing a caravan since 1984, we were seasoned caravanners. We do not tow with the brake applied. I also pointed out that we towed with a Mondeo, it was not capable of towing with the caravan brake applied. They would not accept that there was a problem with the caravan. Later suggesting that as we had arrived in Provence from the Central Massif via Florac that the long continual descent must have “burnt the brakes out” and therefore again no cover from the warranty.
Exasperated we contacted Lunar directly, they were not interested and referred back to the dealer, even though we had explained that we were not satisfied with their service. We wrote to the Managing Director of the caravan dealers, (dare I name them??) We got nothing, not even an acknowledgement, even after following up with numerous calls, never available. We contacted The Caravan Club but again got no real support, told we could hire an independent engineer to carry out an inspection and pursue a small claim. But this would mean laying out more money and maybe get nowhere. Our lovely new caravan was sitting in the dealer’s yard, we were getting nowhere so we bit the bullet and paid up begrudgingly.
Still unhappy we wrote to Alko and queried whether we could have any confidence in their product and could we not use our caravan to visit mountainous regions? We were very impressed to receive a phone call from a senior manager at about 6:30 pm on a Friday evening. He was very supportive and keen to reassure us, stating that Alko were based in a mountainous region and their product was designed to tow up and down mountains were necessary! To offer further reassurance he said that he was happy to get one of his engineers to call and inspect the brakes.This would be when he was in the area, there would be no charge for this service. The engineer subsequently called, jacked the caravan up and inspected the brakes. His conclusion was that they had been set up wrongly in the factory, there was not enough play in the linkages so the brakes came on too soon and stayed on too long. Short trips in the UK had had no effect but prolonged towing in France, perhaps 300 miles in a day, had caused the overheating. Also this fault had not been picked up in the PDI nor when the brakes were replaced. His conclusion was that we would have suffered the same consequence, if he had not visited, inspected and correctly adjusted the brake linkages/rods.We have now had another 4 years of towing and numerous annoying and inconvenient problems but thankfully the brakes have been fine. This last year we repeated the descent from Florac with no problems. We did not pursue our claim further, as we had no proof, the original pieces were long gone and no written engineers report, as Alko had visited as a gesture of goodwill. We certainly appreciated their sympathy and support and we just wanted to get on with enjoying our holidays and not get bogged down in legal disputes.
An interesting footnote was last year we were on a wet CL, when we were due to leave the farmer offered to tow us off. He arrived in a big agricultural 4x4 pickup, hooked us up, jumped in the cab and attempted to pull away. No movement, he got out saying that he had left the handbrake on! We told him of our experience and being accused of towing with the handbrake applied. “Impossible with a Mondeo”, was his reply. I wonder how many other people have suffered similarly.
We have enjoyed caravanning for 34 years, but feel very disappointed that poor workmanship and after sales are going to kill the UK caravan industry. I believe it will go the same way as the car industry. How long before only the continental brands are available?0 -
Sorry to hear about your brake problems, JSGARTH - hope the bad memory is fading. I realise now are lucky we have been in having had our warranty claim settled in full (£621) without a quible from either our dealer, or, presumably Alko or Lunar. Given that it is a good-news story I would like to give the name of our dealer, but it seems this is not the thing to do. All I will say is that they are close to the A1 in North Yorks, handy for the races!
Happy and trouble-free caravanning in 2019.
Johnosh
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Had same problem on our 2018 Elddis with very noisy brakes.Dealer carried out a first time fix which was to apply the so called amazing paste as suggested by Alko.Picked up van after repair and all going well for the first 10 to 15 miles.About 5 mins from home could hear the return of the squeak.Contacted dealer who said next step was a full replacement of brakes including new shoes and drums.Parts have arrived and van due to go in for the warranty work in next couple of weeks.No quibble from dealer,Elddis or Alko.Will be glad when job is done as the brake squeak is awful.Always guarantees a stare from others when slowing down.
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Not totally relevant to the discussion but on the odd occasion that I have forgotten to release the caravan brake the tow vehicle would not even move it or if it did it is felt immediately. Out of interest I currently tow with an Isuzu double cab 4x4. I have once forgotten the caravan brake sine owing this vehicle. I got less than 2 metres. Moral of the story is that I personally don't think anyone is going very far with the caravan brakes applied.
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Does the van in question have the ratchet or gas assist hand brake?
The former can be set "just" lightly on, giving no noticeable drag but plenty enough friction that on a sustained run, the brakes will burn out.
The latter is more fool proof in that if it is other than fully off the gas strut will significantly apply it, making it being on whilst towing obvious to all but the most unaware drivers.
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We have 2017 Unicorn Cadiz, reported noisy brakes on 1st service 2018 on collection the brakes were quieter but soon tarted squeaking again. Next the LED indicator light stopped working a very well known problem, Was told that as long as I could hear the system working on hooking up and the connecting rod was in the correct position all was good. Continued to use the van until 2nd service 2019 when these issues were to be looked at. Have now been informed that the brake hoes and drums are worn to a level where the caravan is not safe to tow. Dealer submitted a claim to Alko and they have refused it saying I have driven the van with hand brake on.
I find this totally insulting, in over 20yrs of caravanning I have never driven with hand brake on and never worn out a set of brake shoes never mind drums. I have regular brakes when driving and always check temperatures of wheels and also use tyre pal monitoring system and never detected excessively hot drums or wheels. Now battling to try and get Alko or Bailey to there serious issues with their braking systems, but at the moment have lost all confidence with what we thought was our perfect caravan.
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Seeing the dates of previous posts I feel I’m late ‘joining the party’ but we’ve now got the similar problem. We took our 2017 Swift Corniche 17/4 (Challenger 530) for her second service yesterday. Today the service engineer telephoned to say there was a major problem with the brakes/drums whatever (sorry I’m not very mechanical!) which now necessitates total replacement. He is approaching Swift as the warranty is covered by them although Alko will also be involved as the problem lies with their chassis (all this as the engineer reported to me). Goodness only knows how long this is all going to take especially with the Easter weekend coming up. We now have to cancel our Easter caravan break and another caravan break planned for late April/early May (retirement is great!). Oh and there’s also another problem with the Swift Command control panel - and the first panel was replaced at the first service in 2018. To think our first Swift gave us 10 years problem-free caravanning.
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Hi Bellringer. Sorry to hear about your brake problems. Earlier in this thread I described my experience and the (positive) outcome. I would suggest that if you meet any resistance by your dealer or Alko in accepting this as a warranty claim that you quote my case as a precedent. No guarantees (no pun) that this will have the desired effect as every case will be different, but it's a good starting point. In my case the brakes and drums were replaced FOC and without my having to get into a dispute, in fact the dealer was very supportive all along. The only thing was that I had to pay them up-front (£600- odd) then get refunded once they had the go-ahead from Alko.
Good luck, and I hope you don't lose many of your holidays.
Johnosh
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We have just recently had our caravan in to have a 'mod' done to the breaks. The dealer tells us they have carried out a few of these 'mods' that ALKO have come up with.
Our breaks were squealing badly from time of collecting, last August until recently, at first it was suggested that they were dry due to the very hot summer and autumn, however when it continued over the wetter months the dealer suggested we took to them for the 'mod' to be carried out.
I believe it is something to do with making grooves in the brake lining to stop the dust build up. Please don't quote me on that as I may have got it wrong but that was my understanding.
On the 90 mile journey back from the dealer it seemed to be ok, time will tell.
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All I can say is that this thread makes extremely depressing reading! Also makes me a little nervous especially when picking up a new van soon! I agree with the comment regarding bad service and after sales care. It’s not like we pay thrupence hapenny for our caravans is it? Maybe the Industry will pay for its errors and end up a shadow of its former self. I have had several vans, the latest being a Bailey Unicorn Valencia 2011 and absolutely no brake or axle problems with any of them thank goodness. However, I think we are old enough and ugly enough to deal with problems if they occur but we are not good at dealing with problems when there is no support from the dealer and manufacturers and it is clearly their pigeon. I can only hope that the new Coachman is one of the thousands of vans that give no problems.
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