Alko Shock Absorbers

I have wanted to fit shock absorbers to Bailey94 for ages. After they arrived, first thing was to read the fitting instructions.

These are the main items needed to fit the shock absorbers.	To start, applied the handbrake and chocked the jockey wheel.	The nearside is going to be fitted first, so the offside wheel is also chocked.
The wheel trim is removed next. I use the peg puller.	Wheel nuts are then slackened.	Jack placed under the axle and raised.
An axle stand is then placed in position and the axle lowered onto it.	Wheel nuts removed next, then the wheel.	All corner steadies were then lowered. This is to keep everything stable.
Then remove this plastic cap from the swing arm with a screwdriver.	Into the whole provided inserted the mounting plates.	Making sure the arrows point forwards.
To determine which mounting hole to use. In my case the distance from the middle of the swing arm to the hole is 235mm. That will be the middle hole.	To align the shock absorber the spacers in the fixings (top and bottom) had to go as shown.	A check of the distance between the mounting bolts. This had to be a minimum of 255mm. That is okay then.
Referring to the instructions, set the torque wrench to 86Nm.	Tightening the bottom bolt first. I used an adjustable spanner on the other side.	Then the top bolt.
Put the wheel back on, then after winding the steadies up, lower to the ground then torque the wheel nuts to 88Nm and the wheel trim replaced. That side done.

It was just a matter of repeating the above on the offside. I did release the handbrake then apply it again so that there would be no strain on the brakes before starting.

A straight forward job, once I had decided how the top and bottom spacers on the shock absorber should be aligned. It took 10 minutes to do the other side.

Will give an update after our next trip, to see whether a difference is noted. Update; Took a trip to Haltwhistle, Northumberland then onto Milarrochy Bay, Loch Lomand (We live in the North West), in all about 12 hours driving. At first I did not really notice much difference, but later on, after travelling on a variety of roads the caravan now seems more "poised", everything seems more relaxed. The big test for us were the knobs on the cooker, they did not come off for once!! So, yes, an improvement for the better.

Costings: Alko shock absorbers come in pairs, purchased mine from The Caravan Shop (www.thecaravanshop.co.uk) for £66.95. I have used them before, buying a mini Heki skylight, good service, fast, no hassle.

 Page Created 5th July 2009/Updated 21st July 2009