"Caravan Disaster: Suspension Failure in the Outback! 🚐 | How to Prevent It"
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- Опубликовано: 30 май 2024
- Welcome back to our channel! Today, we're sharing our unexpected adventure from the rugged outback, where we faced a major setback: our caravan's suspension broke down! Join us as we navigate this challenge, share what went wrong, and provide crucial tips to help you avoid the same fate.
📹 In This Video:
On the Road: Our real-time discovery of the broken suspension.
Quick Fixes: Immediate steps we took to manage the situation.
Expert Insights: Analysis of what might have caused the failure.
Community Feedback: We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts and advice on caravan maintenance.
🔧 Key Takeaways:
How to spot early signs of suspension issues.
The critical component we believe was missing from our setup.
Practical steps to take if you encounter similar problems.
📝 Your Input Matters!
Have you faced similar issues with your caravan?
What would you have done differently in our situation?
Any tips or advice for fellow caravan enthusiasts?
🔔 Don't forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and COMMENT with your experiences or questions. Your support helps us bring more valuable content to the caravan community!
We will be doing a follow up video of the response from all parties involved in the build process
. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss out on the outcome.
Taking the water out was a brilliant idea , 👏👏😎 yes they definitely need washers..🙈😳 love this episode, I am so glad you both ok . 🍷🍷🦘🦘🌈
Thanks
Goodness me, that’s a few hiccups for one video! I think it was clever releasing the water. Hope all goes well with the repairs. Looking forward to hearing about your future adventures!
Great helpful video for fellow travellers. Now I've got no experience whatsoever in this area to comment and have learned much from your video. My initial thought was higher pressure in tyres rather than less due to weight carrying. And I was quite surprised to find you had no washers on those bolts. Do not think I would have released water from tank but do understand your thinking. Well presented video. Please keep them coming. I'll send some money so you can buy new shirt and please allow Michelle to speak!
Yes I keep getting in trouble for cutting Michelle off. It is best to reduce tyre pressure as it increases tyre footprint, giving more traction and stability plus comfort. But you do need to slow down.
Thanks for watching
If I were you the next time you are in a bigger town i would get the holes drilled the next size up weld Bigger washers on each side i think the problem was at manufacture the holes might have been bigger than the bolts allowing movement
With the bolts you have on now I would advise to keep a keen eye on them hope you resolve your problems
Alco is a supplier the chassis manufacturer is the one who puts the suspension on to the chassis
Hope this helps safe travels
Robert
Thank you for the great advice. I am waiting for a response to an email that I have sent to all parties involved in the build process. Hopefully I get a positive response. I will be posting a follow up video of my email and their responses in the coming weeks.
I have been giving some more thought to the problem
I think that there could be a lot of pressure on the bolt with the action of the shock absorbers and i think that there should be 2 nuts one each side of the bracket with the 2nd nut welded too the bracket and the other nut locking the bolt solid thus stopping the movement
Hey guys love your video! My only advice to you is to 1. Drink a good cup of coffee before commencing any vehicle maintenance 2. After emptying the tank, you should have refilled it with coffee 3. Buy a motorhome or campervan, then you only got one vehicle to worry about. Enjoy your travels and please keep making them awesome videos!
Hi Aussie, that is why you are called aussiecoffeebean. A lover of coffee. We need to catch up soon and hit the road together somewhere.
My opinion
In relation to your driving technique, speed etc. you were doing the correct thing.
Tyre pressure I personally would have dropped down to about 25psi, can go a lot lower but that track is not overly ruff so 25psi would have been adequate.
Definitely would have removed shocky straight away.
Would have kept water, for safety reasons and removing it would have made no difference to your issue.
Shocky mounts, definitely should have a washer where you have noted. Overall the way they have mounted those shocks is disgusting, even with the washer correctly installed.
The bolts are way undersized and I wonder if they are even high tensile.
Personally I would move on from dealing with the manufacturer etc. Just take it to an engineering mob somewhere on your travels and get them to modify and beef up the mounts, do it once and do it right. Might cost $500-$1000 but otherwise it will be on the back of your mind all the time and ruin your trip.
Been there done that, and the more you travel these roads unfortunately more things break
Good luck and enjoy
Sorry to hear of your troubles. My opinion dumping the water would not have made a lot of difference the shocks are basically there to stop the bouncing so going steady was the best option. Looking at the way the shocks are mounted just makes me cringe . Happy travels
Thanks for the feedback. Agree with your water comment.
The coil springs hold the weight not the shocks - could have left the water in - there’s only one shock per corner of the car for dampening, having 2 one the van is overkill - use a big bore foam filled shock.
Thanks. Will look into that
OMG this is a great don't let them get away with this all your guestions are onrable
Will make a follow up video. Thanks for watching
The word you want to use in letters is "Witness markings"
Thanks. We have an email ready to go soon and will change our wording to include that. Thanks for your feedback
Hey guys we had the same issue in 2022 on return trip from Cape York, basically never any washers installed flogged out the chassis mounts. We limped into Bramwell Station and our van manufacturer contacted Alko same day we’re at trade show together, Alko service contacted us same day and had an ‘upgrade kit’ available then so they knew of the issue then but no recall. They shipped to us in Cairns and had fitted. Duel axle suspension I had them replace all shocks including the few that hadn’t failed and reimbursement for costs of tow and repair so we could continue our return trip.
Thanks for this feedback. You have given me the courage to keep pushing this. I think they hope if they pass you off and ignore you it will make things difficult and you will go away. I nearly gave up to be honest. I will make another video down the track with how we went. I am believing for a good outcome.
Been watching your youtube videos, really like them, I have a question. Did you have a dust extractor on the caravan. I noticed you didn't have a stone guard, would you recommend either of these thanks Lydia
Thank you for watching it means a lot to us both. I am a bit scared to give any feedback at this stage. Before we left home we talked about wanting to buy a stone guard but ran out of time and money. So far we have not needed it and life has been easier without it. We did put cardboard over the back window on the Strzelecki track to avoid stones bouncing off the van and back onto the window. We are planning on doing the Gibb River road in 3 weeks and will be doing the same there plus lowering our speed. Time will tell if not having it will be a mistake.
We have commented how little dust we have got in the van. Again we decided to try and go without it to save money as it just keeps adding up. On dirt dusty roads we covered the vent in the side door with cardboard. We have done Strzelecki, Oodnadatta track and William creek road with minimal dust inside. I hope that helps. Safe travels
I agree, from working on cars, trailers etc over the years, there should be signs of circular marks if washers had ever been fitted. Being suspension, I believe they should have been fitted from factory.
Maybe the build was a “Friday” job… the guy assembling it couldn’t be assed walking across the workshop when he ran out of them.
Sucks for you guys, but it seems many caravan manufacturers drop the ball on a lot of things, and seem to just keep getting away with it.
Agree 100%
Wow , that suspension build makes our Jayco look good 😁🤣.
Haha thanks for watching
Yeah, that is NOT what I would call a heavy duty suspension.
@@PietroH53 sadly I would have to agree.
You need to check out Trippin around Oz and the problems they have had with their Marvel.
Omg the stress they have been through is horrendous.
Will check them out. Thanks for watching
We would not have dropped water in that position..if the suspension completely broke you need water while waiting for flat bed pick up in remote areas…drinking, eating, showers, toilet etc. Re suspension repair the chassis mount area needs to be strengthened and the spacer for the shock mount is not the best approach however if necessary the spacer must be welded in place to the suspension mounting point. That spacer is the weakest link.
Agree with your water comment. I have had a few people say the spacer should be welded as well. I will be reaching out to AL-KO head office tomorrow for further assistance. Marvel will also be kept in the loop as well as they should be assisting as it is their caravan that they sell.
Just got around to watching this. You poor buggers. Feel sorry for you. Makes you question your purchase doesn’t it?
We also have a Marvel Golden Child, but it is a 2020 build. We have the same suspension (brand and model) however the shocks are side by side not behind each as on yours. Our shocks are red not black. We need to replace our shocks when we get home as one on each side is starting to leak.
Hope you guys are going ok.
We are still on the move and loving life on the road in our caravan. These things happen so we have fixed and moved on. I am still trying to get some help from the manufacturer or Marvel to replace or fix a few things due to the break. But not letting that affect our trip. Spoiler alert - Our car has decided to follow suit and breakdown. That video is Friday week but is happening as we speak. So far 10 days straight in one spot in the middle of nowhere. But our spirits are high as we are supported by great staff at the best outback pub with amazing meals (Devils Marble Hotel). Free camping out the front or paid out the back. Very safe. Still enjoying every day. Big shout out to the staff who are so friendly.
Bugger!! We have been passed Devils marbles (stopped in for a look) on Wednesday. We stayed the night at a free camp just out of Barrow Creek, great spot. A pity I hadn’t watched your videos earlier, terrible reception in parts of NT, we would have loved to have dropped by to say Gday to you guys. Hope you get back moving soon.
Enjoy going north, we took 3 nights from Darwin to Alice free camping. We loved north NT and over in WA. Enjoy.
Hi, sorry to see your problems, Those bolts have been loose for a long time for the hex to cut into the gussets so badly. Washers should definitely be fitted, but with the bolts loose like that, the holes would have been damaged and elongated. I would like to see bolts 10mm longer to ensure the nylon in nut is well on the threaded section. The bolts should be grade 8.8 hi tensile torqued correctly on corrugated roads I check my swing arm , shock absorber every day . The damaged gussets can fairly easily repaired by welding thicker plates onto the existing mounts drilling to suit a longer shock bolt. The caravan we have has 16 mm diameter shocky bolts ,those 12 mm are a bit light on. Safe travels 🙏
So much great info. Thank you for taking the time. Much appreciated
There should have been washers between loc nuts and mating surface.
Appreciate the feedback
very lucky you picked that up . good job could have been a disaster
Yes we were very lucky
I see people saying to go to the manufacturer of the van or alko. I would go to the chassis manufacturer as s they are the ones who fitted the suspension.
I’ll be checking mine….. unfortunately your responses by these caravan businesses is typical of most, not interested once they have your money. More and better regulations should come to these businesses to make them; A: Build a reasonable product with a minimum 5yr warranty B: put laws into place that won’t allow them to get out of there obligations
In the scheme of things…. I don’t believe dropping that last tank of water would have made much difference… if any
Great feedback. Agree with the water comment. Thanks for watching
100% dodgy build by the manufacturer. Nothing you could have done. Service guy should have pick this us as part of the inspection. Safe travel.
Agree. We are waiting for a response from all parties involved in the build process that we recently sent. Keep a look out for a follow up video showing our email and any responses
I agree with you on being dodgy suspension I have an MDC van and it's a beefy suspension.
If it was me I would sell the van
i don't know the van but i have built vans. yes you need do need washers and a good thick solid washer and even 2 so stop the tendancy to wear the hole bigger. no reliable company would try to dodge their responsibility to repair it after all the cost of repair is far less than the bad publicity from trying to dodge helping
Agree and thanks for watching. Willl be posting an updated video in a couple of weeks
I would not have drained the water tank. The water is only a small portion of the load. If you didn't reach your destination, you may need that water.
Washers are needed. The spacer needs to be the correct length otherwise it won't place the shocky in the correct plane with the bolts perpendicular to the shocky.
What i didn't see was any positive limit on the down travel of the suspension. Without this, you risk pulling the shock absorber apart. It looks like the damage to your shock absorber. You will see chains covered in sleeving on some vans to limit the down movement of the suspension.
Thank you for the feedback. I should be an expert at the end of this as I am leaning heaps. Cheers
Not a fan of those lock nuts due to the soft nature of the metal to allow the nylon insert, doesn’t really lock just stops the nut from unthreading when it loosens and you lose the nut, your root causes is the lack of a washer and the small surface contact of the nut with soft metal nut plus add the dirt corrugations, vibrations, heat and those nuts will come loose, another thing is shock absorber is misleading too oscillating damper is more correct, slows the springs compression and rebound stops the van/car from pogoing down the road after hitting a bump (imagine the clown cars at the shows) corrugations are killers the oil over heats and they become ineffective and your springs are hammering the chassis and components they are connected to ie hammer drill function or Ugga dugga gun without rotation = your situation and the Swiss cheese effect (google) lots of things (slices or holes) need to happen or fail to get the event/outcome
Looking at it definite need washes, more than likely it had cheap shockers in it maybe tyre pressures are too high when replace the washes. Make sure they’re heavy duty washer with a contour. Look under a patrol back and that’s the sort of washer you need. and what would put in
Will look for those washers
I have changed plastic fittings with the brass ones, I have fitted plastic over it all. The tank traps I have grinded a gap to turn it on and off and gave it protection. The mounts should be doubled welded. Arc not MIG. Washers are next to the nut. To distribute the strain.
Thanks for great info. Much appreciated
You ever in North East Victoria, get the fellow at Wangaratta Springs, no connection with me. He knows his stuff, next he's at a good price, I could help him and he showed me things, and in the end gave me two free brand new shockers for my old Ute. And yes, things are not the best made. The washers should have been there. I think the bolt had run out of thread. The shocker was bouncing around and yes it was going to break. It better fixing things yourself. Next fit pool noodles over your pipes etc. And plastic pipe or ridged pipe over pipes and wires where the rocks are going to keep on hitting.
@@RustyCandyAdventures will do and thanks
I did vehicle testing for the government, and not many things passed. The ripple bars killed a lot. It just unlucky. Just do not let it get to you. Many caravans fail. There are boxes on wheels and there no right way. Everything got good and bad. I have the same has going overland. He got some good tips. Check out the video. Check out Robert pepper and madmatt
Just got under our van to check and has flat washers under all nuts alko independent suspension different caravan manufacturer, has to be there fault
Thank you for taking the time to look and provide feedback. I have sent an email to all parties involved and waiting for their response. Believing for a good outcome.
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Unfortunately warranty on a caravan doesn’t transfer to the second owner so I imagine you will be responsible for the cost of repairs. We purchased a marvel van once and had to make many warranty claims through great Aussie Caravans until we sold it. It was a nightmare. They were always so hard to deal with.
Thanks for watching. I would like to keep pushing them but sometimes it is easier to just move on. Thanks for watching
It’s quite obvious that the washers should have been on. This would have stopped the nuts pulling through. Unfortunately someone has forgotten to put them on when the suspension was installed. And obviously didnt know any better or they wouldn’t have done it. I’m sure you will be fine now with the washers in back in place
Appreciate the feedback
Australian consumer law makes the seller of the product responsible. Note warranty period does not apply if the product is Not fit For purpose. I note from your under van pick that this isn't an off road van.
Yes it is meant to be an off road van.
And that’s the problem….. they sell you a van as a semi off-road or off-road…. And in the case of our van a semi off-road van and it looks the part… suspension/ lifted etc…… only to read the fine print later and it says “ this van is not suitable for harsh off-road conditions”….. so that is up for a way out of a warranty claim as travelling down a unsealed road could be called “ harsh”
@@raybourne5781 thanks for watching.
@@raybourne5781 always fine print sadly
Taking the water outside was a brilliant idea , 👏👏😎 yes they definitely need washers..🙈😳 😅love this episode, I am so glad you both ok . 🍷🍷🦘🦘🌈
Firstly you didn’t break anything, the suspension clearly wasn’t assembled correctly by the last person who touched it. For anyone to suggest you’ve removed washers is not only insulting but downright stupid .the photos confirm there’s no evidence of washers ever contacting the bearing surface behind the nuts. I also note you let your tyres down and talk %… from what psi to what psi is the information people need. Percentages mean nothing without a starting figure. I hope you maintain the pressure on both the Van builder and the suspension manufacturer and don’t even consider their arguments about “out of warranty “ as the key factor here is that the product appears to have never been of “ merchantable quality “ in the first instance.
Agree and thanks. I am thinking I may still keep pushing them. Just hard when you are travelling not to waste time and energy on a lost cause.
@@australianoverlanders4688 you owe it to yourself and everyone else to not let them get away with such nonsense….let alone treat you like an idiot.
Tandem axles would have less stress,
Lower air pressure yes
Agree with the tandem axles. In my pursuit to go small with low weight I ended up with single. Time will tell if that will be a mistake or as you say “less stress”. I will be checking on a regular basis from now on.
Firstly lack of washers allowing the nuts to vibrate loose
Next the poor design of the suspension and materials used. You had already reduced Ed your speed so there was not much more you could have done apart from the daily inspections for loose nuts. Asking the suspension to cope with nearly 3 tonnes on a single axle is pushing the limits. These outback roads are unforgiving. My personal choice is for duel axles allowing for lower tyre pressures and a softer ride. Reducing gross weight also helps.
Great feedback. I will be posting a follow up video in a few weeks
Lazy chassis manufacturers, missing washers, most likely not torque wrench up either.
Wheel alignment and full check over suspension
Thank you for your feedback. Keep a look out for a follow video
100% should be washers. 100 % looks like they were never any on there. Since it looks like your going fix it yourself I would find a good welding shop and get a 5mm plate welded on and use a thick washer on the inside along with 8.8 high tensile bolts with nyloc nuts and make sure the bolts are the largest diameter that will fit.
Thanks for your feedback and watching.
Well I'm sorry but it all really comes down to consumer knowledge when buying a van or at least getting a technical inspection from someone who knows what they are looking at. Far too many people buy a van on the colour scheme or the internal layout and neither of those 2 things count when towing a 2 to 3 ton van down the hiway at 90 -100 kph let alone an unsealed corrugated road in the out back. the design of that suspension would never be up to the task of surviving any outback road, forget about the extremely poor assembly practices of the van manufacturer but shocker mounts should always be in double shear to sustain the forces that they will endure.
Thanks for the feedback
A very unfortunate event for sure. Firstly you didn’t break anything, the suspension clearly wasn’t assembled correctly by the last person who touched it. For anyone to suggest you’ve removed washers is not only insulting but downright stupid and desperate. I believe the photos confirm there’s no evidence of washers ever contacting the bearing surface behind the nuts. I also note you let your tyres down and talk %… from what psi to what psi is the information people need. Percentages mean nothing without a starting figure. I hope you maintain the pressure on both the Van builder and the suspension manufacturer and don’t even consider their arguments about “out of warranty “ as the key factor here is that the product appears to have never been of “ merchantable quality “ in the first instance. Go get em 👍
Will do a follow up video of our progress. Hopefully it will have a great outcome
That’s just typical everybody running for cover when there’s a problem. Clearly the washes were never fitted and I would stop wasting your time talking to everybody because none of them actually give a stuff. The thing that alarms me as much as the bolt is the fact that there are no limiting Strapz on the downward travel of the suspension, which means at full droop it’s topping out the shock absorber
I will look at getting something installed to correct that
I will look into this. Thanks for watching and feedback
thowing away critical life sustaining water when in remote outback with a vehicle problem is what dumb and dumber would do
- given that the vehicle had only lost one of two dampers on the wheel suspension, all you needed to do was drive gently, no need to toss water out ( really poor risk management demonstrated in this)
It would be appropiate for the washers to be "structural washers"
- not all washers are created equal
- from an engineering perspective, normal practice is to use structural washers in such applications
- very poor manufacturing, dishonerable company
- likely covered by Australian Consumer Law
quite likely the dampers are of very poor quality not suitable for the application
- high possibility that the shock failed leading to impact loads on the shock mounts which structurally failed the mount
_ I recommend having the remaining shocks tested, or even better, replaced with high quality items suitable for the application
- As I see things, the design of the upper damper mount does not pass muster
- the spacers ought to be welded as part of the chassis. this would give less dynamic loading on the bolts.
- the current design offers no satisfactory secondary load path for the dynamic loads that would otherwise stop the bolts flogging out the chassis mount holes and chewing the wall
- the normal industry words for such engineering design would likely be "not fit for purpose"
Lots of great advice here. Appreciate the feedback. What I did not mention is we have a fridge in the car that always has emergency water. Appreciate your comments. Cheers
IMO You have gathered enough evidence to prove that no washers were ever installed on your suspension.
I would send a formal notification to all involved parties (chassis manufacturer, suspension manufacturer and van manufacturer) advising that if none of them are prepared to assist you to rectify this issue, that you will escalate to the ACCC as this was a manufacturing and/or assembly issue which could also exist on their other products.
I agree. Thanks for watching and feedback