Thanks Colin.. The wheels will be the next thing I need to turn to once I have got over the hurdle of the axle fitting. I've been doing my own research since I spoke to the chap at Western Towing and wonder whether he may be incorrect in his thinking. One of the photos I do have in my collection here is a (rather poor) random shot from under the van. This seems to show that the axle is bolted to the chassis rail using a plate welded on the axle tube - ie no cut out.

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Similarly, that seems to be supported by page 56 onwards in the alko catalogue here...

https://www.alko-tech.com/sites/default/...8-en_lowres.pdf

I'm going to the van tomorrow to get a photo of the axle plate and hopefully, a better shot of the way it is mounted..

Hugh

I managed to get over to the van yesterday to follow up on the details that Western Towing have asked for. As a result, I was able to check the mounting scheme. The axle is just bolted straight on the chassis by means of the plate on the axle as I suggested earlier. I still have some concerns about the limitation of the mounting that may mean the heavier axle might have a longer suspension arm which, if the axle was mounted on the same fixing holes, would move the wheel backwards and may not then fit in the wheel arch. Still not out of the woods yet but I remain optimistic...

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Agreed...

Looking at what I take to be the current catalogue -

https://www.alko-tech.com/sites/default/..._04-2018_uk.pdf

page 200 shows the (current) 1000kg axle and page 202, the 1350kg axle (there appears not to be a 1200kg version listed) The difference between the swinging arm length of the two axles is 3.5mm (158mm v 161.5mm) so maybe not something to worry about. That assumes that the 20 year old axle on my van is the same dimensions as the current version. In saying that, I have already noticed that the mounting bracket on my axle is different from the catalogue version (a 2 bolt fixing) and is more like the 1350kg version (3 bolt)

Fraser Brown Engineering will refurb the original axel and upgrade possibly, collect and return by courier , 2 weeks turn around.

Hi, I'm in the process of upgrading my 1000kg troll to 1200kg and would be interested in details of anything from Hymer regarding replating. PS, you're on pretty much the right lines with Western Towing and a B1200.

I am still pursuing this, but have dropped my route of enquiry through Western Towing after chatting the project through with my local caravan engineer, with whom I am on very good terms. My initial discussion with him was around fitting. He is now following this up on my behalf up with his Alko supplier, but it appears they are having problems getting a timely response as a result of a reduced level of service attributed to Covid issues. I've supplied the Alko agent a photo of the plate on my axle. I do wonder whether the replacement axle will be a bespoke build so will be an identical outline with a different 'suspension' arrangement?

I'll report further progress as things occur...

I have my new axle, wheels etc. Hopefully I'll get round to fitting it to the caravan. Just need to fabricate 2 small adaptor plates to go between axle mounts and chassis.

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Very nice. May I ask where you sourced the wheels? I will have to purchase new wheels as well (moving from 4 stud to 5, as in your photo) I haven't done any research on that yet, so any pointers would be helpful..

thanks!

Hugh

I managed to get 2 brand new alloy caravan wheels from eBay for £100 and a steel rim for the spare for £10. You need to get caravan/trailer wheels suitable for an alko axle - but they are very common (5.5j 14 ET30 5x112PCD with 185R14C tyres) - steels are very cheap from trailer places. You can actually order the 1350kg B1200 axle with a 4 stud x100PCD hub, but I couldn't find any details on my existing 4 stud 13" alloy wheels to confirm that they had sufficient load capacity and the tyres certainly didn't so I decided to upgrade.

Towsure do a 185/14 112pcd wheel & tyre for about £110.

From the original email I got back from Hymer, enquiring if the upgrade was possible (and sanctioned), their recommendation was 195/70 R 14C 91 T on 6 J 14 H2 but suggested I get that checked with Alko when ordering the replacement axle..

edit: Having just looked at the Towsure site, I see that wheels you pointed to Steve are steel. I would rather like alloy if possible, but one of those would be appropriate for a spare. But as was suggested earlier, it is likely that I could pick up an odd spare wheel second hand quite cheaply...

Thanks Colin - a good observation and very helpful...

The wheels and tyres I have are actually the same spec as fitted to my commercial trailer which has a 1,500kg alko axle and a gross weight of 1285kg. Unlike the eriba it is over-specced to the extent that the manufacturer used to state that the trailer was "unbreakable" and could be occasionally overloaded if used "off road" of course.

Eriba seem quite "tight" with everything to me, eg fitting a 1000kg axle to a 1000kg caravan, but obviously it's their bottom line. On the subject of tyres, rather than requiring a 10% safety margin there is actually something call a bonus load, which allows you to overload your tyres by 10% if you don't exceed 60mph - so Eribas "tight" recommendation is spot on. But no good to me as our motorway cruising speed is around the 70 mark.

A bit of further info, I contacted Fraser Engineering who were mentioned earlier, they will re-rubber the axle with a better compound, apparently scientifically developed (and presumably covered by their public liability insurance etc as they are a proper Engineering company not a bloke in a shed), they could guarantee me a minimum 10% extra capacity and as much as 13% (they wouldn't know till they stripped it down and saw how much extra rubber they could squeeze in). I was tempted by this as you'd probably get away with the same wheels with just new tyres rated to 1100kg and if 100kg is an acceptable gain then an easy upgrade, I think it was £600. The only problem is that he can't replate the axle, which to me makes it a legal minefield! I know there are issues related to the plate on the eriba but there are ways round this (see if Hymer will sell you a new plate if they'll approve your new axle (£200 I believe), get it approved via a SVA (£100?) or simply remove the plate (it's not a legal requirement to have one on caravans if this age and VOSA will then just refer to the axle plate if they want to weigh you).
Obviously a new axle gets you new bearings, hubs, brakes, drums etc as an added bonus.