It's a good day for greasing one's nipples.....

....just the two, but it's a major(-ish) job.

The only thing behind the cab on my motorhome that is Fiat is the rear hubs and wheels.

The chassis is lightweight, galvanised, manufactured by Al-Ko, and bolted onto the cab.

The rear suspension is by torsion beam, inside the rear Al-Ko axle (onto which said Fiat hubs/wheels are fitted).

Service is required annually, via a grease nipple on the tubular axle just inboard of the chassis.

Fine, except that the prescribed way of doing it is to lift the rear such that both wheels are off the floor, with the handbrake off, before giving about 8 pumps of the grease gun with tightly defined grease. (this is required to free access to the internal channelling for the grease)

It isn't a Fiat part, so is not part of a standard service, quite often gets overlooked, and fairly nasty failure is not unknown. (and I don't trust most Fiat service outlets to do it properly either).

First time I had such a chassis, I consulted Al-Ko tech support, who confirmed that it would be fine to lift and do the sides individually, as long as the handbrake wasn't on, and the wheel was totally off the floor.

Al-Ko actually now supply suitably sized and shaped chocks such that the wheel not being lifted can be secured (vehicle left in gear, of course).

So, that's what I've been doing.

It all seemed so much easier than last year for some reason - divesting the rear garage of all the stored stuff (bikes, batteries, outdoor gear, etc) to minimise the weight on the less than impressive Fiat jack took rather longer than the maintenance itself.

Another job jobbed!

...the Al-Ko axle design hasn't changed for years. They (reputedly) do a version that is "sealed for life", but I've never met anyone who's seen one.

I think I might have posted this on here before, but, amusingly, the chassis-less cabs get delivered to Al-Ko for fitment as a "Push-me-pull-you".....



The garage in the 'van is kept pretty tidy (everything has its place for when we go away, and much is boxed). It hasn't been cleared since last outing in February however, and I've taken advantage of the bikes coming out by fettling them and persuading the current Mrs nE to take her first bike ride since she broke her arm/shoulder last year. 


Only 7.5 miles, but a lovely evening and a nice ride. It's a start.

There are a helluva lot of camper vans all sat idle here in NZ now that we’ve sent all the foreign tourists home. One company ran a $25/day special offer last month which Kiwi customers lapped up in droves.

There’s talk of using the vans as quarantine accommodation! Park them up in lines on a field near the airport and use them as static hotel rooms for the wave of returning kiwis who all face a mandatory 14-day quarantine period. (We’re running out of suitable hotels!).

The only thing worse than a campervan holiday IMHO would be 2 weeks spent in a campervan going nowhere! 🤣

Nope Esp. All kiwi returnees get 2 weeks in a hotel chosen and paid for by the government. Full board. 45 million quid spent so far. There are over 500,000 kiwi passport holders living abroad... if they all choose to come home we’ll have a huge crisis. The islands will probably sink 6 inches deeper in to the Pacific 🤣

...should've asked him if he'd greased his nipples......