Hymer B694 - next phase .

[Hymerbrittany]

On the way, I hope, with the interior issues Inc batteries and electrics. Turning my attention to the engineering side now... The last MOT before I bought the 694 showed one or two advisories I would appreciate some advice from experienced Hymer Ducato owners.

First off, it appears to drink shock absorbers. They are an advisory, but from the massive service history with the vehicle, they have been changed quite often. Any suggestions why? Brake pipes are an advisory also. Any advice on what to look for? Brakes - what is the preferred pad front and rear with others. Don't forget the 694 is a twin tag axle set up. And discs? Again any experience you can give me please.

Also as it is classified as a 4000 kg vehicle but weighs in at around 2500, do normal garages undertake this work for this weighted vehicle?

Looking forward to hearing back from you. Thank you again. John.

 

[JockandRita]

Hi John.

Our 1999 Hymer E690 had it's original shock absorbers and front struts replaced once during our fifteen years of ownership, although we did find that on the intermediate axle, the previous owner had 2 x Monroe shocks fitted. That is a no no, as they are not man enough. They should be the blue bodied ALKO shocks only, which can cost in excess of £600 for four, depending on where you buy them. Mine came from the augustin-group.de, for substantially less than UK suppliers quoted.

Re the MOT, I think you'll find that your B694 weighs in at 3,500Kgs unladen, and 4,500Kgs laden (GVW).
It won't fit on a 3,500Kgs hoist because of the rear axle position, and it will be too heavy anyway, so try to find a testing station with either a higher capacity hoist, of a service pit.

The brakes front and rear are Fiat, even though the rear axles are ALKO. Because of the Kevlar content of front pads, the discs tend to wear out before the pads do. I am a light footed on the brakes, so only saw a couple of disc changes during the 15 x years. The rear brake shoes were only changed once I believe.

BTW, if you wanted to up plate your B694 to a higher weight (extra payload), it can be done based on the plated weights of the rear axles, without any mechanical changes whatsoever, ie, a paper exercise.

HTH,

Jock.

 

[Hymerbrittany]

Hi John.

Our 1999 Hymer E690 had it's original shock absorbers and front struts replaced once during our fifteen years of ownership, although we did find that on the intermediate axle, the previous owner had 2 x Monroe shocks fitted. That is a no no, as they are not man enough. They should be the blue bodied ALKO shocks only, which can cost in excess of £600 for four, depending on where you buy them. Mine came from the augustin-group.de, for substantially less than UK suppliers quoted.

Re the MOT, I think you'll find that your B694 weighs in at 3,500Kgs unladen, and 4,500Kgs laden (GVW).
It won't fit on a 3,500Kgs hoist because of the rear axle position, and it will be too heavy anyway, so try to find a testing station with either a higher capacity hoist, of a service pit.

The brakes front and rear are Fiat, even though the rear axles are ALKO. Because of the Kevlar content of front pads, the discs tend to wear out before the pads do. I am a light footed on the brakes, so only saw a couple of disc changes during the 15 x years. The rear brake shoes were only changed once I believe.

BTW, if you wanted to up plate your B694 to a higher weight (extra payload), it can be done based on the plated weights of the rear axles, without any mechanical changes whatsoever, ie, a paper exercise.

HTH,

Jock.

Brilliant info Jock thank you. I now live in France and have my French MOT as such tomorrow, so we will have to wait and see if the French tester agrees with anything that the UK have said. My 15yrs living here says he will find other stuff and disagree with some. I'm just trying to make plans for the work that I know will have to be done as the vehicle spent the last three ears stood up as such right next to the sea, not a good mix I know. I have looked at the mot history website so i know the elements that have failed tests over the years and it just struck me that shocks seemed to have been changed more than I would have thought. The German site you steered me to is amazing but seems expensive. I have in the past bought stuff all over the place so I'm not concerned about buying non Uk site stuff. I have French options as well so I will post links to help others as and when I get down to the buying bit.

The weight bit is interesting as if anything I want to down weight the vehicle as it seems to be over categorised. It weighs in at just under 3000kgs normal weight so why it is weighted at 4000kgs is a tad surprising. This might be a nightmare here in France to achieve, but step by step I must go and sadly as it is an older vehicle with no CoC, I have a very long, and expensive, journey in front of me to get it 'into' the French system.

Stay tuned for a tale of frustration, deception, cost and administrative nightmares. Sounds like a blockbuster film description, but thanks again for you input. John

 

[JockandRita]

Good luck with it John.

BTW, what year is your B694? You will struggle to down plate to 3500kgs, they leaving you with little or no payload at all.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[gus-lopez]

I'd agree with what Jock said. Someone has been changing them for unsuitable ones that fit due to cost of the correct ones.

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[Hymerbrittany]

Good luck with it John.

BTW, what year is your B694? You will struggle to down plate to 3500kgs, they leaving you with little or no payload at all.

Cheers,

Jock.

1996

 

[Nomadian]

If it’s going through rear shocks a lot I would get the rear trailing axle checked.They have torsion springs inside and do break if not greased regularly rendering the axle pretty much useless with regards to any dampening. This is a good site for info.

AL-KO Axle Repair and reconditioning

Fully remanufactured and reconditioned AL-KO rear axle as fitted to Hymer, Ducatto, Swift, etc

www.fraserbrowneng.co.uk

 

[68c]

Rear dampers, have all those failures been at the same testing station? I find each tester has his favourite fault, my vans history shows loads of rear brake problems while owned by the same person.