Spare Wheel
Going to be our second season with our Bailey Olympus this year but been thinking what it would be like if we suffered a puncture on the caravan. Our spare wheel is on one of those holders under the caravan and just think this must be a nightmare to use.
What do others think or use to store he spare wheel?
Comments
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I have removed my spare wheel from underneath the caravan and store it in a bag. It travels over the axle in transit and under the van on site. The trouble to remove it from the underside brought home how easier it will be should we suffer a puncture.
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Hi D.S.B.
I am also with Green Flag so does that mean they cover you for coming out and dealing with a puncture on the caravan. It would be nice to know if this is the case.
It is my understanding that if you have Mayday cover with the Caravan Club (which piggyback on the Green Flag system) that the Caravan is covered in the same way as the car is, for the time you are towing. I should have made the distinction really. If
you have Green Flag cover (and not MayDay ie not through the Club), then you may well not be covered. This is my understanding.David
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If your Green flag is via Mayday then they do. In 22 years of caravanning I have had to call them out twice, both caravan punctures and both on the motorway. The dangers were horrendous being so close to the live lanes. Far too dangerous for me to do the job which I would have done, if in a safe place. My heart was in my mouth with nearly 38 tons travelling past my van at near 60 mph only a few feet away. I was very relieved when his lorry pulled up behind to give some protection.
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I still think Avondale (remember them?) Had by far the best system for carrying the spare wheel, in a special plastic moulding set into the caravan floor, in the best place for weight distribution, and covered with a sturdy hatch.AND easy to remove when needed. Cannot understand why no other manufacturer has carried the system on ? Miss Avondale too,loved their vans, one piece moulded fibreglass roof, very innovative.
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I still think Avondale (remember them?) Had by far the best system for carrying the spare wheel, in a special plastic moulding set into the caravan floor, in the best place for weight distribution, and covered with a sturdy hatch.AND easy to remove when needed. Cannot understand why no other manufacturer has carried the system on ? Miss Avondale too,loved their vans, one piece moulded fibreglass roof, very innovative.
Had a Mayfly then an Avocet.......the Mayfly did have a puncture....no problem.....brilliant in many ways!
PS Front and back also all Fibreglass.
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My advice is to purchase a caravan TPMS [ tyre pressure monitoring system ] such as TyrePal not that I would specifically recommend that brand over others.
Punctures on caravans don't make themselves known as I find they do in a car, therefore the caravan's tyre can easily be wrecked by a loss of pressure before you do realise it picked up a puncture. Given a warning you might need only to re inflate to get somewhere safer, seek a lay-by.
I don't follow TyrePal's advice of setting the low warning 15% below running pressure. I use about 4 psi down believing that freezing cold morning aside something is wrong and I want to know and so keep an eye on any loss of inflation pressure.
I am no fan of the Al-Ko underslung carrier but a tip I was given help loads in coping with it and with wheel changing.
Use your tow car to haul the wheel on the carriers removal side up onto some decent lift blocks, 3 - 5 “. This makes a lot more room to access the carrier, the more so if that is also the punctured side, but it also helps cope with issues from road camber and kerbs. Then if hauled up on the blocks on the punctured side it makes jacking easier, and in some cases gives the required room to get a jack in.
I set my caravan up like this recently whilst waiting in a lay-by for the recovery man; he was impressed at how much easier it made the task . If asked to do this you might have “my man” helping you.
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I stowed my Alko carrier in the garage roof. The wheel now lives under the fixed bed. My old Avondale Dart made more sense in that regard with its wheel tray.
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My Lunar spare is housed in the front locker.
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My Lunar spare is housed in the front locker.
Likewise, but it doesn't do the nose weight any favours when stowed there. I struggled to get the nose weight down to 75kg for my previous car .... good job it had self leveling suspension.
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After we bought our van, I decide to try out the Alko spare wheel carrier at home, as it was new to me, the wheel having been in the front locker on the old van. What I did find is that you need to pull the carier out the minimum distance such that you can
remove the wheel. Reason is, that if pulled fully out, the telepscopic tubes no longer overlap sufficiently, which causes them to flex under the weight of the wheel. The flex then jams the tubes, so you can't return the wheel to its storage position.0 -
My Hymers have stowed it in the front lockers and I prefer this to the underslung carrier but its not trouble free in that it required the gas bottle to be removed. I believe Avondale had a nice solution with the inboard well but that had its own issue with the smell of the rubber/elastomer plasticisers dissipating off if a too new tyre was put into it. Possibly not a healthy situation given sleeping in the van. A reason I would never stow a tyre in a bed locker.
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The Hymer solution works for us as well. Fortunetely never had to use it. Last year on the way home from Germany we were staying over night at Metz, a pig of a site to find btw. Our friend clipped a curb and punctured a tyre on his t/a van So arrived onsite with a wrecked tyre. Between the two us we could not get alko spare wheel carrier free his van is serviced every year and it took the French breakdown man hitting it with a big hammer to free it. Also you could see where the frame of the carrier rubbed on the side wall on tyre.
I am not saying that the alko spare wheel carrier is the most useless item ever, but it's flipping close.
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The Hymer solution works for us as well. Fortunetely never had to use it. Last year on the way home from Germany we were staying over night at Metz, a pig of a site to find btw. Our friend clipped a curb and punctured a tyre on his t/a van So arrived onsite
with a wrecked tyre. Between the two us we could not get alko spare wheel carrier free his van is serviced every year and it took the French breakdown man hitting it with a big hammer to free it. Also you could see where the frame of the carrier rubbed
on the side wall on tyre.I am not saying that the alko spare wheel carrier is the most useless item ever, but it's flipping close.
Write your comments here...like I said earlier if greased at service they are not to much of aproblem
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My ALKO carrier has been on my 'van for 19 years and gets greased once a year at its service. Never been used, hopefully, it will remain so!
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The Hymer solution works for us as well. Fortunetely never had to use it. Last year on the way home from Germany we were staying over night at Metz, a pig of a site to find btw. Our friend clipped a curb and punctured a tyre on his t/a van So arrived onsite
with a wrecked tyre. Between the two us we could not get alko spare wheel carrier free his van is serviced every year and it took the French breakdown man hitting it with a big hammer to free it. Also you could see where the frame of the carrier rubbed
on the side wall on tyre.I am not saying that the alko spare wheel carrier is the most useless item ever, but it's flipping close.
Write your comments here...like I said earlier if greased at service they are not to much of aproblem
in the front locker it doesn't need to be greased at all.
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I still think Avondale (remember them?) Had by far the best system for carrying the spare wheel, in a special plastic moulding set into the caravan floor, in the best place for weight distribution, and covered with a sturdy hatch.AND easy to remove when
needed. Cannot understand why no other manufacturer has carried the system on ? Miss Avondale too,loved their vans, one piece moulded fibreglass roof, very innovative.Write your comments here...Totally agree with you about Avondales. Gas locker near the axle too
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in the front locker it doesn't need to be greased at all.
However, the wheel's mass is not located in an ideal position with respect to stability being about as far from the axle as can be.
Theoretically I agree with you, but practically i have never had any problems with stability
As you say it is a long way from the wheels, but it is also further away from the tow hitch than it would be on a British van which ameliorates the nose weight issue and increases the stability of the caravan.
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However, the wheel's mass is not located in an ideal position with respect to stability being about as far from the axle as can be.
Write your comments here.. I accept that it is not in the 'ideal' position, but my caravan is made for the wheel to be carried in the front gas locker. It is therefor reasonable to assume that when the caravan was at the design stage before going into production, that all the weights fore and aft of the axle were taken in to account to achieve the correct legal specification for the certificate of conformity. That would include the nose weight, balance and stability. That's my logic for not worrying about it being a long way foreward.
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Hi D.S.B.
I am also with Green Flag so does that mean they cover you for coming out and dealing with a puncture on the caravan. It would be nice to know if this is the case.
Write your comments here...Yes, a call out for a caravan puncture is covered by Green Flag if you have Comprehensive cover
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My ALKO carrier has been on my 'van for 19 years and gets greased once a year at its service. Never been used, hopefully, it will remain so!
Write your comments here...yes, same here...At caravan's annual service I ask mobile engineer to grease the tubes of the carrier and makes for smooth movement...Green Flag covers of changing if puncture arises.
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No amount of grease has made getting at the spare wheel an easy job! We have removed the spare from the alko hanger on our Bailey and wrapped it in a bag and store in caravan when not touring or in boot of car when on holiday. The hanger is near useless
and as a couple who tour abroad have not even wanted to attempt getting to the spare when on the driving on the other side of the road as you would potentially be in the road! Never had a puncture yet but wouldn't want to attempt to get the spare from the
Alko hanger at anytime. A very poor design in our opinion.0 -
No amount of grease has made getting at the spare wheel an easy job! We have removed the spare from the alko hanger on our Bailey and wrapped it in a bag and store in caravan when not touring or in boot of car when on holiday. The hanger is near useless
and as a couple who tour abroad have not even wanted to attempt getting to the spare when on the driving on the other side of the road as you would potentially be in the road! Never had a puncture yet but wouldn't want to attempt to get the spare from the
Alko hanger at anytime. A very poor design in our opinion.Write your comments here...I think you have maybe misunderstood my thread...An ALKO chassis jack ensures that caravan will be raised high enough to give sufficient ground clearance with a punctured wheel to allow access...the greasing of the carrier tubes
regularly ensures the carrier will easily pull out and allow removal of spare from the carrier. The idea of the carrier was a good one but in conjunction with the proper jack is the only way for it to be successfully used....Anyway better to call out your
breakdown company.0
