Jockey wheels - am I missing something?
In the last 4 years we have become experienced caravan travellers clocking up over 10k miles towing (my wife has full details 
)
But I am still perplexed by one small but frustrating issue that crops up time and again - how do you hitch the caravan to the tow ball when the jockey wheel is not line up correctly? As I'm sure you know it's often the case that the towing hitch can't engage because the jockey wheel cannot be lowered sufficiently because the grooves are not lined up correctly.
Currently I manually lift the nose of the van while my wife kicks the wheel in line. Now I realise that not everyone can manage the 70kg or so lift so I suspect I'm missing something. I'll be very happy if someone can make me look a little thick by telling me I'm missing something. 
Comments
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If I'm reading your post correctly you can't lower or higher the van as the jockey wheel has run out of thread? If so, lower the two front steadies onto the gound, then raise the jockey wheel off the ground by winding it, re lease the jockey wheel clamp and reposition it appropriately, re clamp the jockey wheel, lower the jockey whee onto the ground by winding, then raise the steadies
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You need to start from when you un-hitch the van!
Most times you will unhitch and hitch in the same location.
So, when you drop the jockey wheel to unhitch, pull the wheel back up a couple of inches and then lock the position, then wind the wheel down to the floor.
The wheel should be able to rotate freely before you take any weight from the van and unhitch
Now when you re-hitch, the wheel will be fully rotatable at the hight that you are hitching at!
....simplz!
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Cornersteady, thanks for that - not quite the problem I'm referring to but your solution would work!
I'll have another go at describing the problem. Imagine the tow hitch is positioned directly above the tow ball and the jockey wheel is about 30 degrees out of line. You wind the handle down but before the hitch engages with the tow ball the outer tube
of the winder assembly hits the wheel forks because the two cut outs on the outer tube don't line up with the forks. Is that better?0 -
Cornersteady, thanks for that - not quite the problem I'm referring to but your solution would work!
I'll have another go at describing the problem. Imagine the tow hitch is positioned directly above the tow ball and the jockey wheel is about 30 degrees out of line. You wind the handle down but before the hitch engages with the tow ball the outer tube
of the winder assembly hits the wheel forks because the two cut outs on the outer tube don't line up with the forks. Is that better?Yep, that was what I thought you meant reynoray....see above
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A pleasure, what you describe is part of the same problem, I think its what CJ says above, I always (before unhitching) only lower the jockey wheen by the clamp to above two thirds of the way to the ground and then use the winder to lower it the rest of
the way. That gives you enough nose up or down (I call it pitch, by that's just a habit) to cope with leveling the van. We unhitch on the road as we have a mover so never know what theground is going to be like on the real pitch.0 -
They are not intended to line up at that point in the proceedings. The outer part is clamped too far down.
As above, you should clamp it high when unhitching and wind it down - two to three inches would be about right. You then have sufficient "wind" to cope with a slightly different re-hitching position.
Once you get it right a line of red paint just above the clamp will allow you to get it quickly back again without having to guess.
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I've got it!
With a little manipulation of the wheel assembly when unhitching I will have enough clearance to engage the hitch before the outer tube hits the fork later.
Thanks for your help everyone - there will be less swearing in the world now.
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When attending the Practical Caravanning course recently, we were advised to drop the jockey wheel to about 4 inches above the ground before winding it down. This gives enough "play" for the hitch height. We had two or three occasions, as someone mentioned,
when we wound the jockey wheel up too much and the wheel fell off. This caused a lot of swearing, and trouble, as we couldn't unhitch the caravan. As for getting the wheel straight back in the correct position to line up the notches, we now just pull forward
a bit until the wheel turns round. Saves OH from kicking the wheel frantically like the OP has said.0 -
for getting the wheel straight back in the correct position to line up the notches, we now just pull forward a bit until the wheel turns round. Saves OH from kicking the wheel frantically like the OP has said.
Folk have still not got it!
Once hitched wind the wheel up a bit off the ground and loosen the clamp to get it to line up in the guides. Then pull up fully into A-frame and clamp. No dangerous driving forward with wheel down needed.
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Plan B. Jack up the back of the car to give you more clearance.
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when I wind the jockey wheel down I first loosen the clamp lower it to the ground then pull it back up three inches or so thus ensuring I never run out of downward adjustment.
Doesn't everybody do this????
I assume not...I have a Motorhome these days and on a club site recently a long term caravanner remarked, when I was winding down the two rear legs with my electric drill.........." What a good idea, I've never seen that before!"
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Electric drill is OK - but no good for doing wheel nuts. The nut gun also is able to wind them back up when "settlement" etc has made them very stiff.
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My understanding of the mechanics of the jockey wheel was limited until I went on the caravanning course, Navigateur. My OH went on the course when we first got the caravan, but he could never get the wheel to wind up on our previous Abbey unless the wheel
was facing backwards for the notches to line up (I'm probably digging myself deeper into a hole here), hence the kicking. No problems now, since I have the full knowledge, and we have a different caravan. Just wondering, though, is it dangerous to drive forwards
a couple of inches when hitched up with the jockey wheel down? The wheel is down anyway when you move the caravan by hand, or using a motor mover.0 -
The style of jockey wheel used on caravans has never been all that robust, and modern ones are even flimseyer (is that a real word?) and lighter. They just about cope with the near vertical load of the cravan when unhitched. Driving forward with the wheel
locked down could put all sorts of other stresses on the mechanism, especially if wound down and clamped high. This might not be noticed right away but the mysterious later failure now has an explanation!From your deeper hole I guess you can now see that the outer part of the mechanism can be rotated as well as slid up and down when the clamp is unlocked. Hence the problem people experience getting the two parts to lock together for storage. Some don't
bother of course, and the bottom bit unscrews when towing, and then gets snapped off on a bump!0 -
If the weight is on the towball, undo the clamp and rotate the upper part (with the two cut outs) to mate with the bottom part as you wind it up. Then pull the whole lot up and secure.
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Electric Drills for winding down Steadies!!!!
. What on earth is wrong with the manual crank handle supplied with the van? Why are you
people so afraid of a little exercise?
Yeah!
....remote controls for TV's when you can walk to the TV and do it yourself!
....dish washers, when all you need is a sink and a brillo pad!
....washing machines, I mean whats wrong with a rock and a stream!
....Mobile phones when you can put your coat on and walk to the one round the corner!
What is wrong with people today?
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Electric Drills for winding down Steadies!!!!
. What on earth is wrong with the manual crank handle supplied with the van? Why are you people so afraid of a little exercise? Yeah!
....remote controls for TV's when you can walk to the TV and do it yourself!
....dish washers, when all you need is a sink and a brillo pad!
....washing machines, I mean whats wrong with a rock and a stream!
....Mobile phones when you can put your coat on and walk to the one round the corner!
What is wrong with people today?
ChemicalJasper, You seem to have gotten my drift
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