Tow bar height problem

Adiemidd

I recently changed my car from a Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer to a Jeep Compass. However I now find that the height of the tow bar on new car makes it difficult to hitch caravan. 

When I try to raise Jockey wheel so that I can attach to tow bar I find that I seem to have a problem because I can’t raise it high enough because I can’t get “bite” on jockey wheel.

the only way around this is to raise caravan to highest point on stabilisers and then raise jockey wheel to suitable height.

any suggestions on this would be appreciated, should I think about replacing Jockey wheel assembly?  

 

Thanks

Cornersteady

sorry are you using the stabilisers, (you mean cornersteadies?) to raise the caravan? or I hope you didn't mean or want to write that as it's not a good idea.

We have a high 4x4 and no problems, I think you may have your jockey wheel clamped in the wrong position to begin with.

Below start from either paragraph:

Starting from when you tow and hitched up, is your jockey wheel fully wound up and then you unclamp it and then pull it right up and re- clamp? There may also be a slot that the jockey wheel goes into to keep from rotating.

When you come to unhitch, unclamp the jockey wheel and re clamp when the (wound up) wheel is about two thirds of the way to the ground from the fully up position. Then wind the wheel down to the ground that should ensure you can now clear the towball as you keep winding and unhitch, and reverse the process again when you have to hitch up. You may need to practice how far down to position the wound up jockey wheel above the ground to suit your car

Does that make sense?

compass362

Hi as far has I'm aware the distance from ground level to the centre line of the towball should be between 350 mm & 420 mm when the towing vehicle is laden ......hope this helps .

edit ......

Just read second reply & agree it may be a jockey wheel issue .

Cornersteady

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXtgW2h7MBo&t=613s

look at this video from 5 min 30 seconds to get an idea of clamping your jockey wheel lower enough to raise your van for your tow ball

As I said I do it about two thirds in case I need to lower the van more to level it - they have done that in a different way here but each to their own 

lornalou1

agree with what's been said. I lower whole jockey wheel via clamp to about 3" of the ground, clamp tight and then wind down to raise nose. never had a problem.

rovinmad

Of course it could be that for whatever reason you have a particularly short jockey wheel. Have you compared it with others?

Cornersteady

size isn't everything I have been told by Mrs C

Adiemidd

Thanks for you help on this, I'm a fairly new Caravanner and suppose I will come across these problems from time to time.

I will take your suggestions and see how I get on, if I can't get current Jockey Wheel to work I will probably invest in a replacement.

Glad to hear that Mrs C says size isn't everything? My other half is quite kind in this respect too 

redface

Don't forget that with a piece of wood 15" x 4" x 4" you can use that in the vertical position to hold the hitch up whilst you readjust the location of the jockey wheel (downwards) to then crank it up higher than before and hopefully high enough to get your jeep's towball underneath. Don't forget to keep the caravan handbrake on.  Good luck.

cyberyacht

Saw an old Land Rover yesterday towing a caravan that had a nose-up angle of about 10-15 degrees. Looked decidedly iffy. The back of the van was almost dragging the ground.