Jockey wheel mishap
Good morning, as a nervous newbie I posted a list of 20 questions on here a few weeks ago and thanks to the replies and advice we are now settled comfortably on our first outing and are loving it.
I had a bit of a disaster when preparing for the caravan trip though. I wanted to check the nose weight using the Milenco gauge but I couldn’t wind the jockey wheel down enough to lift the hitch to rest on the gauge. No problem, I thought, wind it back up again, lift the front of the caravan and drop the whole wheel a few inches. (I’m sure my dad did this 45 years ago!). Off course what happened was I lifted the caravan too far and the jockey wheel fell out leaving me taking the full weight of the caravan on my thigh. Fortunately my wife was within earshot to put it back.
I was thinking this could quite easily have happened if I was hitching it to my car instead of the nose weight. Did I do something wrong when unhitching for the first time to prevent me winding it down enough, and if so what could I have done to correct it.
Also on the subject of nose weight I was quite surprised how little we could put in the front storage area. We had one gas bottle, a few lightweight accessories and the security locks. It weighed 90Kg (limit of 75kg} so ended up moving a few things into the car. We did have the awning in the van on the floor over the axle so I’m guessing this could affect the nose weight too?
Comments
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The mistake you made was trying to support the weight of the van using muscle power. Much better to lower the front steadies while repositioning the wheel. Same when hitching up. If the front of our van was very low due to the slope, it was never possible to hitch in one. The method being raise to near maximum, lower front steadies, reposition jockey, raise so high enough for hitching. Plus of course don't forget to take steadies up again. If you use a drill, plus adaptor for the steadies, it is a matter of a few seconds to raise / lower them.
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When we needed to keep to 75 kilos it was always a bit of a juggling act. However, after a few trips you soon learn what goes where and balancing it will become second nature. The awning will affect noseweight more / less depending where it is placed in relation to the axle. Over it will have least affect. Avoid placing heavy objects at the rear.
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I’ve seen the jockey wheel mishap on site more than once. Folk rally round and help put things back together.
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When you go to use the jockey, I always undo the clamp and let the wheel touch the floor, then lift the jockey up about 3 to 4 inches and clamp tight, then wind down till van starts to lift. I usually put a couple of blocks down and put the gauge on top of them so don't have to wind down as much. you'll get there after some trial and error.
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Thank you for your responses and advice, it’s quite heartening to hear that it can happen to seasoned caravaners also. Having just spent our first night in the caravan I have to say, it’s great isn’t it! Absolutely loving it so far (despite the suspected hernia from the jockey wheel incident).
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My jockey wheel mishap involved the jockey wheel falling apart as I hitched up which meant that the postage stamp pitch I was offered enroute to home, I couldn't use without using my mover. Fortunately I had some bits & pieces with me to bodge a temporary repair.
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Milenco gauges, as owned by the OP are sized to fit under the hitch at its normal running height. Raising or lowering the hitch alters the nose weight at around 5kg/ 4” on most vans. Ideally the van should be level when measuring hitch weight.
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I got a knock at the front door as one of the neighbours new to caravning had done the same thing, we managed to lift the the A frame and wind down the legs and screw the jockey wheel back together. We then got on to the subject of servicing he said his friend would check out the brakes l explained that a proper service engineer would be a better bet for the safety of him and his family and other road users, I saw him the other day and an engineer had serviced the van and it was in very good condition for its age but new tyres were required and the good news is I got a bottle of wine Cheers
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we put most of the heavy stuff in the car and leave either the awning or spare wheel in the van, That way you have only one item to move back or forth between the nose and the axle to get the nose-weight spot on.
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Just another thought........ One of the things I still sometimes get wrong is when you lower the jockey wheel and unhitch, it maybe that you have lowered the jockey wheel too much or not enough. After having got the van into the correct position, you come to level it and there just isn't enough leeway one way or another to get it level. You end up by having to move the van order to chock up the jockey wheel - pain!!!
David
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