Concerned about Jockey Wheel
Hi
I have only had my Swift Conquerer 630 (2010) for 5 weeks and not yet taken it out as waiting for a fault to be fixed, but I have had it at home and manoeuvred it around my yard after taking it out a couple of times to get used to towing it and getting
it weighed.
The problem is my parking area is gravel and I have to manoeuvre the van down the side of the house and round the corner and the mover does this a treat but the poor jockey wheel looks like it is taking a battering and sometimes looks like it is leaning
at a very scary angle.
Currently I have a single hard jockey tyre fitted but was wondering out either a pneumatic replacement or even the Reich Easy Wheel Double Jockey Wheel but Would be interested in comments from here as to Which if
either is a good idea and if the Reich Would even fit on my Swift!
I even tried looking for a 'Wheelie Eazi' which seems to be a temporary two wheel jockey wheel but it looks like they are no longer manufactured, or I cannot find them anyway.
Robin
Comments
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I bought a Wheelie Eazi at a caravan show, as we have to cross an area of lawn to get the caravan out.
It failed miserably! When I tried to turn the caravan with the mover (the front of the caravan swings in an arc about the main wheels) the pair of wheels refused to turn and just dragged sideways. Fortunately I got a full refund.
I can only assume that the Reich one would be just as bad.
We have a pneumatic jockey wheel and that's fine. It does go down a bit and they don't have a long life span (I'd say 4-5 years) but they are better than a solid wheel on soft surfaces.
Make sure you get an Alko one though - they take a much higher pressure than most others. Don't even think about a plastic wheel and don't bother with buying cheap replacement tyres from Ebay etc. They don't work.
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I changed my solid for a pneumatic which I got from the local electric disable buggy supplier. It did not hold the pressure very well so had local garage put in an inner tube and all has been fine since. The van travels so much better over gravel, grass
etc and goes up quite high kerbs really well.I do keep the old solid wheel onboard just in case but have not needed it in 10 years.0 -
We have a new Buccaneer with a Power Touch mover. The caravan came with a solid tyre however was certainly distressed when moving on gravel and grass grids. Looked at Pneumatic but heard that they were not that good either. Changed the wheel for a more robust solid tyre (its about 35mm thick and much wider than the standard fit) and it works a treat. Don't know why manufacturers skimp on this item as many people now fit power movers.
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I have just replaced my pneumatic tyre on my 2007 Hymer, as a previous post said its a heavy duty one purchasked from a disability scooter store, it has an inner tube in it and was about £13.00 for tyre and tube and I fitted it myself no problem, it's been
on about 4 months now, never had to top it up, I filled it to recommended pressure 45psi and it runs on soft ground and gravel no problem, it's a heavy van too. My previous van was a lightweight Bailey with solid plastic jockey wheel and it used to plough
a furrow on soft ground and gravel, I never take it off or swap it when not using the van as we use it all year round..0 -
I have just replaced my jockey wheel to pneumatic tyre when i got our new Bailey Brindisi as I have a gravel driveway and need to manourvere a wee bit and the old jocky hard wheel used to difficulties on the gravel and the jocky did lean to what apperared
to be awkwardly also like you, pneumatic is better in my view but very true you need to keep the pressure up mine is 30psi.Tony
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Brought my van home from dealers today and following advice on Swift forum (I think), once I had uncoupled from car, I lowered the jockey wheel as low as I could but still leaving it clear of stowage slots so it could swing freely.
I must say this made moving the van a little easier and the jockey wheel did not get that horrible angle on it I saw last time, it also seemed to steer much easier.
Once I had it at my garage I raised jockey wheel to normal height again.
I think I will try and stick with this wheel for now but appreciate all the comments and advice.
Robin
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That sounds like a very good idea, however as this is my first ever van I am in and out of it at the moment 'playing' and learning all about it, so have also practiced levelling it.
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I always leave my jockey wheel high, when in storage, so that the rain runs off the back. The back is easier to clean than the front.
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Where our van is in storage they recently put down a new layer of loose gravel, which we have to mover across to reach a hard compacted surface. I bought a couple of those hard plastic mats, intended for going under the wheels on soft ground. I lay them
across the loose stuff and it works a treat. If you happen to turn on them, they tend to turn with the jockey, so you are in effect laying your track. Our jockey is the wide plastic sort.0 -
We have a new Buccaneer with a Power Touch mover. The caravan came with a solid tyre however was certainly distressed when moving on gravel and grass grids. Looked at Pneumatic but heard that they were not that good either. Changed the wheel for a more robust
solid tyre (its about 35mm thick and much wider than the standard fit) and it works a treat. Don't know why manufacturers skimp on this item as many people now fit power movers.Write your comments here... When we returned to caravanning last year we went to Cirencester Park to try out our new Lunar. Aside from the fact that the jockey wheel collapsed due to operator error, the solid wheel was a nightmare on a grass pitch. The
warden suggested a pneumatic one and when we bought our new Elite this year we had one fitted and so far we have been very pleased with it.0
