Jockey wheel and Motormover
Hi, has anyone found they needed to change the standard hard plastic jockey wheel with something a little more forgiving. I don't really want to change over to the pneumatic tyre and was hoping for maybe a softer but solid one that could handle the stress of a hardcore/rubble base standing that I have in my storage, or maybe I'm worrying unnecessarily.
I can see various options on the internet, but would like to hear of some real life issues regarding the stress, strain, maybe breakages of the jockey wheel on these surfaces when using a Motormover. Have just had the Motormover fitted and it looks sensible to not have the jockeywheel extended too far to minimise tube/clamp damage.
I know it has been discussed in the past but as with most threads they no longer exist 
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I'm interested in this point as well as I'm also considering changing mine.
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Smaller and harder the jockey well is the less resistance it puts onto the mover.
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We have the alko jockey wheel with the built in sprung weight gauge it also has a wider wheel,it was not cheap and we take it off when travelling as it quite heavy,but does (since having to fit a motor mover
) a sprung jockey wheel which makes an easier and smoother in use 0 -
We did fit a pneumatic wheel on our last van and it did make it much easier to manover on gravel. However the down side was that it was slightly larger and reduced clearance particularly over road humps. On our current van it has a wide hard plastic wheel, which does dig in a bit in deep gravel. To get round this I purchased a couple of those hard plastic ribbed mats, for putting under the wheels on muddy ground. Going backwards does not seem to put much stress on the wheel and we can put it away in storage without using them. However, traveling forward does seem to stress it, so I place one under the jockey and it tends to swing in the direction of travel. So in affect makes its own track. If necessary to get across the deep gravel I use the second. Using these and making sure the jockey is as low (unextended) as possible, makes moving it from its space to hitch up relatively easy. The wide plastic wheel does not dig in on CC gravel pitches, just on the soft stuff in our storage compound.
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On my twin axle, I've found that overall a pneumatic tyre works the best. Turning with a T/A can be a challenge at times so I've made a twin wheel jockey wheel. Basically two sack barrow wheels which sit either side of the normal jockey wheel with an axle made from an old awning pole. Works really well.
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.... a few variations in opinions
My hadstanding at the storage site is sort of crushed, odd shaped stone/brick and the jockey wheel flips side to side trying to weave its way through, I can imagine this putting quite an amount of strain on the tube and clamp. As for out and about on sites I think I could live with most surfaces, but would really like a few more opinions especially if anyone has experienced breakages.Thanks for the replies.
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Same as JVB66, with the alko wheel with the built in nose weight gauge.
I don't remove mine for travelling as I have no nose weight issues, but it is heavy.
I have found it is a great improvement over the standard fit wheel, we have a flint drive at home and it does not dig in anything like as much.
Only did not get a pneumatic wheel, because having read a number of reviews, I had some minor concerns over punctures.
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I've not had any problems in the way you describe Dave, but I replaced my wide plastic wheel with a pneumatic because it's a bit better on softer ground.
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We had problems using a mover with the standard solid jockey wheel on grass and gravel, so changed the assembly with a pneumatic tyre.
I would give a word of advice which is to make sure the tyre you buy has a high enough load weight avoid the cheaper plastic wheels as they generally I found only 'run' at around 30 psi, whereas the suitable tyres run at 57+psi.
We have a BPW chassis and bought the complete replacement jockey wheel assembly from them. I do carry a spare tyre incase of deflation.
I did see a van with a soft rubber wheel which was about 3" wide and seemed to run as well as a pneumatic.
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I think a solid rubber tyre wheel would be better than pneumatic as I'm only concerned bout the plastic one that I have shattering.
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