Spare Wheel Idea - good or daft?
Looking under our caravan it looks as though it is a very simple and easy job to totally remove the Al-Ko spare wheel rack. There appears to be only two split pins holding it in place at the 'captive' end. As we are going to France soon I have had the idea of removing the rack and refitting it so that access to the spare is from the opposite side, ie the safer side when in France. I know I could just carry the spare either inside the caravan or have it in the car but neither of these options really appeal to me. If I did change it I would have to run the risk of having to get it out from the 'wrong' side on the journey to and from Dover unless I did it when I got to France and as soon as I got back, (I have an overnight stop in Dover).
Is it a good or a daft idea?
Comments
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Sound feasable? but i would give it a try first, and see how "easy" it is to do,as would it mean jacking c/van twice if changing it over on route?
If you carry it in c/van it would be easy access at all times,and put it under the c/van when on site,with chain and padlock?
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There isn't any need to jack up the caravan, just tip the nose end down as far as possible. This gives quite a lot of access space. The wheel can then be relatively easily removed. Accessing the split pins is the easiest part. Because of the weight of the wheel it would need to be removed before the rack was removed.
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I don't know how old your caravan and spare wheel carrier are, but from what I have read the carrier can be a pig to remove because the parts seize up. So it would certainly be a good idea to test it at home and see if it can be removed when conditions are favourable to you. Hopefully you won't need a Hacksaw.
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When in the rack, the wheel is just about in the centre of the caravan so the weight isn't an issue.
To answer Nuggy, the caravan is only two years old and the sliders on the rack are always greased when the 'van is serviced so I know it will always slide out OK.
I may be wrong but I'm guessing that Alko make both the chassis and the rack universal to suit caravans of European and UK manufacture, hence my thoughts that it should be easy enough to change the access side.
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Wouldn't grease attract dust and grit therefore be more of a hindrance? I have no grease on our rails and they pull out quite easily ......... I actually had the spare out a few days ago to copper slip the nuts holding the wheel in place and check the tyre pressure.
PS. why do we have an American spell checker on this site?
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Dumped my carrier. The wheel goes under the fixed bed.
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We too carry our caravan spare wheel where it can be almost instantly accessed - on the floor of the caravan, over the axle, in a large black bin liner. We had had occasion to have to use it, on a narrow rural road in Burgundy, where a speedy change of tyre was important. We wouldn't have been able to remove the wheel if it was on a carrier because there was absolutely no room sideways to slide anything out - into the other lane, and traffic, had it been on one side, or into the steeply banked hedge on the other! From experience, I would say carry it inside the van!
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In 30 years of caravanning in Europe we never needed a spare wheel so the risk of having to access it is quite low. Still, Sod's law etc.
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Must admit that I have given up any thought of 'sliding' the spare out on the rack. I tried it on my drive, just as a test and it was a b******d. I am now years older and lacking in youthful muscle so under the bed it goes. In fact it is in pretty well the same location but a foot or so higher. I also have a full size car spare there too! The car is fitted with a space-saver so is not used when towing.
The re-location does help the heavy nose weight problem by the way.
Since the nose heavy vans arrived it seems that many had to balance things differently to comply with car limitations. My van tows very steadily and resists wind sway etc.
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When confronted with a ridiculous nose weight, with the van empty I consulted Baileys, you know, the folk who had done a massive amount of testing before producing the AluTec,.
Their advice was to move weight backwards until the nose weight was 90kg. This I did and it tows well, across the Mistral it didn't sway, though we had trouble standing in the wind!
Hence my towing configuration.
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If you look at the position of the axle in the newer Baileys they have moved the wheels to the rear to reduce the pendulum effect.
I have been towing for thirty years or so and certainly with the older 'balanced' vans, where the axle was virtually central, weight in the rear was definitely a 'no-no'. In fact I used to balance the van by loading forward, as we were advised to do. Hence my call to the builder.
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I note some builders of caravan put the spare wheel in a well under the floor, just to the rear of the axle. That seems to be a far more sensible way to access it. Has anyone seen the appropriate "box" available as an aftermarket fitment? Someone somewhere is making them (but I dont't speak Mandarin).
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My Avondale Dart had one. A far superior set-up. Why its isn't standard on all caravans I cannot imagine.
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