Jockey Wheel Clamp Sheared
Unhitched caravan at our storage site - levelled it up - wound the legs down and - as I tightened the jockey wheel clamp the bolt sheared off, leaving part of the bolt still in the clamp housing. Phoned my local Bailey dealer who told me that I needed to drill out the stud which is stuck inside the clamp. telephoned a mobile chap and he cannot do it, phoned another repair shop and they cannot do it either. Have found a place who have quoted nearly £500 to remove the clamp and its mounting bracket and weld a new clamp bracket onto the chassis. Its an ALKO chassis on a 4 year old Bailey and apparently ALKO do not advise drilling their chassis. I thought about simply buying a jockey wheel that has a clamp which is bolted around the chassis, usually found on load carrying trailers (no hole drilling required) but am not sure if such a clamp would support the weight of a caravan
Anyone had a similar problem?
Thanks
Comments
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I've never used one myself but you could try using a screw extractor tool. Screwfix do a set of 8 (sizes 4mm to 24mm) for less than £13.49 (part number 20084). I think you have to drill a hole into the sheared stud as near to the centre as possible and then screw the extractor in. As I say, I've never used one so I may be a bit wrong with the method. Look on YouTube for method. It is probably the cheapest option to try initially.
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I have had some success using a punch and hammer to undo the remains on various caravans.pointed punch near but not on the edge and tap the remains anti clockwise.OR....as others suggest....drill and use an "easy out"
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If going the "clamp" route remember the maximum load on the jockey wheel is unlikely to be more than around 100Kg. and probably less.
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I've removed many a sheared bolt with extractors. Should be a simple and quick job.
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A phot or two would help a lot. This would clarify if it is possible to simply unbolt the bracket as mentioned above.
Colin
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Hi All
many thanks for responses the jockey wheel bracket is welded onto the ALKO chassis, not bolted. I cannot go down the route of drilling the stud out, for even I was successful a new clamping bolt may not be any use as the thread into which the bolt screws has been stripped. I looked on YouTube and the chances of drilling out using the “easy out” extractor were not exactly encouraging!!
Has anyone fitted a jockey wheel that simply bolts onto the chassis member using a clamp onto which the jockey wheel bracket is then bolted?
ALKO have not been very helpful, stating only that they advise against drilling into the chassis. I’ll try and attach some photos
best regards to all
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Excuse my ignorance but how do you know that the clamp thread is stripped unless you have removed the broken bit??If you bring your caravan to me I will be only too pleased to do the necessary repair.
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I have only seen a Helicoil used in solid stock, not a folded section such as channel section used in the clamp bracket. I'm also unsure if they will withstand the repeated use of winding a bolt in and out. In a cylinder headstock, a more common application, they are subjected to minimal wear and are highly successful.
Colin
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Hi All
Many thanks for responding, I think I’ll try clamping a new jockey wheel clamp on the other side of the chassis. All the local (Dorset) mobile service firms have been most unhelpful, even the Dorset Bailey dealer, (usually pretty good), has not even wanted to inspect the ‘van to see if they could assist
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Rileyman2
There are mobile engineers like this - https://www.threaddoctorservicesltd.co.uk/ all over the uk.
Never been beaten by snapped studs yet. Most people go for stud extractors and applied heat but I find left hand drill bits and plumbers freeze spray have yielded the best results, drilling down in stages but smaller than the thread size. Most times the final slivers of thread come away with the drill but occasionally they need a cleaning tap run down them.
I say make use of a mobile engineer if access to the stud hole is not impeded.
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I’ve had 2 clamps fail on a Bailey in 18month. On another site it suggested that they are not strong enough to use with a motor mover. I don’t have an option.
looking at putting a plate on and fastening a stronger clamp to that.
Contacted the dealer and AL KO waiting a response. In the meantime I have a caravan that is going nowhere.0 -
Just had the same problem, AL-KO jockey wheel clamp bolt sheared off flush in the clamp assembly and the remaining piece seized in the clamp assembly. After searching the internet I failed to find some idiot proof instructions and so decided to explore possible solutions.
The clamp assembly is on an alko chassis and is welded in position.
First thing I did was remove the fairing from the A Frame to expose the clamp assembly, I could see, just about, that the piece remaining was close against the clamp pressure pad and only allowed a very small amount of movement, it was not possible to remove the jockey wheel.
Second step was removing the clamp pressure pad, to do this I straightened the hook on the pressure pad which allowed me to remove it from the bottom of the clamp assembly (lugs on the bottom of the clamp pressure pad prevents it from being removed from the top of the clamp assembly). It dropped out fairly easily.
This allowed me to remove the jockey wheel from the clamp. The ‘rivnut’ (the captive nut for tightening the clamp with the clamp handle) was now clear of any obstruction and I was able to use a steel chisel to remove the rivnut from its housing in the clamp assembly by bending the lip of the rivet part of the rivnut and allowing it to become free.
The rest was quite simple a new rivnut was attached and the whole clamp assembly put back together.
All I had to purchase was an Alko jockey wheel clamp repair kit and a replacement jockey wheel clamp handle the total cost of these parts was less than £35
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Here is a trick that is used to remove the residual broken end of a half-shaft that is broken part way along and cannot be removed along with the differential. Getting to the sheared end of the clamp bolt will be a lot easier than working inside an axle tube.
The idea is to use an electric arc welder to fuse a length of bar onto the sheared end. Not the text-book way of welding, but the chap with a back-street garage would probably have a big enough welder for this to work. The bar is put into the clamp in place of the usual welding rod and brought up into contact with the stud. Big flash, high current, and the bar should be fused to the stud. "Home" welders just do not have sufficient current available for this to work.
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