A story of perished tyre valves and Ko-Jack. What a piece of ...

Mar 14, 2005
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Never in my 20+ years of caravanning have I had any trouble with wheels and tyres, but I always found jacking the thing up 'a bit of an adventure' during the annual service, and that was in my drive using a trolley jack and axle stands! Early last season I saw a special offer on the Ko-Jack system, thought it looked good, and bought one on impulse. I fitted the atachments to the van, played with the thing and was suitably impressed; then put the jack in the car boot and forgot it.

Step forward to July, and off to the storage site for an early start to N.Wales. Goodness knows why, but a tyre that was perfectly OK when I checked it yesterday was flat! Out with the Ko-Jack and the spare, and 15 minutes later we were on our way - no stress, no foul language, it was just so easy.

We returned 2 weeks later after great times in the summer rain and parked on the drive for the night. Blow me, the next day we came out to find the other tyre flat! Again, changed without fuss and returned to the storage site.

Neither tyre had a puncture - the fault turned out to be perished valves! It seems the act of checking the pressure was enough to start a slow deflation. I replaced both tyres this year, as they were 6 years old, again used the Ko-Jack, again no fuss.

Firstly, I cannot believe how lucky I was to lose one tyre before the trip, and the other after I got back, rather than en route!

Secondly, this showed the importance of having a new tubeless valve fitted every time the tyres come off, as they degrade just like the tyres do.

Third and last, thank you to the Ko-Jack people. The jack may be a bit heavy, but when I needed it, it was so stable and effortless that I would never be without one again! I shudder to think how I would have struggled with the little scissor jack I carried before, especially on the side of the M6 in the rain. Without doubt the best accessory I've bought, that I hope I'll never have to use again.
 

Reg

Jan 12, 2008
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I use my own version of the Kojak system with a similar bottle jack. It was less than a tenner at Toolsation (OK I'm a cheapskate!!)

I used it for the last service but I also used the scissor jack under the axle as a precaution/backup.

So don't throw your scissor jack away, I take it with me when towing. It doesn't take up a lot of space it slots in with the car spare wheel. Doesn't weigh much either.
 
May 7, 2007
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Hi Derek,

Exactly the same thing happend to me today, went to the storage yard to pick the van up ready for our break and bu@@er me a flat tyre. The tyre was not compleatly flat so I attached my 12v pump to blow it up, it got to about 40psi but would go no higher. After detaching the pump, I went to put the cap back on the valve and that when I noticed the valve had gone at the point where it comes through the rim. Like you I had to change the tyre with the spare tyre, unfortunatly for me I had the Alko jack, and after todays experence I will be changing to the Kojack jack.

Regards

Graham
 

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