I thought I would relate this recent saga as it may help others who have a puncture and have the spare on an Alko spare wheel carrier.
In late August on the way home, via Dunkerque, I discovered, at a night-halt, that our Senator Arizona had a flat tyre. I managed to jack up the van with Alko side-jack. I then with difficulty pulled out the awkward wheel carrier and managed to get out the spare wheel and change it. I then tried to replace the alloy wheel, with the flat tyre,on the wheel-carrier. It would not fit and in trying to fit it I badly scratched the surface of the alloy wheel. In the end I had to squeeze the wheel into the packed car.
On our return to St Helens I took the wheel for refurbishment to the local "Wheelman/Dentman". It was a poor refurbishment and was returned resprayed but scratched. I got a full refund and Tyrecare, who supply my tyres, sent it away to be refurbished.
I picked up the re-furbished wheel from Tyrecare (St Helens) on Wednesday. They had sent it away to a company they use called "Pristine". The wheel refurbishment is a SUPERB job, better than new!!! Tyrecare only charged me what Pristine had charged them, ie, £55.20 (inc VAT) so not much more than the first botched repair.
Tyrecare could not find anything wrong with the tyre and suggested that the flat might have been caused by the valve splitting and blowing out. I don't know when this happened but Tyrecare suggested the strength of the heavy-duty tyre and Tyron band may have prevented further damage to the tyre.
Last Wednesday my son and I set about changing the alloy for the spare. We jacked up the 'van easily with Alko side-action jack on the cul-de-sac outside our home and changed the wheels over fairly easily.
Now for the bad news. We began working on replacing spare wheel on the underslung Alko carrier. What a struggle, there was insufficient clearance to get the wheel on the carrier and back under 'van chassis. Then we dropped the towbar to the road thus increasing ground clearance at the rear. No joy! so we jacked the 'van up again and put down steadies, in case we knocked the 'van off the jack struggling to replace wheel and carrier. Even though I had greased the wheel carrier VERY thoroughly it was VERY DIFFICULT to slide it back under the 'van with the spare wheel on. The thoughtless positioning of the warm-air heating pipe did not help, either. We are both big lads but it took all our strength to get the carrier with the wheel on back in place.
This job took over an hour in ideal conditions, ie, dry flat road, full selection of tools, strong assistant. It would be much harder in a breakdown situation.
Sorry but the design of that carrier is abolute CRAP.
I remember with fondness the underfloor storage well for the spare wheel on our 2 previous Avondales. Just lift the INTERNAL trap door, take out spare AND it would take the wheel with flat tyre too.
With hindsight I know to let the air out of the spare wheel tyre to decrease its weight and thickness if I have to replace the spare in the carrier again.
Hopefully I will never have to use the carrier again!!!
To anyone who has to use the carrier I would recommend letting out some of the tyre's air and gaining ground clearance by dropping the nose of the 'van and jacking it up on carrier pull-out side (put down the steadies when jacked up as it would be easy to knock if off the jack whilst putting the carrier back under the 'van. I would, also, strongly endorse Alko's advice to regularly pull out the wheel carrier and grease the sliding tubes - I had fortunately done this.
I hope this helps anyone who has a puncture and has an Alko wheel carrier.
Regards
Tim
In late August on the way home, via Dunkerque, I discovered, at a night-halt, that our Senator Arizona had a flat tyre. I managed to jack up the van with Alko side-jack. I then with difficulty pulled out the awkward wheel carrier and managed to get out the spare wheel and change it. I then tried to replace the alloy wheel, with the flat tyre,on the wheel-carrier. It would not fit and in trying to fit it I badly scratched the surface of the alloy wheel. In the end I had to squeeze the wheel into the packed car.
On our return to St Helens I took the wheel for refurbishment to the local "Wheelman/Dentman". It was a poor refurbishment and was returned resprayed but scratched. I got a full refund and Tyrecare, who supply my tyres, sent it away to be refurbished.
I picked up the re-furbished wheel from Tyrecare (St Helens) on Wednesday. They had sent it away to a company they use called "Pristine". The wheel refurbishment is a SUPERB job, better than new!!! Tyrecare only charged me what Pristine had charged them, ie, £55.20 (inc VAT) so not much more than the first botched repair.
Tyrecare could not find anything wrong with the tyre and suggested that the flat might have been caused by the valve splitting and blowing out. I don't know when this happened but Tyrecare suggested the strength of the heavy-duty tyre and Tyron band may have prevented further damage to the tyre.
Last Wednesday my son and I set about changing the alloy for the spare. We jacked up the 'van easily with Alko side-action jack on the cul-de-sac outside our home and changed the wheels over fairly easily.
Now for the bad news. We began working on replacing spare wheel on the underslung Alko carrier. What a struggle, there was insufficient clearance to get the wheel on the carrier and back under 'van chassis. Then we dropped the towbar to the road thus increasing ground clearance at the rear. No joy! so we jacked the 'van up again and put down steadies, in case we knocked the 'van off the jack struggling to replace wheel and carrier. Even though I had greased the wheel carrier VERY thoroughly it was VERY DIFFICULT to slide it back under the 'van with the spare wheel on. The thoughtless positioning of the warm-air heating pipe did not help, either. We are both big lads but it took all our strength to get the carrier with the wheel on back in place.
This job took over an hour in ideal conditions, ie, dry flat road, full selection of tools, strong assistant. It would be much harder in a breakdown situation.
Sorry but the design of that carrier is abolute CRAP.
I remember with fondness the underfloor storage well for the spare wheel on our 2 previous Avondales. Just lift the INTERNAL trap door, take out spare AND it would take the wheel with flat tyre too.
With hindsight I know to let the air out of the spare wheel tyre to decrease its weight and thickness if I have to replace the spare in the carrier again.
Hopefully I will never have to use the carrier again!!!
To anyone who has to use the carrier I would recommend letting out some of the tyre's air and gaining ground clearance by dropping the nose of the 'van and jacking it up on carrier pull-out side (put down the steadies when jacked up as it would be easy to knock if off the jack whilst putting the carrier back under the 'van. I would, also, strongly endorse Alko's advice to regularly pull out the wheel carrier and grease the sliding tubes - I had fortunately done this.
I hope this helps anyone who has a puncture and has an Alko wheel carrier.
Regards
Tim