Changing a jockey wheel tyre assembly?

[Surfer]

The jockey wheel tyre on our caravan has gone flat for whatever reason. You can hear the air hissing out of it when you pump it up. Are these tyres normally tubeless because if so I can pump it up using Ultraseal which should permanently stop it leaking as prior to this every 2 - 3 weeks we were pumping it up. It was brand new fitted about 2 months ago.

If not and it needs changing, how do you remove the jockey tyre / wheel assembly to change it for a solid wheel? I can see that on one side there is a large pin holding it in place. Can the pin be removed and reused?

Once the pin is removed what do you do then to get the wheel off the assembly? Thanks.

 

[Lutz]

The ends of the pin are probably peened over. You need to straighten the pin and then you can pull it out. You should then be able to pull the axle out of the strut from the other side. The wheel should then just drop out.
It is advisable to use a new pin rather than re-use the old one. Re-assembly is simply in the reverse order. Don't forget to bend the ends of the pin over to secure it when you have finished.

 

[Surfer]

The ends of the pin are probably peened over. You need to straighten the pin and then you can pull it out. You should then be able to pull the axle out of the strut from the other side. The wheel should then just drop out.
It is advisable to use a new pin rather than re-use the old one. Re-assembly is simply in the reverse order. Don't forget to bend the ends of the pin over to secure it when you have finished.

Thanks Lutz

 

[Damian]

Pneumatic jockey wheels are not tubeless, they do have an inner tube, which has probably been damaged when the tyre was fitted.
It is not uncommon to find damaged inner tubes on them, but they can be repaired in the same way as a bicycle inner tube with a patch.

 

[Royston]

Having had two pneumatic jockey wheel tyres go flat on me when on different sites, and the problems related , got rid of and replaced with a solid wheel Jockey wheel assy.
Yes you can get the wheel of as already described, getting the tyre from the wheel without damaging the inner tube, requires a good deal of patience, having repaired the inner tube again a struggle to get the tyre back on.
The only way i could get the tyre fully pumped up to the pressure required was with a cycle pump fitted with a high pressure connection.
The solid Jockey wheel assy I replaced with the pneumatic Jockey wheel assy was in fact lighter
Royston

 

[xtrailman]

I have read about replacing the pin with a R clip, to make removal easy.

Having had a pneumatic jockey wheel, i found it no better than a solid one for pushing the van around.

 

[Surfer]

Having had two pneumatic jockey wheel tyres go flat on me when on different sites, and the problems related , got rid of and replaced with a solid wheel Jockey wheel assy.
Yes you can get the wheel of as already described, getting the tyre from the wheel without damaging the inner tube, requires a good deal of patience, having repaired the inner tube again a struggle to get the tyre back on.
The only way i could get the tyre fully pumped up to the pressure required was with a cycle pump fitted with a high pressure connection.
The solid Jockey wheel assy I replaced with the pneumatic Jockey wheel assy was in fact lighter
Royston

The only reason we had the pneumatic tyre fitted was because of the motor mover. We found the solid one tended to dig in when on a soft or loose surface, but the again that was when we had a single axle so maye the problem would not crop up on a twin axle caravan. Actually on a twin axle is then any need for the jockey wheel to be down when using a motor mover?

 

[Lutz]

Actually on a twin axle is then any need for the jockey wheel to be down when using a motor mover?

As soon as there is any noseweight present (and I presume that there is because you need it for towing) the caravan won't be balanced well enough to prevent the front end from dropping down on to the ground if the jockey wheel isn't lowered, even on a twin axle.

 

[Royston]

I understand your problem with gravel, but their are several widths of solid tyres available that are as wide as the pneumatic tyre,I have a Alko Jockey wheel assy which my motor mover has no problem on any surface.
Royston