Dustydog said:
Agree . B)
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Jockey wheel raised or lowered when sited?
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Agree . B)
alan29 said:
Please define "load Bearing"
For the steadies to have any effect at all, they must be in contact with the ground. As soon as they contact the ground they will be experiencing some 'load' and unless they immediately crumple when subject to this small load they are load bearing.
Even if the steadies are just used to prevent rocking, the steadies must be able support the load that would have cause the caravan to rock.
The fact is the steadies are load bearing, the question is the magnitude of the load.
Raywood said:
Itโs dufficult to know how much weight the steadies take when lowered. But I donโt wind mine down hard, only enough to take shake out of the caravan. They are sometimes given an extra turn if the caravan has settled into its pitch. Guess you could place bathroom scales under the steady and measure its load. Seeing the adverts for aftermarket levelling sytems raises the question in my mind of do they fit additional load bearing structure particularly for transverse levelling which could be off loading the lower wheel.
I only posted to ask a question, I did not really consider that I might make any response to the question.....but here goes.
Take a single axle caravan with the jockey wheel down and the steadies lowered.
Then 2 or more persons stand, sit or sleep to the rear of the axle, will it not be the case that the rear steadies are supporting load and therefore the rear steadies become load bearing.
Take a single axle caravan with the jockey wheel down and the steadies lowered.
Then 2 or more persons stand, sit or sleep to the rear of the axle, will it not be the case that the rear steadies are supporting load and therefore the rear steadies become load bearing.
Yes they would but As Prof John explained above the load would depend on the moment arm relative to the position of the people, axle and steadies.
Anseo, IMO, you use the steadies to do just that, and not to level the caravan.
As the Prof found for us the steadies by Alko will take 1000kg load, the flรฒor has to support and transfer the weight of the caravan onto the chasis, whilst static and when being towed, so must be able to take a fair bit of load.
So Anseo, for your next question , why not ask something about the effect of calor lite bottles disapeering and nose weight. :evil:
As the Prof found for us the steadies by Alko will take 1000kg load, the flรฒor has to support and transfer the weight of the caravan onto the chasis, whilst static and when being towed, so must be able to take a fair bit of load.
So Anseo, for your next question , why not ask something about the effect of calor lite bottles disapeering and nose weight. :evil:
I cannot believe this thread is still attracting new replies.
The principle is simple; When a caravan is sited it should be set up so its level, and teh bulk of teh weight is carried by the main wheels, and all the other support mechanisms such as steadies and the jockey wheel are deployed to prevent the caravan from moving when the occupants move around inside.
It is a physical impossibility to make use of the steadies without them bearing some load, as soon as they touch the ground they will experience a reaction - which is a load!
Because people will enter and leave and move about inside a caravan, the CoG of the caravan will NOT remain constant, so the loads on all the supports will change accordingly.
As with all mechanical structures the more points of support you have the average stress for all the supports will be lower. Whilst the jockey wheel may well assist the front steadies, there is no similar assistance for the rear steadies, Yet in some caravans, there may be more human body load (For example rear bedroom with bunks) than front, and the steadies are expected to handle that.
Even with that point in mind, I still believe it is good practice to use the jockey wheel.
When levelling a caravan on site, the best advice is still to use chocks or blocks under the road wheels to level caravan side to side, then to use the jockey wheel to level front to back. This means teh weight of teh basic caravan is correctly supported by the the all the wheels, The steadies are then deployed to stabilise the caravan from rocking when the additional loads of human bodies are moving around inside. In simple terms the steadies must be able to support the weight of the distributed human occupation however they can congregate inside.
The principle is simple; When a caravan is sited it should be set up so its level, and teh bulk of teh weight is carried by the main wheels, and all the other support mechanisms such as steadies and the jockey wheel are deployed to prevent the caravan from moving when the occupants move around inside.
It is a physical impossibility to make use of the steadies without them bearing some load, as soon as they touch the ground they will experience a reaction - which is a load!
Because people will enter and leave and move about inside a caravan, the CoG of the caravan will NOT remain constant, so the loads on all the supports will change accordingly.
As with all mechanical structures the more points of support you have the average stress for all the supports will be lower. Whilst the jockey wheel may well assist the front steadies, there is no similar assistance for the rear steadies, Yet in some caravans, there may be more human body load (For example rear bedroom with bunks) than front, and the steadies are expected to handle that.
Even with that point in mind, I still believe it is good practice to use the jockey wheel.
When levelling a caravan on site, the best advice is still to use chocks or blocks under the road wheels to level caravan side to side, then to use the jockey wheel to level front to back. This means teh weight of teh basic caravan is correctly supported by the the all the wheels, The steadies are then deployed to stabilise the caravan from rocking when the additional loads of human bodies are moving around inside. In simple terms the steadies must be able to support the weight of the distributed human occupation however they can congregate inside.
ProfJohnL said:
the reason is simple Prof. some do not understand what the principal task of the steadies are. because they look like scissor jacks they must be made for the purpose of jacking up the van so it is level in use. seen it so many times its almost unbelievable. go round any site busy site you will see many examples of this.
newbies may think the practice is normal. unless explained properly as you have done. while steadies will carry a fair amount of weight they are not designed to carry it all. resulting in damage to the the van floor and or damage to the steadies themselves after years of misuse. we have had a few topics on this issue over the years.
what you should do is level the van side to side using wedges or block under the wheels and then level the van back to front using the Jockey wheel. with the van now level. employ the steadies just enough to stabilise the van. I know that you know that some know that but others don't I'm afraid.
and while this is not understood fully there will be more posts to read through.
At one Woosiefest we were horrified to see 3-generation family in a caravan and camper arrive. They proceeded to level the caravan by lifting the low side wheel completely off the ground by 6" using only the steadies. He was a big bloke so we didn't interfere.
An issue which is often overlooked is what happens when the caravan is pitched on soft ground? Depending on how the load is spread under the steadies, the wheels could sink into the ground, thereby reducing the load carried by them and increasing the load on the steadies. In the extreme and in time, the steadies could be called upon to bear quite a considerable load.
If and when we go on a site on grass , I often Drive the wheels on to two bits of wood about two foot long offcuts of decking and set the wheels on them , and then every leg gets a chock on its corner to minimise anything sinkage and that the jockey wheel to
Craig
Craig
Craig I use the "Bigfoot" type of load spreaders on the steadies and if needed a Millenco quattro wheel lift which has a very wide footprint. Whilst at the Woosiefest this year driving onto pitch a caravan wheel sunk into the mud by about 6 inches. Thankfully repositioned and had a happy but muddy 4 days.
Parksy
Moderator
I normally place wooden blocks underneath my corner steadies to keep them out of the mud and to deal with soft ground. I still leave the jockey wheel down after I've levelled the caravan fore and aft with it though, what would be the point of raising it only to lower it again when It's time to go?
At least soon the ground will harden up with the temperature dropping and we will not be bothered about sinking into mud, but a few years ago ( my only friend) pitched up in a very soft pitch, and then the temp dropped , he was on site for two weeks, and we could not get the caravan out as the mud had frozen around the wheels. A very messy extraction in the end.
Dustydog said:
Mmm ! You beat me to it DD !! ๐
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