Jockey wheel

[Smurff]

Hi everyone, new to this forum, anyway here's my question, jockey wheels !!!!!!, at the moment I have the normal hard rubber covered j wheel, as most caravaners have, however when I go to sites which are a bit soft or muddy, the present j wheel slices into the turf like a knife and sometimes gets stuck while manovering using my motor mover, so I've bought a new j wheel with a pneumatic tyre on, as this is much easier to manoeuvre with, my question is can I leave this on or would i have to swap over the old one when over wintering, as the pueumatic tyre may get damaged standing for months.

 

[Surfer]

Hi everyone, new to this forum, anyway here's my question, jockey wheels !!!!!!, at the moment I have the normal hard rubber covered j wheel, as most caravaners have, however when I go to sites which are a bit soft or muddy, the present j wheel slices into the turf like a knife and sometimes gets stuck while manovering using my motor mover, so I've bought a new j wheel with a pneumatic tyre on, as this is much easier to manoeuvre with, my question is can I leave this on or would i have to swap over the old one when over wintering, as the pueumatic tyre may get damaged standing for months.

Did you change the whole assembly or just teh rubber tyre as on the normal assembly the forks are too narrow and the tyre rubs on the forks causing it to explode. We left ours on 365 days a year with no issue. You can always lower the steadies to take some weight off the jockey wheel.

 

[Smurff]

I have changed the whole assembly, when i move it off my drive and hitch up the pneumatic tyre softens the slight drop of the lowered kerb compared to the hard original, the only thing that concerns me is that some people have said I'd be stuck if I it punctured, but as its use is only for a few yards at a time I can not see much of a problem or risk.

 

[Willi-Wonti]

I carry a spare inner tube in case of a puncture & never leave the jockey wheel down when sited

 

[RayS]

Another way of overcoming jockey wheel dig-in when using the mover is to reduce the noseweight. A quick way of doing this which does not upset the normal noseweight for towing is to get someone (OH ?) to get inside the back and move slowly to the back while you moave the van off the soft spot. They should, of course, be told to hold on firmly and not to move suddently and all the other stuff elf and safety could think up.

(Oh, and you should let them out before driving off).

 

[Abbey540]

Two things -
1 - It's swings and roundabouts with jockey wheels....pneumatic - easier to move, covers difficult terrain better - hard - no risk of punctures, longevity. You pays your money...

2 - I see so many people with their jockey wheel tucked away when they're pitched up or on the storage site - so the full weight of the front of the van is being supported by the front steadies. This puts undue pressure on them (they are 'steadies' not 'supports') and can/will lead to twisting of the axle/frame of the van. The weight of the van is carried by the jockey wheel and the main road wheels. The steadies are NOT for supporting the weight of the van!

 

[SteveW77]

Two things -
1 - It's swings and roundabouts with jockey wheels....pneumatic - easier to move, covers difficult terrain better - hard - no risk of punctures, longevity. You pays your money...

2 - I see so many people with their jockey wheel tucked away when they're pitched up or on the storage site - so the full weight of the front of the van is being supported by the front steadies. This puts undue pressure on them (they are 'steadies' not 'supports') and can/will lead to twisting of the axle/frame of the van. The weight of the van is carried by the jockey wheel and the main road wheels. The steadies are NOT for supporting the weight of the van!

That statement is not correct, I suggest you take advice from the chassis manufacturers, the jockey wheel is for handling, not taking the weight of the van.
The main wheels take the weight transferred along the chassis rails

Steve W

 

[Royston]

Hi Smurf,
My experience with the pneumatice tyres has for a better word been a bit of a disaster.
The first one I purchased had a plastic rim , the air pressures have to be very hard, the only way I could pump the tyre up was with a bicycle hand pump fitted with a high pressure connection, I think upon reflection it lasted two trips the tyre coming off the plastice rim whilst I was reversing our van onto a hardstanding pitch.
The second attempt I purchased a Alko pneumatic jockey wheel assy, this was quite a bit heavier than my first one and did not fit high off the road, when the van was being towed.
That Tyre too developed a puncture when i was away , its not a easy job removing the tyre from the wheel, found out when the tyre and tube were first fitted the tube had been nipped against the tyre wall.
I have since reverted back to a ALKO Solid Wheel Assy, with no more problems, ALKO make quite a range Jockey wheels with various widths of solid tyres.
Royston