Newbie Question

[Pamplona]

It suddenly dawned on me that my caravan brake should not be on whilst stored on my driveway over the winter months. To those ends, I tried to take the brake off, (I did not set the brake it was delivered for me) I have attached a picture of the brake etc, the bottom line is I am not able to take the brake off, As you can see its an Al-Ko AKS stabiliser coupling. My question is should I be able to take the brake off when the caravan is not hooked up and on my driveway because currently, I cannot.

Thanks

Pete

 

[otherclive]

Yes it should release and that’s not an abnormal position. Need to give it some “heft”. Try holding it firmly and initially pull lever back towards the caravan, push button in before pushing it forwards. It can go like that if the caravan is moving as the brake is applied. If the drive slopes good idea to chock a wheel to prevent runaway.

 

[Pamplona]

@otherclive Thank you for your reply I did think that in the first instance but was worried about applying undue force so to speak. It is certainly stuck fast. I did try doing that but was not successful. I will try again.

 

[Johnb]

If you have a mover fitted it could be worth trying to inch the van forwards before tackling the brake handle. The handle will require a bit of "welly" to shift but follow otherclive's sequence above.

 

[Woodentop]

It is always possible that if the brakes are slack the handle may have hit its end stop.

 

[Buckman]

That looks like the caravan rolled back a bit pulling hard on the brake. If you can pull it forward a bit, it may help release the brake. Probably always best to use chocks if the steadies are not down.

 

[Beachball]

i would put some chocks behind the wheels and use the mover it should help to release the caravan handbrake button

 

[Pamplona]

Thank you everyone for your replies, I have managed to get the brake off, I think it was set overly firmly. As additional question is it acceptable to have the jockey wheel sitting on the outside of the A-frame in the up position when towing?

 

[otherclive]

Yes you don’t need to remove the jockey wheel. Just make sure it is fully retracted into the slot, and pull the whole assembly up as far as it will go, and tighten firmly.

 

[Beehpee]

I found years ago, after 2 shredded tyres that it pays to tighten the jockey handle that winds the wheel up and down to fit the assembly up as high as you can and then tighten really well with the handle on the top of the jockey, I haven’t had any further faults.

 

[Buckman]

I found years ago, after 2 shredded tyres that it pays to tighten the jockey handle that winds the wheel up and down to fit the assembly up as high as you can and then tighten really well with the handle on the top of the jockey, I haven’t had any further faults.

Use a bungee to stop the handle from rotating and lowering the wheel.

 

[bertieboy1]

It suddenly dawned on me that my caravan brake should not be on whilst stored on my driveway over the winter months. To those ends, I tried to take the brake off, (I did not set the brake it was delivered for me) I have attached a picture of the brake etc, the bottom line is I am not able to take the brake off, As you can see its an Al-Ko AKS stabiliser coupling. My question is should I be able to take the brake off when the caravan is not hooked up and on my driveway because currently, I cannot.

Thanks

Pete

Our caravan brake is on all winter without any problem,if you don't want to leave brake on the chock the wheels so van doesn't move

 

[Beachball]

Our caravan brake is on all winter without any problem,if you don't want to leave brake on the chock the wheels so van doesn't move

When we use to leave our caravan in storage the steadies were down we put some chocks on the wheels and wheel clamp the caravan brake we left down we did not get any problems

 

[Beachball]

With the steadies down and a wheel clamp it’s not likely to go anywhere. But chocks could be useful on a slope.

But our caravan storage did have a slight slope that why we put chocks on the wheels so it did not move and for extra peace of mind.