No Jack or Jacking point on new Coachman Laser

May 12, 2022
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WARNING TO NEW COACHMAN OWNERS . Just took delivery of our new caravan and despite the caravan coming with a spare wheel, it does not come with a jack or even jacking points meaning that if you were unfortunate to experience a flat tyre there would be no means of changing it . Even calling out a breakdown service would be pointless . Every other caravan I have owned has come complete with a jack and jacking points. Considering the cost of the caravan I think this is a major oversight by Coachman and is surely a safety issue.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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In my experience, a caravan has never come with a supplied jack and on an Alko chassis there are no provided jacking points other than under the axle. If a jack is required, Alko will sell you one, just as they will supply a pair of jacking points to bolt to the chassis.
 
Nov 16, 2015
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In my experience, a caravan has never come with a supplied jack and on an Alko chassis there are no provided jacking points other than under the axle. If a jack is required, Alko will sell you one, just as they will supply a pair of jacking points to bolt to the chassis.
My 2010 Coachman 545, and my 2013 Coachman 560, came with an AlKo jack and Jacking points bolted to the chassie, and not the flimsy type, the decent solid type.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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My 2010 Coachman 545, and my 2013 Coachman 560, came with an AlKo jack and Jacking points bolted to the chassie, and not the flimsy type, the decent solid type.
The “ flimsy ones” were for the higher load category of heavier caravans. They looked very similar to the lower load L shaped ones. As such they were prone to failure and Alko introduced a stronger gusseted type for heavier caravans. I can’t recall any criticism of the lower load L shaped ones. But the decision on which type to use if your caravan weight is near the transition between L shaped or gusseted would be to go for tge higher load specification ones.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Hello NeillR,

As you will have seen depending on which caravan has been purchased jacks and jacking points are not necessarily supplied as standard. Ye, it's inconvenient, but what makes you think its a safety issue?
 
Nov 11, 2009
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WARNING TO NEW COACHMAN OWNERS . Just took delivery of our new caravan and despite the caravan coming with a spare wheel, it does not come with a jack or even jacking points meaning that if you were unfortunate to experience a flat tyre there would be no means of changing it . Even calling out a breakdown service would be pointless . Every other caravan I have owned has come complete with a jack and jacking points. Considering the cost of the caravan I think this is a major oversight by Coachman and is surely a safety issue.
Breakdown companies are able to deal with changing a wheel on a caravan without fitted jacking brackets. But it’s good to have ones fitted for your own use either for a puncture or doing maintenance etc.
 
Nov 12, 2021
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WARNING TO NEW COACHMAN OWNERS . Just took delivery of our new caravan and despite the caravan coming with a spare wheel, it does not come with a jack or even jacking points meaning that if you were unfortunate to experience a flat tyre there would be no means of changing it . Even calling out a breakdown service would be pointless . Every other caravan I have owned has come complete with a jack and jacking points. Considering the cost of the caravan I think this is a major oversight by Coachman and is surely a safety issue.

I too complained about why my brand new 23K in 2016 Coachman VIP 575/4 didn't come with a jack or jacking points fitted, only to be told that is how it is!!!
So, I bought the heavy duty 2000kg side jack and jacking points. Since around 2010 the Al-Ko chassis has the necessary holes pre-drilled making the fitting of the jacking points relatively easy and only took about 30 minutes.
However, with the money I saved from cancelled holidays due to Covid lockdown I've had the superb E&P self levelling system fitted, which does away with the need for a jack.
I sold the jack and jacking points very quickly so it's worth checking online market places if you want to save some money.

Oh, on the matter of the spare wheel. Take my advice and remove it, at your leisure, from the underslung frame and imagine doing it at the side of the road at night in the pouring rain. Punctures are never convenient.
I've completely removed the frame now and while doing so I found the two bolts securring the spare wheel to the frame were rusted solid despite the annual service where these were obviously overlooked. It took a lot of time, WD-40 and brute force persuasion to finally undo them. The steel, not alloy spare wheel was also starting to rust. The spare now lives under the island bed in a storage bag.
 
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Nov 11, 2009
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I too complained about why my brand new 23K in 2016 Coachman VIP 575/4 didn't come with a jack or jacking points fitted, only to be told that is how it is!!!
So, I bought the heavy duty 2000kg side jack and jacking points. Since around 2010 the Al-Ko chassis has the necessary holes pre-drilled making the fitting of the jacking points relatively easy and only took about 30 minutes.
However, with the money I saved from cancelled holidays due to Covid lockdown I've had the superb E&P self levelling system fitted, which does away with the need for a jack.
I sold the jack and jacking points very quickly so it's worth checking online market places if you want to save some money.

Oh, on the matter of the spare wheel. Take my advice and remove it, at your leisure, from the underslung frame and imagine doing it at the side of the road at night in the pouring rain. Punctures are never convenient.
I've completely removed the frame now and while doing so I found the two bolts securring the spare wheel to the frame were rusted solid despite the annual service where these were obviously overlooked. It took a lot of time, WD-40 and brute force persuasion to finally undo them. The steel, not alloy spare wheel was also starting to rust. The spare now lives under the island bed in a storage bag.
It’s also a lot safer should you be in Europe and have a puncture. Pulling the spare out from under the caravan means pulling it into a moving traffic lane.
 
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Given the way people in the UK drive There's no way I'd ever change any wheel on the roadside. Lethal. They're rarely looking where they're going. From experience. At least in France the off side where spare wheel is becomes nearside !
 
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Every caravan we have had excluding the current caravan has come with a jack and jacking points. Currently caravan has E&P levelling.

It may be a safety issue if you have a puncture whether on the motorway or any other road as you may cause an obstruction.
 
May 12, 2022
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Thank you to everyone who has taken the trouble to reply (y)

We have had a few caravans over the years, Elddis's and Baileys and all came with jacks and jacking points as standard. I think the only reason that Coachman don't supply these as standard is down to cost and obviously they want you to buy them as an "extra". We (wrongly) assumed that the Coachman came with these as standard, as there was no mention of it by the sales team and nor is it listed in the "optional extras" price list.

There is no way I would attempt to change a wheel using a standard trolley jack as I think this would be totally unsafe.:oops:

Unfortunately having just shelled out for our new van (and all the added costs attached) we are currently not in the financial position to go for a "self levelling system" but I have put it on my ever growing list of "things I would like one day....." thanks again all :)
 

Damian

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There is no way I would attempt to change a wheel using a standard trolley jack as I think this would be totally unsafe

I use a trolley jack every day and multiple times when servicing caravans and have never had a safety issue with them in over 20 years.
I would never use a side lift jack such as the Al-Ko type as they are too unstable.
 
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I use a trolley jack to change our winter to summer car tyres; i won't crawl under there but it is far better than a scissor jack etc and you can always pop the spare under the chassis just in case, or something firm!
 
Jul 18, 2017
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If one was looking for a torque wrench for a caravan or even a car, what size would one be looking at? I looked on Amazon and there is reference to 1/2 and 1/4 inch, but I thought they were now in metric measurements.
 
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WARNING TO NEW COACHMAN OWNERS . Just took delivery of our new caravan and despite the caravan coming with a spare wheel, it does not come with a jack or even jacking points meaning that if you were unfortunate to experience a flat tyre there would be no means of changing it . Even calling out a breakdown service would be pointless . Every other caravan I have owned has come complete with a jack and jacking points. Considering the cost of the caravan I think this is a major oversight by Coachman and is surely a safety issue.
Contrary to your van jack experience,I'never had a new van come with a jack or jacking points.
 

Sam Vimes

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Sep 7, 2020
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If one was looking for a torque wrench for a caravan or even a car, what size would one be looking at? I looked on Amazon and there is reference to 1/2 and 1/4 inch, but I thought they were now in metric measurements.
I think those dimensions refer to the square bit that you insert into the socket. Even my metric sockets seem to have an imperial fixing hole
 
May 7, 2012
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We are on our eighth caravan and none have had a jacking point or jack, The handbook will tell you where to jack it under the axle if you need to do this but if you buy second hand you may not get the handbook. Possibly it is good advice to get either the ALKO fitting or the Kojack, but it is a question of if you think the risk justifies the expense.
 
Nov 16, 2015
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If one was looking for a torque wrench for a caravan or even a car, what size would one be looking at? I looked on Amazon and there is reference to 1/2 and 1/4 inch, but I thought they were now in metric measurements.
It the size of the drive , 1/2 inch is what you need, 1/4 , is way to small , 3/4 is heavy duty stuff.. Extention drives are still in real units ie, Imperial. 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, etc.
 
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If one was looking for a torque wrench for a caravan or even a car, what size would one be looking at? I looked on Amazon and there is reference to 1/2 and 1/4 inch, but I thought they were now in metric measurements.
1/2 inch is best for caravan and car torques. Mine came with an adaptor to go from 1/2 to 1/4 if required for lower torque/socket purposes.
 
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I looked on Amazon and there is reference to 1/2 and 1/4 inch, but I thought they were now in metric measurements.

The actual sockets are in metric but the drive is 1/4"; 3/8"; 1/2" or 3/4" - even those bought on the Continent by mechanics. For some unknown reason the Continentals continue to use some Imperial sizes in spite of them being metric since Napoleon's day. Hence they use bsp sizes for some plumbers' fittings and inches on their wheel sizes.
 

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