Winter Wheel & Axle Stand Warning

[Glenn_5132962]

I put my van on winter wheels last year partly to protect my tyres & party because I thought they offered better security. However during a particularly windy day my van was blown off it's hard standing & ended up almost on it's side in the soft ground next to the standing. The metal winter wheels do not offer enough grip in my opinion to be safe in high winds. I was lucky as no damage was done. I imagine axle stands to be even more risky in this respect.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Glenn,

Road wheels won't have helped either.

The wind blowing on the side of the caravan creates a vertical lifting force, just like an aircraft wing - and neither rubber tyres nor winter wheels nor axle stands provide a gripping force downwards.

Sounds like you need to fit chains or straps to the axle or corner steadies and anchor the caravan to the ground.

Robert

 

[Glenn_5132962]

The van was blown sideways. It slid across the concrete hardstanding until it "fell off" the edge. The winter wheels I was using had a metal base plate about 12"x3" with rubber pads over the ends. The pads were ripped off & the metal then had very little resistance to being slid across the concrete. Regular wheels & tyres would have afforded more grip in my opinion.

 

[hublock]

Hello Glenn

I suggest you put a soft rubber pad between the base of the winter wheel and the concrete, this will help to stop it slipping sideways.

To stop it lifting you could look at Spyra-base (find it on google)Pooleys supply it to anchor down small aircraft, using tensioned webbing straps.

Attach it to the axle or the stogest ares of the chassis.

No doubt some of the winds we get could cause a lot of damage if anchor from the wrong place.

You can make up your own system based upon this idea.