A humble wheel, a faithful companion of the caravan to steer it on its journey. It’s the ideal scenario but from time to the other, things can go wrong. Caravan wheels can be damaged and broken for various reasons. Even if the jockey wheel has not been damaged but is it functioning as you’d like it to? Based on the terrain, certain wheels for caravan jockeys can roll instead of drag. This can be extremely annoying because of two reasons. When a wheel of a jockey starts to move, either sooner or later, it will result in damage and replacement. Additionally, a dragging wheel makes it more difficult to direct the caravan where you’d like it.
Many times I’ve travelled to visit our guests as they were setting up their caravan and have expressed frustration about how their caravan’s jockey wheel. So I thought I’d write a blog post about the wheels of a caravan jockey wheel based on my own observations as well as the experiences from our guest.
There’s a wide variety in caravan wheels available to select from. They can be made of solid plastic, air (pneumatic) rubber or even motorized. They are produced in a variety of qualities and at various price points.
I’ll also be discussing switching the caravan jockey wheel. If you’re interested in a specific kind of caravan jockey wheel , please follow the table of contents below to jump to the appropriate section.
Caravan Jockey Wheels The Factors That Impact the Performance
Before I talk about the different kinds of caravan jockey wheels I feel it’s better to talk about the different factors that impact their performance. It’s easy to overlook (until they fall off) the crucial role the jockey wheel has in moving the caravan.
For example, in Horton Common, our road is directly ahead of our pitches. Thus, caravans must be reversed to the pitches. From my personal experiences, the majority of homeowners find reversed caravans extremely difficult. Additionally, many are worried about damage to their clutches.
So, a lot of our guests disengage their caravans and utilize their motormovers to place their caravan on the pitch.
When you use a motor mover for reversing a caravan on the pitch, you will require your jockey wheel do the job.
In order to be able to utilize a motor mover to direct and steer a caravan , you must have the jockey wheel that can provide a good amount of support and rotate. Our hardstanding is very sturdy with a slight gravel dressing.
But, I’ve seen the wheels of our jockeys on guests’ caravans settling. This is not just making it difficult for the motor to move but it also puts a heavier stress on the motor as well as the leisure battery.
Jockey Wheels and Ground Conditions
The typical conditions for the ground on which you’ll need to maneuver your vehicle will be gravel, tarmac and grass. Before we got our hardstanding and road put into Horton Common, the site was available for two seasons, but only grass pitches.
It was a wet British winters and the clay subsoil made it evident to us that the long-term survival of our property required hard standing. However, what it did give me were observations about the performance of the caravan jockey wheels on grass.
The first and most important thing to remember is that in the event that the ground is wet, each jockey wheel will perform quite poor. However, some wheels perform better than others.
A narrow set of solid wheels function as ploughs, making the job of maintaining an entire caravan on hard ground more difficult. Inflatable wheels for jockeys can work better on ground that is soft. They give a larger area of contact with ground that can help displace the caravan noseweight.
The efficiency of a pneumatic jockey wheel the hard ground also is contingent on the pressure at which they are at when they are inflating. When they are inflated lower they’ll have a bigger space to move the weight.
But, with lower inflation , the jockey wheel attempts to turn , the tyre could be removed from the wheel. This is why the capability for an inflatable jockey wheel to move weight becomes essentially useless.
Solutions to Jockey Wheels on Soft Ground
Simply put the majority of wheel for a caravan jockey you purchase is not going to work well on rough ground. It’s just too much weight to be placed on such a tiny space for it to move and turn correctly.
One of the best options I have seen the guest using prior to the time we got our own road was using grip mats underneath and over that wheel.
They’d probably had this problem before, and they had set the problem before they attempted the move of their vehicle by using their motor-mover. Grip mats are usually employed by motorhomes in order to get away from trouble when they are on spongy surface, but they are extremely useful for caravanners as well.
After having reviewed the effects of ground conditions. Let’s talk about the different options for wheel bearings for caravans. This article isn’t intended to be an exhaustive summary of every available product or even a comprehensive review of these products. It is merely a outline of my personal thoughts and observations, as well as the thoughts of our guests Horton Common. Horton Common.
Wheels made of plastic Wheels
The most popular jockey wheels that I see on the caravans of our guests is the black one that is shown in the photo below. A lot of caravan dealers and manufacturers seem to be using this particular model.
Regarding their performance has an enlarged and wider wheel than what I have seen in a lot old caravans. As mentioned above that a wider and larger wheel can help to displace the burden of the caravan, allowing it to perform better when on soft terrain.
If you accidentally crash into an obstacle, for example, using this wheel made of plastic as I was told from one of our visitors be prepared for it breaking. Although it looks solid and sturdy however the material inside the rim is quite thin. Thus, any sudden force can break the rim.
On the bright side, the replacement wheels are quite affordable. If you do own one with the rim that is made of plastic, I recommend that you have a spares in your caravan’s storage. This kind of jockey wheel also requires maintenance that is best done by your service center on your regular visit.
This kind of jockey wheel made from plastic in time can be susceptible to UV-induced damage. Every plastic denatures over time however UV radiation speeds up the process. With time, the plastic becomes more fragile and more vulnerable to damage.
With these wheels that are open to sunlight all day long don’t think you’ll get more than five years of the wheels. I have an identical wheel on the drive gate. Recently, I had to replace the wheels because one day I was opening the gate and heard a clunk. This wheel literally was breaking apart as it turned.
Air Wheels that can be inflated (Pneumatic) Inflatable (Pneumatic) Wheels
As I mentioned earlier on soft ground, inflatable jockey wheels may perform better than other types on hard ground. However, I’d suggest the rubber or plastic jockey wheel fitted with an underside grip mat can actually do better.
Another thing you’ll be able to see using an inflatable wheel for a caravan jockey is the bob. If you put the caravan down or stop using a motor with an inflatable tyre, you will observe the caravan bob upwards and downwards. I’ve seen this happen on a caravan of a guest that was a very heavy Vanmaster It looked as if the caravan was bouncing!
As you can see in the photo above, you could purchase twin pneumatic jockey wheels. It is designed to move more weight of the front of the caravan in order to prevent them from sinking.
I haven’t actually seen anyone of our guest wearing an inflatable twin jockey wheel, therefore I’m not able to speak about their performance. There’s a problem that every inflatable tyre is vulnerable to and that’s punctures.
Punctures for Jockey Wheels Inflatable
The weight of the front end of most RVs across the UK is anywhere between 80 and 100kg. This is an amount of weight to carry in one wheel (obviously it is heavier when displaced by two wheels).).
If there were a tiny nail or a small piece of wood, it’s unlikely to be a problem getting through the small rubber in these tyres. One guest who attempted using the foam tyre product that they use to make automobile tyres. But, they couldn’t determine if the product to be a suitable solution.
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