Hi everyone
Am new to the caravanning game, have been watching loads of videos to get a bit wiser.
Anyway i am after a bit of advice please, our van is now in storage (local to me) until probably Easter and am concerned about the tyres degrading sitting that long through winter.
I have seen that rotating the wheels every now and then is a good idea so am looking at getting a jack. Do any of you guys use a trolley jack or are the al-ko or kojack ones a better bet?
Any advice would be great
Thanks
Dave
The cheapest option is to pull the caravan onto a pair of 'Tyre Savers' which are designed to avoid flat spots which are contoured to the tyres circumference.
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 08/10/2017
The cheapest option is to pull the caravan onto a pair of 'Tyre Savers' which are designed to avoid flat spots which are contoured to the tyres circumference.
I rotate my tyres about once a month, sometimes twice............I just use the caravan through winter However I have used tyre savers in the past, as the above post.
Quote: Originally posted by Daveio72 on 08/10/2017
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 08/10/2017
The cheapest option is to pull the caravan onto a pair of 'Tyre Savers' which are designed to avoid flat spots which are contoured to the tyres circumference.
Thanks for that tango,have never seen them before, i take it you can just set them down and use the motor mover to drive onto them?
Yes, you can use the motor mover to drive the caravan on to the tyre savers providing that the tyres are dry and not wet. I returned to the storage from a towing journey after rain and tried to use the mover but because of the rear lower lip that has to driven over, the rollers began to slip so had to abandon the idea and hitch the car back up and pull the caravan onto the tyre savers. Once the caravan tyres are on, just let the caravan roll into it's own position then apply the handbrake. As the advice is to release the handbrake in winter to avoid it seizing up, it's a good alternative anyway to stop the caravan rolling away. Remember though that the caravan has to be reversed off the tyre savers due to the higher lip at the front.
If you do want a jack then cheap option is a 2tonne bottle jack from screwfix. Jack under the thick metal flange around the axle. Take a thin plank to place under jack if caravan is parked on anything other than smooth concrete.
Quote: Originally posted by Daveio72 on 08/10/2017
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 08/10/2017
The cheapest option is to pull the caravan onto a pair of 'Tyre Savers' which are designed to avoid flat spots which are contoured to the tyres circumference.
Thanks for that tango,have never seen them before, i take it you can just set them down and use the motor mover to drive onto them?
Yes, you can use the motor mover to drive the caravan on to the tyre savers providing that the tyres are dry and not wet. I returned to the storage from a towing journey after rain and tried to use the mover but because of the rear lower lip that has to driven over, the rollers began to slip so had to abandon the idea and hitch the car back up and pull the caravan onto the tyre savers. Once the caravan tyres are on, just let the caravan roll into it's own position then apply the handbrake. As the advice is to release the handbrake in winter to avoid it seizing up, it's a good alternative anyway to stop the caravan rolling away. Remember though that the caravan has to be reversed off the tyre savers due to the higher lip at the front.
Quote: Originally posted by Opensauce on 08/10/2017
If you do want a jack then cheap option is a 2tonne bottle jack from screwfix. Jack under the thick metal flange around the axle. Take a thin plank to place under jack if caravan is parked on anything other than smooth concrete.
Thanks for that, I saw that the other day, not sure how easy it would be to get to the axle jacking point tbh, not much room to mess around getting under the van at the storage yard.
Quote: Originally posted by SamP on 08/10/2017
If the parking bay is long enough, why not move the van forwards (or backwards) by around six inches or so?
That means the weight of the van is now resting on a different bit of the tyre.
No extra hardware is needed & it should only take a couple of minutes to do.
This is exactly what we do. No need to jack up and takes a few minutes to remove and refit wheel clamps.
Quote: Originally posted by SamP on 08/10/2017
If the parking bay is long enough, why not move the van forwards (or backwards) by around six inches or so?
That means the weight of the van is now resting on a different bit of the tyre.
No extra hardware is needed & it should only take a couple of minutes to do.
We are really limited to space where we are but i suppose it could be done every now and then...wouldnt actually be much more than a foot max that we could move it
If you jack the caravan up, for whatever reason make sure that you leave the van hitched to your car when you do it. Makes the operation a whole lot safer.
Quote: Originally posted by boff on 09/10/2017
If you jack the caravan up, for whatever reason make sure that you leave the van hitched to your car when you do it. Makes the operation a whole lot safer.
This is very good advice.
Far too easy for the caravan to twist itself off a jack.
I'd just use the motor over to shift it by about 6-8".
Quote: Originally posted by jim oldham on 09/10/2017
Quote: Originally posted by boff on 09/10/2017
If you jack the caravan up, for whatever reason make sure that you leave the van hitched to your car when you do it. Makes the operation a whole lot safer.
This is very good advice.
Far too easy for the caravan to twist itself off a jack.
I'd just use the motor over to shift it by about 6-8".
Quote: Originally posted by Daveio72 on 08/10/2017
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 08/10/2017
The cheapest option is to pull the caravan onto a pair of 'Tyre Savers' which are designed to avoid flat spots which are contoured to the tyres circumference.
Thanks for that tango,have never seen them before, i take it you can just set them down and use the motor mover to drive onto them?
Yes, you can use the motor mover to drive the caravan on to the tyre savers providing that the tyres are dry and not wet. I returned to the storage from a towing journey after rain and tried to use the mover but because of the rear lower lip that has to driven over, the rollers began to slip so had to abandon the idea and hitch the car back up and pull the caravan onto the tyre savers. Once the caravan tyres are on, just let the caravan roll into it's own position then apply the handbrake. As the advice is to release the handbrake in winter to avoid it seizing up, it's a good alternative anyway to stop the caravan rolling away. Remember though that the caravan has to be reversed off the tyre savers due to the higher lip at the front.
Unless, of course, you reverse on to them ... then tow off forwards. Where we store, with the van fairly tight to the rear wall of the store, we have to do it the other way round.
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Topic: Caravan jacking advice please
and am concerned about the tyres degrading sitting that long through winter.
