Yes I know the maintenance of it is down to the owner, but as has been highlighted in this thread, a seized carrier/wheel is only one issue. A number of practical issues have been raised which have nothing to do with the possibility of the wheel/carrier being seized.
Basic accessibility is obviously a major and very real issue which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, imho.
Was on a site last year and a chap had fiddled with his Alko carrier and made the spare remove from the back he had used the holes in chassis didn't really get too good a look but he had bolted some sort of fastener through the floor in a cupboard and one thing he did say was the nuts holding the wheel on carrier he had seen what I see regular on transit van spares plastic wing nuts thus no rusting on to thread he got them from a specialist fastening place for a couple
Of quid maybe this is a new way forward??
What a good idea & would a plastic wing nut really cost the Manufacturer that much extra to fit. I think not, but it will be too much trouble for them. Maybe Alko should should take the lead.
not long back from Australia , a lot of there caravans have a spare in the A frame and one on the rear , also the gas cylinders are mounted on the A frame
Storing on the A frame \ front locker is fine if you don't have noseweight issues, in my last van that was where it was meant to go but I stored underneath as couldn't get my noseweight to the target 75kg with the spare in the locker.
Why can't we have an internal storage in a floor cavity? It's been done before so designers must be able to overcome floor strength issues.
I thought i'd check my carrier was in working order , it was , but it was so difficult to get the wheel off, i've now stowed the wheel under the fixed bed and removed the carrier altogether . I'm glad i tried the carrier in the storage yard and not on the road after getting a flat .
Is the problem with the ALKO carrier just with newer caravans?
I've had it on my Wisp for many years with no problems. Recently my storage place "improved" access with massive boulders and I ripped my n/s tyre on leaving. even with the flat and very limited access I had no difficulty removing the spare.
Quote: Originally posted by Vic Wildish on 01/2/2011
There seems to be quite a debate going on about the practicality of spare wheel carriers and in particular the Alko one.
My caravan has the BPW chassis and the spare wheel carrier for this is a rather crude welded steel cradle affair. The theory is that this just drops down and you slide the spare off it. In order to do this though the caravan has to be jacked up first, that's assuming of course that you can get the jack under the jacking point with the road wheel deflated, in the first place.
The next conundrum is how to get the wheel out of the carrier with the jack holding the caravan up. You can't 'cos the jack is fouling the spare wheel.
For me, there is one simple answer. Don't use your spare wheel carrier be it Alko or BPW. Carry your caravan spare in the boot of the car or in the caravan where it far more accessible in the event of a puncture.
Why can't caravan manufacturers come up with the same system for caravans as for 4 wheel drives and supply a strengthened mounting point at the rear of the caravan?
Some might argue that this would upset the weight distribution of the caravan. However I have two gas bottles in the front locker plus a heavy leisure battery in a specially designated locker just behind the nearside front corner, so something like the spare at the rear of the caravan would certainly help to balance things up.
Vic
Vic
All the above is so true, we had a blow out down in Cornwall last summer (not to bad as twin axle, so controlled stop) my biggest problem was getting the spare from under the van at the side of the A30 with lorry's blowing the van from side to side, I now keep it in the car when travelling, if I get another puncture, the whole thing will be alot safer and quicker to do.
Maintenance of a slide-out carrier is not included in the industry standard for annual caravan servicing. It should be - but even if they operate perfectly they won't be usable in many circumstances because they are in the wrong place.
It's a bad design, installed in a bad position and further let down by not being maintained.
My spare's in a cradle in my nose locker, which is also not ideal because of weight issues, but still far better than an under-chassis job.
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Hi,I have the AL-KO wheel carrier,and find it very difficult to get spare out,as it is just behind the wheel,and the mud flap has to be held up to underside of floor,with one hand and try to pull out carrier with the other,and that is on my driveway, how i would manage with a flat on road dose'nt bare thinking about, one sploution may be to adapt AL-KO carrier to single frame,or to get one of these carriers from towsure, £37 as it has a quick release, I could mount it to the front chassis slot of existing carrier,and fit to rear slot on near side, would be much better.
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Topic: Spare Wheel Carriers.
