Quote: Originally posted by Surfer01 on 09/9/2011
As stated before there should be no need to check your wheel nuts prior to each trip unless there is an inherent fault in which case you re covered by the Sale of Goods Act.
There is no inherent fault. Its all in the fitting as described in various other posts in the thread. You have to assume that the mating surfaces have been cleaned & the wheel fitted carefully. It is then important to check nuts again after wheel has been run for 30miles or so for reasons described earlier.
Provided that is done then the bolts will not come loose. This of course assumes correct wheels & bolts have been used.
Having said all that I still check both car & caravan wheel bolts regularly. I used to be an hgv driver so its habit, I suppose.
Just a thought if the van wheels could work lose is it possibel to have holes drilled in them and then wire through them all.I suppose got to be a reason against.
i dont agree with surfer01. in the real world they may simply just refuse the claim on the grounds of makers' known fault.The manufacturers wont fall over themselves to put it right and you could end up in the middle.Sincerely hope not.
Quote: Originally posted by misterg on 09/9/2011
i dont agree with surfer01. in the real world they may simply just refuse the claim on the grounds of makers' known fault.The manufacturers wont fall over themselves to put it right and you could end up in the middle.Sincerely hope not.
The insurance company would need to prove it was the manufacturer's fault before they could refuse a claim on those grounds otherwise they would lose hands down in a court of law.
It is just a matter of time before some smart Alex sues Bailey for compensation and somehow I doubt whether Bailey would like all the publicity associated with wheels falling off.
This is probably why Bailey have undertaken to do all the repairs themselves rather than it going through an insurance company in case the insurance company sues them.
Hope this makes sense.
My repairs have been approved by my insurance company but I am beginning to believe the conspiracy theory that someone has it in for me as I wasT-boned on a roundabout on my way home this evening. My Sorento did make a mess of his pretty BMW 320 though, considering he ran into me LOL .
I have raised this question with dealers a number of times over the years and always got answers like "because it says you have to check", it's only having now bought from a manufacturer I actually got an answer I believe. I was told that when driving a car you will notice the noise created by a wheel coming loose (having had this happen to me when I first started driving I know what he meant, it's like a bearing has failed and is very loud) and as such can stop and do up the wheels before an issue happens. Although after any wheel removal on a car you are told by the tyre fitter or service place etc to check the wheels after about 15 miles. However, because you won't hear any tell-tale noise or vibration indicating a wheel is coming loose on the caravan the first you'll know is it falling off. Hence why checking every trip is the rule when using a caravan. HAving been told this I religiously check my wheel nuts, am the proud owner of a torque wrench (which I keep in my car) and, touch wood, haven't had any problems.
I'm new to this caravan ownership and read with great interest about wheels coming off,the first post shows a picture and i notice that their is a motor mover fitted so my question is :- what is the ratio of wheels coming off to the amount that has movers fitted.
I don't know if the mover uses both wheels or just the one but the torque on a single wheel could put undue stress on the wheel bolts resulting in them becoming lose.
It would be nice to know the answer as I am thinking of having a move fitted.
Had a wheel come loose on a trip 2 years ago (which i posted on here) i travelled 90 miles to the site, and when we left i hadn't travelled a mile when the wheel decided to come loose, luckily no accident occurred and i did find the wheel.
Recovery service advised me the bolts had vibrated loose which apparently is a common thing on fixed axle trailers, and more so as in my case, it is usually the nearside wheel which becomes loose, something to do with the fact it takes most of the strain when cornering?
I had previously just had the van serviced so got on the phone to them straight away, they pointed out the fact i had done quite a few miles before the wheel came off, and would not accept responsibility, however they did say if i took the van back they would assess the damage and come to some arrangement with me.
I got a new wheel arch, new skirting, axle checked for distortion, replaced wheel bolts, cost me £100, considering that was how much excess i would have paid on insurance, i was happy with it.
I now religiously check wheel bolts and tyre pressure every time i take van away and come home, it takes 10 minutes which is nothing to the 4 hours it took me to get van sorted at roadside.
------------- "cos i'm as free as a bird"
ronnie van zant
15-01-48 - 20-10-77
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Quote: Originally posted by bazzerb5t1 on 30/9/2011
I'm new to this caravan ownership and read with great interest about wheels coming off,the first post shows a picture and i notice that their is a motor mover fitted so my question is :- what is the ratio of wheels coming off to the amount that has movers fitted.
I don't know if the mover uses both wheels or just the one but the torque on a single wheel could put undue stress on the wheel bolts resulting in them becoming lose.
It would be nice to know the answer as I am thinking of having a move fitted.
Barry..
Thats a fair comment, Barry but I cant see it myself. I know a guy who regularly covers many hundreds of miles with his van (single axle 1340kgs) and has a mover fitted that he uses alot and hasnt had any problems. He also has a set of wheel trims fitted to his steel wheels that are cable tied on and I just cant imagine the old guy removing these and checking his wheel bolt torque every trip. Years ago, i was a heavy vehicle technician and accasioanaly we would get a truck or trailer that had 'shed a wheel'. It was considered then to be either over or under torquing of the lug nuts or not checking them after a tyre change etc that was the casue, end of! There are as already mentioned in this thread, so many variables! In all honesty, i dont think its nessesary to check the torque of wheel bolts or nuts every time the van goes out but I would certainly check them a couple of times after any tyre change or maintenance where the wheel was disturbed and I would check them maybe every other trip or so to be sure. Ive just checked mine and they were as i suspected, still tight. In my view, the only ways in wich a bolt or nut will come loose or shear is from over torqueing as the stud or bolt will stretch and 'yeild' or threads maybe damaged and obviuosly if its under torqued. The only other thing that may cause it to fail is over loading of the axle / wheel assembly, unlikely to that extent on a caravan! Spiggots or no spiggots will not make any differance. Thats it as far as im concerned.
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Topic: ONE WHEEL ON MY WAGON!!
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