Caravan Jockey Wheels: Maintenance and Choosing the Right One
The humble jockey wheel must be the most underrated, abused, neglected, ill-maintained and forgotten about piece of equipment on your caravan.
While this may be the case, it is also a very important piece of equipment. You trust it to hold up the front of your caravan and use it to level your caravan. Just try to unhitch your caravan if you have damaged it, left it at home or lost it.
– For the full range of jockey wheels: Caravan RV Camping
Jockey Wheel Maintenance
Jockey wheel maintenance can be straightforward. Wash it, if it gets covered in dust or mud, give the wheel bearings a good squirt of lubricant (WD40, spray-grease, dry-lube) and spray some lube into the winding mechanism.
Pretty easy stuff and your jockey wheel will thank you for it.
Jockey Wheel Abuse
Some jockey wheels cop a lot of abuse when they don’t deserve it. There are some simple things you can do to stop the abuse.
Remove or Swing Up Your Jockey Wheel When Travelling
Remember to remove or swing up your jockey wheel when travelling. If it strikes the ground while in motion you can bend it, damage the wheel or damage the winding mechanism to the point that it either doesn’t operate, breaks or both.
I’ve seen many bent jockey wheels happen at the camp site. It’s the good ‘ol “but I’m not moving it far!”
Wind It Down When Moving Your Caravan by Hand
While manually manoeuvring your caravan, wind down your jockey wheel as much as possible. This will decrease the lateral force applied to it and reduce the risk of bending the shaft.
This is also relevant to when you are hooking up your caravan to your tow-vehicle. Try to avoid pushing or pulling the caravan hitch to line it up with your tow-ball, as your jockey will usually be wound up quite high so the tow-ball can clear under the hitch.
If you have misaligned reversing your tow-vehicle, don’t be lazy, have another go!
Choosing a Jockey Wheel
If you need to get a new jockey wheel, the first thing to consider is how strong it needs to be. The most common jockey wheel will be able to support a static load of up to 350kg. This is the vertical load or weight applied to the jockey wheel while not moving.
There are stronger variations available which can hold up to 750kg. It is important that you get the right one for the size / weight of your caravan.
👉Need one of the stronger ones? This is a 750kg rated jockey wheel at Caravan RV Camping!
Types of Jockey Wheels
There are many different types of jockey wheels on the market. While they all do a similar job, the way they go about it can be quite different. Some may be more suitable to your caravan’s set up than others.
The Basic Jockey Wheel
The basic jockey wheel is usually one which is clamped to the a-frame, is completely removable for travelling and has either a top winding mechanism or a side winding mechanism.
It will depend on how much clearance you have to things like gas bottles, storage boxes or stone deflectors to determine which one will suit.
[Image placeholder: basic jockey wheels, top wind and side wind]
👉Short on clearance up top? Here’s a side wind jockey wheel with clamp at Caravan RV Camping!
Swing Up Jockey Wheels
Swing up jockey wheels have the convenience of being permanently attached to the a-frame. You simply swing it up while travelling, then swing it down and lock it into place when you need to use it.
The negative to these types of jockey wheels is that they don’t fit on the inside of the a-frame. You can only fit them to the outside which can cause some clearance issues between the tow-vehicle and the swung-up jockey while turning tight.
If you choose one of these, fit it to the left side of the a-frame as you are more likely to turn tight to the right rather than the left. *In countries that drive on the right the opposite applies.
[Image placeholder: swing up jockey wheel]
Mechanical Mover Jockey Wheels
If you need to manoeuvre your caravan when unhooked from your tow vehicle (we need to do this to get our van into its parking position at home), a mechanical mover type jockey wheel may help.
They look similar to a basic jockey wheel, except they have a larger wheel with a ratchet system and a long handle to “drive” and “steer” the wheel.
While they can make manually moving your caravan easier than pushing or pulling it, they do have their limitations. The ground must be quite firm and level. Concrete or paved surfaces work the best, but grass or dirt is usually no good.
They can be rather slow, but if you haven’t got far to go, they can certainly make light work of moving your van. I can manoeuvre our van into a fairly tight position, by myself.
[Image placeholder: mechanical mover jockey wheel]
The Jockey Wheel that is not a Jockey Wheel
Hydraulic jacks (or hydraulic jockey wheels) are becoming quite popular. While technically they are not a “jockey wheel”, you can get them with a wheel at the bottom (instead of the flat plate) so I suppose you can call them a “jockey wheel”.
They are very easy to use as the lifting mechanism is done via a hydraulic jack instead of a winding mechanism. If you use it with the plate instead of the wheel, they can be more stable than a jockey wheel, but you can not move your caravan at all while in use. (no wheel!)
You can also use them as a jack to change a tyre. The downside to these is that they are quite heavy and long. You need to have sufficient space to store them when travelling.
[Image placeholder: hydraulic jockey wheel / jack]
👉Keen on the hydraulic option? Have a look at the Trail-A-Mate hydraulic jockey wheel and jack at Caravan RV Camping!
Our Thoughts
There is no “one-size-fits-all” jockey wheel. Each type will have its pros and cons. If you need to change your jockey wheel or are looking to upgrade, think about what is important to you. Compact? Easy to manoeuvre? Where will it fit? Versatile? Swing away?
And don’t forget to give your humble jockey wheel a bit of attention, after all, it carries a lot of weight… so you don’t have to.
Which type of jockey wheel do you run on your van?
👉For more on keeping on top of jobs like this, check out our caravan maintenance schedule here.
