If you have a pneumatic jockey wheel fitted then don't forget to check that it is inflated correctly before each outing. The danger is that if the pressure is too low, using it with a mover could force the tubeless tyre wall out of the wheel rim leaving you with a real problem.

The correct inflation pressure should be moulded into the tyre wall but this is not necessarily the same as the maximum inflation pressure which may also be shown. I've just had a look on the Alko web page which states that 'standard jockey wheel tyres' should be inflated to 30psi and 'heavy duty jockey wheel tyres' to 50psi. (See here)

That's a big difference! My new jockey wheel was marketed as 'heavy duty' so I assumed that it would need to be inflated to 50psi. Close inspection of the tyre however revealed "Inflation - 30psi' so it pays to check.

The pressure in the tyre as supplied was 12psi and quite squidgy. At the correct 30psi it feels much firmer and should make the van easier to manoeuvre and less susceptible to being dislodged.

It's a good job I checked it.

Good point, Agger!

I've resurrected this ancient thread as I thought you'd like a laugh.

Jockey wheel.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Pressure = 0 psi

As the tyre is tubeless my first thought was to fit an inner tube (approx £5.00) but, to my surprise, this genuine Alko supposedly 'heavy-duty' tyre is already showing signs of perishing on the sidewalls and cracking on the tread after only two years' use so instead I've just ordered an Alko soft wheel as a direct replacement.

I figured that a pneumatic wheel, whether tubed or tubeless, will always be prone to deflation and/or shearing off the rim which is hassle I can do without while on holiday.

Crikey, they are expensive though! I've just got the last one in stock at Leisureshop Direct for £27.30 including delivery and that's the cheapest I could find online. I now need a cup of tea and a lie down.

I'll report back on how good it is to use with a mover and whether or not it was worth it in due course.

The new jockey wheel that I ordered yesterday arrived this morning even though I didn't pay extra for next day delivery. Pretty good service from Leisureshop Direct and Royal Mail, eh?

It only took a couple of minutes to replace the wheel and here it is in all its glory.

Jockey wheel01.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

But I'm puzzled. What on earth is supposed to be 'soft' about an Alko soft wheel? So far as I can tell, it is made from hard plastic that doesn't bend or distort when subject to the sort of pressure that I could apply manually.

I've just taken the Triton for a short tour of the garden on the mover and the new wheel coped fine on the gravel, albeit with more crunching noises and more disturbance of the surface than the pneumatic tyre produced but with no visible signs of the flexing that I was expecting to see.

So I still don't see what is 'soft' about it other than the suckers like me who have paid an arm and a leg for the upgrade. Any ideas anyone?

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PS Here's an interesting thing. Never one to chuck anything potentially useful away, I decided to reinflate the pneumatic tyre to find out why it was leaking - I know, I should have done that first before forking out for another wheel.

First, my Ring 12V compressor had no trouble in re-seating the tyre onto the rim and inflating it to its maximum 30psi which surprised me but there was no obvious sign of a leak.

However, after a few minutes holding the wheel under water in the sink, I noticed single bubbles appearing between the tread blocks. At first I thought it was simply air that had been trapped when I submerged the wheel but as I wiped them off, they slowly reappeared proving that the air was escaping through the tyre tread itself.

As I said when I resurrected this thread, small cracks have appeared in the tread but I had no idea that these would be through the entire thickness of the rubber and sufficient to deflate the tyre over a period of time.

As the wheel was supplied by Alko on one of their jockey wheel assemblies that I purchased in May 2014, I consider this to be pretty shoddy quality.

Is the whole thing one moulding or is the 'tyre' separate?

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Quote: Pepé Le Pew wrote in post #11

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Is the whole thing one moulding or is the 'tyre' separate?

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Ay Up. That looks remarkably like mine except that mine is absolutely filthy and has done a bit more than a tour of Calder Towers Grounds.

Just took a photo and yes, we've had one of those on our van since.............. before we had it. No problems with it except the winding arm on ours is very long. The advantage is that I can see the red knob on the top through the rear mirror of the car

Never got down this low before:- IMG_9688.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Randa

Yep, that's the chap. It's good to know that it has stood up so well after after all your epic adventuring.

By the way, matey, if you try telling us now that you have been enjoying hot dry weather for the last few days, we'll know you're telling porkies. Jockey wheels don't lie.