Jockey Wheel Safety

[UIZ733]

Last weekend we were camped in Charters Towers. There was a forward fold hard floor camper parked next to us unopened and down on its jockey wheel. The owner of the park said the trailer owner had an accident and would not be back for some days as he was in Townsville Hospital. He said not to worry about the trailer. I thought the man had a road accident.
A local trailer repairer came out the following day and told me what had happened. The trailer had jockey wheel had collapsed on the owner while uncoupling. The A frame ‘run down’ his shin from his knee and seriously damaged his leg. On inspection, evidence (blood) of the catastrophe was clear. By the time we had left he would have been in hospital for about a week, so I would assume some very serious injuries. I hope he recovers well and is not maimed for life.
The reason for the collapse was according to the repairer exacerbated by the poor quality of the jockey wheel. He said he has seen others (same design) fail in a similar manner. The locking pins do not engage due to warping, wear or excessive ball weight or operator inattention. The trailer in question certainly ‘looked VERY heavy’ on the ball. He described the jockey wheel as ‘CRAP’ and not suitable for the trailer.
There is I believe a lesson for us all here. Check the condition of our jockey wheels and when using them, stand as far away as possible. Basically he said his motto was ‘never trust a jockey wheel’.
I took a few photos not to start any kind of a Shit fight. There was in my opinion evidence of stressed components. The photos may save some other person from serious injury if they have a similar jockey wheel on a HEAVY trailer. We all need to play safe to stay healthy.

[Tim - Stratford]

As you say, hopefully the gent in question makes a recovery. Sound advice on checking the condition of the jockey wheel, both for wear/fatigue and for positive locking. On our KK the ball weight is heavy. I always double check the engagement of the swing down jockey wheel - apart from possible injury it would be a big job recovering it.

As for standing clear when using said jockey wheel, just imagine the consequences of being pinned under your drawbar by a foot/leg(s) and how you might get out....

Tim

[Mace]

I have had mine do something similar, albeit wih no injuries.  Yes, ensuring the locking pins properly engage is now on my "second check" schedule.

i think its also worth checking/adjusting the freeplay of the plates by tightening up the centre bolt.  Our plate wasnt warped or buckled, it was just the misalignment of the plates due to freeplay.

 

[marvellous_matt]

Are people generally happy with a swing away on their off road camper? I had thought that perhaps I would stick with a removable one, that having one hanging off the draw bar might get damaged off road.

Sounds like a nasty injury. Not want you want on your holiday.

[aussieducker]

Having an aussieswag camper I too have upwards of 160kg. I always stand clear of drawbar when moving it or hooking up/off as consequences could be rather painful

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[Bunyip]

apart from possible injury it would be a big job recovering it.

Hi Tim, I can assure you it is a big job. First time I took our KK out I managed to colapse the jockey wheel but try to keep SWMBO happy "Just turn the Kamper a tough more toward the river" was the command. A big shove from behind was the response towhit the jockey wheel promptly departed company withthe draw bar. Luckily not enough damage that it couldn't be re-attached but a couple of hours with the bottle jack, rocks, wood whatever I could find.

Biggest mistake I made was I had wound the jockey wheel to the extent of the screw so any sideways pressure just bent the remaining metal attached to the drawbar which has a split in it by design in any case.

Bunyip

[jb1]

My wife and her friend took MY campers away for a week to Mandurah (south of Perth) for a week, I was going down after work to make sure it was all connected properly. When I got there the trailer was sitting on the hitch on the ground. I asked what happened and the reply was "the swing down thingy didnt fit so we pushed it off he car" Holy F$%&. What had happened was they parked the car on an incline and the jockey wheel couldn't swing down, so they just un hooked it. They were so lucky no to have it fall on thier foot. All was good in the end and after some lifting I dont think she will do that again.
Justin

[kiva]

Is there a recommended jockey wheel, or some other type of stand that will attach to the clamp, that is suitable for trailers with heavy ball weights?

[Footy Shorts Shane]

POS jockey wheel I have did the exact same thing to me. Bit of a warp in the plate and down it come. Didn't get me though.

Shane.

[4wd26]

Is there a recommended jockey wheel, or some other type of stand that will attach to the clamp, that is suitable for trailers with heavy ball weights?

plenty of options

I remove my jockey wheel and clamp it back on when required

I know that it hasn't been damaged by dragging it through the creek bank, or has dust in the mechanism

there are also hydraulic jacks stands that go where the jockey wheel goes.

you don't see any caravans with around 150kg ball weight with the swing up wheel, and vans have successfully had 350kg ball weight.

[muzza01]

Wow, I am cringing just thinking about that poor bloke.

when I have the CT parked up at home I have it resting on axle stands, I reckon it takes a lot of stress off the jockey wheel. 

[GGV8Cruza]

I always check the pins have engaged before putting weight on it and as I play with cranes a lot treat it as a load that if something goes wrong I am out of its way.

GG

[goldrayenergy]

This is one thing that is easily overlooked.  During my not so regular maintenance, I always check the nut and bolts that hold the swing plate to the backing plate are tightened correctly and also that the push springs are not seized.  Before lifting the trailer off the ball at set up, double check the pins are all the way in the receiving holes.  The two pins on the swing out mechanism may not fully engage all the way into the two holes to lock the wheel in place and then it is just a matter of time before a movement will cause the pins to dis-engage.  Once bitten, twice shy!  Would not want to have a foot under it if it came down.
Mark

[whitey1]

Having worked on a lot of caravans in my trade, I've seen some pretty cheap arse jockey wheels! The cheap swing up ones can and do loosen their pivot bolts. The one on my AOR Odyssey has always been rock solid, no problems whatsoever. Not sure what the brand is.

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

This is the reason I don't leave my High Lift Jack at home.

A Hydraulic or a wind up Jack are handy but nowhere as quick as a High Lift for this type of recovery.

[dazzler]

I bent a quality one by forcing the drawbar sideways while the jockey wheel was stuck in the mud a bit. 

Unless you get the wheel facing the direction you want it to go the forces act at the fulcrum and they bend.  That particular jockey wheel is rated at 350kg and is not 'crap'.  I used them on my bobcat trailer without issue.

Like mine, I reckon it was user error.  So as the thread suggests keep an eye on em! 

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

I bent a quality one by forcing the drawbar sideways while the jockey wheel was stuck in the mud a bit. 

Unless you get the wheel facing the direction you want it to go the forces act at the fulcrum and they bend.  That particular jockey wheel is rated at 350kg and is not 'crap'.  I used them on my bobcat trailer without issue.

Like mine, I reckon it was user error.  So as the thread suggests keep an eye on em! 

X2

Locking pins are bent and at fully unlocked position.
Most likely cause of collapse is, Locking pins were not fully inserted.
There does not appear to be excess gap on the main pivot in the photo.
Pending actually getting hold of the Jockey Wheel in question.
Which I reckon will never happen.  That's my offer.

[grafy82]

We are headed out to Charlies Trowsers with a few other families this weekend so after reading this I thought it was a good time to check out the jockey wheel. The swing plate was fairly bent and only one of the pins was really engaging. So I pulled the whole show off and straightened the swing plate flat again. Then I welded some flatbar into the side of the swing plate to try and sort of box it up a bit. Will see how it goes this weekend and maybe add some more gussets in once I've thought about it a bit more.

Cheers

Wes

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

There's not much more can be done really.
Just don't have the Jockey wheel fully extended when you use it as a third wheel.
Wind the jockey wheel down as much as possible.
Otherwise they bend, right at the end of the bigger tube.
It's far easier to straighten the arms that hold the little wheel.
If you bend the main tube with the thread in the top. 
You have to get a whole new jockey wheel assembly.
There's so many different Jockey wheels out there now. 
What's the chances of the same one, available in the bush.

[dazzler]

That aint goin nowheres!

[grafy82]

There's not much more can be done really.
Just don't have the Jockey wheel fully extended when you use it as a third wheel.
Wind the jockey wheel down as much as possible.
Otherwise they bend, right at the end of the bigger tube.
It's far easier to straighten the arms that hold the little wheel.
If you bend the main tube with the thread in the top. 
You have to get a whole new jockey wheel assembly.
There's so many different Jockey wheels out there now. 
What's the chances of the same one, available in the bush.

Yes, unless I'm getting it to a height to hook up the camper, I always have the jockey wound down to move it around.
    Had a few spare minutes so I threw a couple of gussets into the swing plate and also strengthened the backing plate up after straightening it out as well. Should only be the leg to worry about now.

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

Just one little question.
Have you tried the washer on the back where the pieces of rod are stuck on?
Looks like you might need to fit the washer with a couple of gaps?

[grafy82]

Haha, she's all good. There's actually no washer on the back there. That's an embossed section that keeps the slight gap between the 2 plates so they can spin. The bolt has a short section of shank that is machined to a length at which the bolt can be done up fully tight, but allows the plates to spin.

Cheers

Wes

[dkay]

Got a mate of mine who has retired and gives his son a hand moving around camper trailers which he builds (doesn't build the jockey wheels), same thing happened to him a jockey wheel broke and A-frame fell onto his leg, broken in 2 places and 12 months later still limps around. keep legs, arms, hands and feet away from under them.

[grafy82]

I reckon it would be a good idea to have a piece of pipe or something similar that clamps onto the other side or in the middle of the drawbar whenever you are moving the trailer around and have the pipe sitting just an inch or so higher than the ground so that if the wheel fails, it only drops that short distance to the pipe. Might save having to pick the trailer up off the ground at best or save a broken leg or worse.