Replacement Jockey Wheel

[Poly]

My Jockey Wheel (which looks like this: )

has died due to neglect - and than a rather overenthusiastic attempt at freeing off the seized parts! I'm assuming they are relatively interchangable and I can clamp any jockey wheel on - so what would you replace it with? i.e. what's good in terms of jockey wheel design?

[bojit]

I had a similar problem a couple of weeks ago and remember seeing this one for sale in Go Outdoors , not bad for the whole thing and it just bolted straight on . Not bad for £31.
Maypole Jockey Wheel (Medium Duty, Telescopic) | GO Outdoors

Craig.............

[BogMonster]

Maypole for me too - I got a new one for my Ifor Williams that has a 500kg noseweight limit! Very solid for a very good price - much less than OEM ones. I've just ordered another one for the boat trailer as the silly plastic jockey wheel rolled off its board the other day and broke completely.

You will need to know the diameter of the tube as there are a few different ones - HD jockeys are usually 48mm IIRC but there are smaller ones. Check out Maypole Limited for the catalogue of everything they do. There are clamps to suit each size as well.

[jyasaki]

That looks like a Fulton jack (or a remarkably similar clone.) I have yet to have one last more than a couple of years, and that includes taking apart stuff not meant to come apart in order to wire brush the rust and grease up the innards.

jky

[Poly]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

That looks like a Fulton jack (or a remarkably similar clone.) I have yet to have one last more than a couple of years,

Jky,
Yes it is on a US designed trailer (5 and a bit years old) - so it probably is a Fulton Jack/clone. What have you replaced them with? Are the "UK Style" ones as Boj and Bog refer to more reliable?

[willk]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Are the "UK Style" ones as Boj and Bog refer to more reliable?

They're just a threaded bar, handle at the top, wheel at the bottom. You open them up and grease the threads and the telescopic sections once a year - end of.

[BogMonster]

Ah I see, didn't look at it closely. The UK ones like Maypole sell are just a big threaded screw up the middle to wind the wheel down so as long as you strip and grease the threads properly when they are new (if they aren't done already) they last well. I've replaced three jockey wheels;

1) on the old Humber's boat trailer because it wasn't up to the job (noseweight on that trailer was about half a ton) and totally corroded up after about 10 years - I doubt it was new when it was put on there, it was a homebuild "bitsa" trailer

2) on the Ifor Williams because it dropped onto the road and bent the mast, this is because Ifor clamps are crap and will happily seem to clamp the wheel up and then dump it on the road the first time you hit a pothole they are ok once you get used to them but not idiot proof

3) on the new SBS trailer because the jockey wheel broke - but it's only a plastic wheel and it did get dropped onto it. I could have just changed the wheel (and in fact I've ordered a spare wheel from Maypole so I can fix it and have a whole spare unit) but I went for the stronger/longer jockey as long term I am going to fit bigger wheels on the trailer and it will sit higher.

Drawback of the UK style ones is that the handle sticks up - so I can't open my Defender rear door all the way when the wheel is clamped in the up position, which may or may not be important depending on what type of vehicle you tow with.

HTH

[Poly]

OK thanks. I suspect if I have given the current one proper tlc it would have lasted longer - I wrongly presumed that the manufacturer would have thoroughly greased the moving parts of something designed for salt water use before supplying but I was wrong - as a result I've been fighting corrosion since it was a few weeks old. Judicious application of WD40 and marine grease on every use, together with storing it about 3/4 up (this seems to be the easiest place to free it off from when it does start to stick) has gone a long way to making it last - but unfortunately last time it was put away this step was neglected and then left for winter. In my efforts to free it off I stripped all the teeth on the inside of the winding mech. Sounds like the "UK" design is easier to strip and clean properly. The drawback with the tailgate won't be an issue for me. The different way of raising and lowering it long distanced (bold with drop v's sprung loaded pin and rotation) is more of a concern.

Solid wheel or inflatable tyre? I do have to recover on a rope from time to time - but solid wheel has been OK so far.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by willk

They're just a threaded bar, handle at the top, wheel at the bottom. You open them up and grease the threads and the telescopic sections once a year - end of.

Problem is that the top bushing for the jackscrew is placed in the tube, then the top of the tube is crimped over (hence my "stuff that isn't supposed to come apart" line.) The bottom has the foot for the wheel welded on.

You *can* get the thing apart:

Drive the pin from the vertical gear and remove the handle and vert gear.

Remove the horizontal gear (drops in place)

Remove the pin and allow the shaft to drop out.

With a big pair of vise grips, pipe pliers, or whatever, bend back the crimps holding the jackscrew bushing in place, and remove the jackscrew.

Clean and grease the jackscrew (I use a wire brush on an electric drill to get all the rust and crap off), and reassemble.

Unfortunately, it usually seems to rust up again pretty quickly.


I have yet to find one that lasts any longer, so have resigned myself to replacing with the same product when it ticks me off enough (usually every couple of years or so.)

Haven't tried the new Fulton F2 model yet. I doubt it's any better inside, but looks better outside.

jky