Jockey wheel experts....or not- maybe I'm just being blonde?!

rising_promise

rising_promise

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...I'm not blonde BTW!

The last couple of times I've taken my trailer out (Equitrek Space Treka, not that I think that's relevant), I've been unable to get the jockey wheel up as high (as in, when I want to stow it up high for driving) so it's only been 6 inches off the ground. Then yesterday when I parked it up and wound the wheel up to get it off the car hitch, it became increasingly stiff. I did manage to get it off the car but it then sank slightly into the gravel it's parked on.

I tried to wind it up to make sure it was going to go higher but it kept clicking and wouldn't go up any higher, kept clicking round and not lifting.

I've read something on another forum about it running out of thread and being easily fixable??

Can anyone advise?? If all the above waffle makes sense!

Thank you! :)
 
The wheel will normally wind up a certain amount & it is also adjustable by the clamp that clamps it to the trailer. You may have wound the wheel up as far as it will adjust but need to do some adjustment on the clamp. Loosen the clamp & you will be able to adjust the hejght of the jocky wheen tube. If this doesn't do anything then you will probably need a new jocky wheel.
 
Toby_Zaphod said:
The wheel will normally wind up a certain amount & it is also adjustable by the clamp that clamps it to the trailer. You may have wound the wheel up as far as it will adjust but need to do some adjustment on the clamp. Loosen the clamp & you will be able to adjust the hejght of the jocky wheen tube. If this doesn't do anything then you will probably need a new jocky wheel.
Click to expand...

You need to let it down to ground level on the clamp before you wind the wheel down when unhitching all you have done is run out of thread to unhitch .With any luck if you wind in the oposite direction the thread will pick up again if not you will need to get it fixed. when you hitch up its a reverse of unhitching fully wind up the wheel on the threads and then pull the whole wheel up on the clamp making sure the clamp is tight!
 
the others are right in that you may have run out of thread and need to let the whole mechanism down (the bit that is held up by the clamp), however it could be that your thread is stripping, have you greased your jockey wheel thread recently? I had to replace mine as it was a pain winding up and down, actually I did it myself after I ordered a new one from ebay.
It was really easy to do. I could tell mine needed replacing and i could see all the damaged metal spiral in the grease when i took it appart.
 
Thanks all! :)

I am a real trailer novice- as I'm sure you can tell!!

I've been lucky enough to borrow a friend's lorry for the last 10 years and have just been able to buy my own transport so have got an Equitrek and 4 x 4. The trailer is 2 years old. I bought it 2nd hand in October from the main dealer where it had been fully serviced. I've used it less than half a dozen times (because I bought the trailer long before I bought the car and only took my test 3 weeks ago) so not sure it should have excess wear and tear should it?!

My issue with checking the clamp etc (hoping the thread running out is the problem) is that I don't think it's now high enough to be able to attach it to the car so how do I lift it in order to start fiddling with the jockey wheel? stick things under the front presumably?!

Sorry for the stupid questions, I did say I was a novice!

Thanks :)
 
I have a heavy wooden board that I slip under the jockey wheel of my equitrek it stops it sinking in the gravel.
It does sound like you may need a new jockey wheel as well.
 
put some bricks or a piece of wood under the hitch so it can only go down so far . Then try to screw the jack up to the top again!
If the thread wont pick up again you may need some help from somebody who knows what their up to.
If it comes up ok then drop the whole jack on the clamp and then use the screw jack to lift it again.
Where are you geographically ? Do you have any local farmers etc who could help point you in the right direction?
 
Goldenstar said:
I have a heavy wooden board that I slip under the jockey wheel of my equitrek it stops it sinking in the gravel.
It does sound like you may need a new jockey wheel as well.
Click to expand...

If its two years old it wont need a new jockey wheel ,I suspect it has just unwound past the end of the thread !
 
popsdosh said:
put some bricks or a piece of wood under the hitch so it can only go down so far . Then try to screw the jack up to the top again!
If the thread wont pick up again you may need some help from somebody who knows what their up to.
If it comes up ok then drop the whole jack on the clamp and then use the screw jack to lift it again.
Where are you geographically ? Do you have any local farmers etc who could help point you in the right direction?
Click to expand...

Thank you for explaining in words of one syllable- just what I needed! ;)

Yes, I keep it on a farm just around the corner from the yard so will grab one of the farmers and play dumb...which will come easy where trailers are concerned... I can assure you I'm not this stupid where life in general's concerned!

Thanks all :)
 
If it's any consolation we had same problem and were baffled when we got bateson trailer, as old cheval liberte didn't have a clamp
 
I put breeze blocks under the frame. thinking about it when this happened to me it was because the metal tube was too high and the wheel thread bit too long - so i ran out of thread.
So you would need to block the trailer and wind the thread right back in - then drop the clamped tube down as far as poss and retighten clamp, then use the handle to lift the trailer up.
Once it is back on a vehicle, you should be able to set it so you use the winder only a bit and the clamp to do most of the moving up and down.
 
I tow a caravan behind my lorry, and had same problem at last outing...I could not get caravan to go down low enough to hitch up and had run out of thread... yO hubby tried to fix it.. But said get new wheel as old one was now cross threaded and jammed.. Got new one and it's fine now... I also got one with pneumatic tyre( pump up one) and it's so much better on rough ground now with my motor mover.
 
Thanks, I'll have a fiddle and see what's going on. AKA I'll try and get someone who's knows more than me about trailers/ jockey wheels to do it for me ;)
 
Yep! We tried to unhitch it when we got it home and didn't realise you had to undo the clamp to lower the wheel first. We had to chock it up to sort it out . Ended up ringing the dealer to ask what was wrong! It happened again by accident together day. Much prefer the CL jockey wheel with no clamp! ( though like the bateson otherwise)

Oh, and I am blonde-ish!
 
i once wound mine the wrong way & it fell apart !!! never made that mistake again :| I was convinced it was broken but alas I was just an idiot !
 
Try the jack from your spare wheel in your 4x4 to support the front of your trailer while you fiddle with the jockey wheel. We once ran out of thread when hitching and unhitching on a hill and we sorted it by putting it on the jack, winding up and adjusting the clamp part.
 
Just don't drive off with the jockey wheel down. If you do, it is very likely you'll bend it, then you'll need to buy a new one as it won't go up or down! :(
 
Kat said:
Try the jack from your spare wheel in your 4x4 to support the front of your trailer while you fiddle with the jockey wheel. We once ran out of thread when hitching and unhitching on a hill and we sorted it by putting it on the jack, winding up and adjusting the clamp part.
Click to expand...

Great idea, why didn't I thinknof that when I was cursing the sinking wheel yesterday! I'm glad OP needed to start this thread :D
 
To all of you who helped me on this thread, thank you! It's official, I was just being dense!!

Big block of wood under the frame, wound wheel back onto it's thread and hey presto, all good again. Wheel now winds up and down easily again and pulls right up to where it should be when travelling along.

They don't teach you that can happen when you do the trailer test do they!! ;)

Thanks :)
 
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