ancell Posted October 18 Share Posted October 18 Wanted the spare wheel out of our 2017 Swift Conqueror 560 and under the caravan where it can help stability-in my opinion😀. Went on the AL-KO web site to find there are 4 available to fit various widths between chassis rails. Choose the apropriate one for 151cm chassis width and 15 inch wheel. Parted with £129 and the preassembled carrier duly arrived. Spent today fitting it. Being disabled and having little physical strength this required some planning. First moved caravan in the driveway. Greased the carrier slides with spray chain grease. Laid carrier on wood blocks with 2 ton jack underneath. Bolted the spare wheel to the carrier. Moved the caravan over the carrier using mover lining up with chassis apertures. Fitted the offside carrier ends carefully through rubber inserts-fitted washers plastic ends and split pins. Fitted retaining bolt on nearside chassis leg. Pumped up the jack. Woops insufficient clearance for the carrier to fit over the retaining bolt! Lower jack remove wheel reposition wheel retaining plate correctly refit wheel pump up jack line up carrier and push home. Fit retaining knurled plastic/metal nut and fit retaining pin. Job done. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Silversurf Posted October 18 Share Posted October 18 Nice one 👍, don't forget to keep all the moving points and joints well greased. Quote Common sense isn't a gift, it's a punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it. Link to post Share on other sites
Squash Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 Great job. I can only assume it won't be you pulling it out again if a spare is ever needed. Many of us remove the thing entirely and save around 6kg payload. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The road toad Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 When we got our Clubman a few years back one of my first jobs was to ensure that I knew how to change a wheel should we suffer a puncture. I soon discovered that I had to jack up the near side in order to provide enough clearance to remove the spare from the AL-KO carrier. I envisaged the following scene - we are in the middle of nowhere, it is pouring with rain and we have puncture in the offside tyre - I very quickly decided, like many others, that the carrier had to go and the spare wheel stored under the bed where it is accessible in seconds. The carrier? It makes an excellent rack for hanging tools from in the garden shed. However if you have smaller wheels than our 185R14's you just be able to remove them from the carrier as long as it is regularly greased. Quote Hyundai Santa Fe Premium SE 2015 with Lunar Clubman si 2011 Tattoos - who would want to make their body look like the wall in a public urinal - they are going to look amazing on a 75 year old - not! Link to post Share on other sites
WispMan Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 Why not use the breakdown company, as that's why you pay them every year? Quote Graham Unless otherwise stated all posts are my personal opinion Link to post Share on other sites
iansoady Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 You could have had ours for nowt. Quote Ian. 2013 Freelander 2 SD4 Auto / 2005 Bailey Pageant Vendée; 1952 Norton ES2, 1955 Francis Barnett Cruiser 75 Link to post Share on other sites
ancell Posted October 19 Author Share Posted October 19 I was surprised at how easily the spare wheel carrier can be lowered and the wheel removed. Unlike my previous 10 year old version😀. Of course both caravan tyres were fully inflated. I will not be changing tyres that task will be left to the RAC person😀. It will be intersting to find if the new location has any effect on caravan stability in high winds next season. The spare wheel was located on the floor under the bed right at the back not a good location. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CJ1149 Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 ancell - well done for having the "never surrender" attitude and for thinking your way around the difficulties. I too have some physical weakness and fully understand the desire for independence. I don't really understand why you attached the spare wheel first though - unless of course you had to put in position ready for "rescue". I now see that you are RAC. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hawkaye Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 https://www.AL-KO.com/shop/media/uploads/AL-KO_spare_wheel_carrier_2016.pdf Maintenance instructions page 5 say don't grease the tubes. I've only ever cleaned the tubes since having my first AL-KO carrier in 1989. Quote hawkaye Link to post Share on other sites
daveat92 Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 Well done to the OP, and I trust you have actually tried to take it out again, in a real life situation. If not, perhaps you should do it... There are many posts all over the internet saying the whole thing is too difficult to actually use in a real life situation. I hope that's not your experience, but do check it out. Now, not on a cold, wet windy night on the hard shoulder of the m/way or in a dark, narrow country lane with traffic trying to squeeze past while you are laying on the floor...... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ancell Posted October 19 Author Share Posted October 19 54 minutes ago, CJ1149 said: ancell - well done for having the "never surrender" attitude and for thinking your way around the difficulties. I too have some physical weakness and fully understand the desire for independence. I don't really understand why you attached the spare wheel first though - unless of course you had to put in position ready for "rescue". I now see that you are RAC. I was concerned I lacked the physical strength to lift the wheel in the carrier while positioning it. Similarly I wrongly assumed fitting the big centre retainer and wheel stud would be almost impossible with the wheel loose on the carrier-it was rather easy in reality. Yes RAC help is part of my Motability lease package. Theoretically it does not cover the caravan but in the remote regions we caravan in the contract is subbed to garages who get paid for my call out and on that basis have been quite happy so far to change my one and only explosive flat. I have found the RAC in general incredibly helpful on my Motability call outs including an 18 month old U/S battery change on the spot. 56 minutes ago, daveat92 said: Well done to the OP, and I trust you have actually tried to take it out again, in a real life situation. If not, perhaps you should do it... There are many posts all over the internet saying the whole thing is too difficult to actually use in a real life situation. I hope that's not your experience, but do check it out. Now, not on a cold, wet windy night on the hard shoulder of the m/way or in a dark, narrow country lane with traffic trying to squeeze past while you are laying on the floor...... Having had umpteen wheel changes in my 50+ years of driving wheel changes by the roadside are now beyond me.We try to complete our tow before 5 pm or at least in daylight-no winter caravanning for us-in fact caravan will go into winter storage this week-hopefully Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ancell Posted October 19 Author Share Posted October 19 1 hour ago, hawkaye said: https://www.AL-KO.com/shop/media/uploads/AL-KO_spare_wheel_carrier_2016.pdf Maintenance instructions page 5 say don't grease the tubes. I've only ever cleaned the tubes since having my first AL-KO carrier in 1989. Yes and AL-KO provide the carrier preassembled-in my case-wrongly. Failure to grease the slides and slide out the spare at least once per season will render the carrier inoperable. All you need to do is remove the split pins on the offside and drop the now useless carrier of course😀. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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