Newbie with twin axle levelling issues

Well done Oakest. I am confident you won’t be disappointed. The back up from L ‘n L is excellent. I have always dealt with Derek Ibbotson who is most helpful if you have a query. I recently had to have my original one refurbished because of a leak in one of the airbags - after constant use for four and a half years and it was done for a fraction of the price of a new one.

I, too, have the combo kit but have only had to use both on a couple of occasions - just luck I suppose! Now, levelling to raise the off side needs a bit of thinking about but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it😃

Another tip - invest in a small 12v battery - about 40 mAh - saves having to move the car near to the van to connect your pump. You may find that your pump draws more current than a 12v socket in your van or car allows.

Purely on the subject of adjusting the height of the jockey wheel within the A frame - I put a block of 6x6 (inches) by say 24"long under the hitch head, drop the van on to it, then adjust height of jockey wheel as required, i.e. higher or lower.

After that re-wind jockey wheel to release the block and then raise - drop as required.

Sometimes, the wheel lock positions are out by 180 degrees

On my wheels there are eight "spokes", and hence eight spaces. The block of the lock will fit any of these spaces. So there are eight possibilities, each 45 degrees from the next one. However, it could be shorter to turn the wheel in the other direction, which means the biggest movement is 22.5 degrees. Plenty of schoolteachers on here who will convert that radial movement into a linear one for us.

I'm curious about your wheel having only one place to fit the block on to. I woud have thought that would create an instability when rotating.

As to the strength. If the lock cannot cope with these forces it won't be much use when someone tries to tow it away!

don't forget the space with the tyre valve can't be used  but other than that, I agree 

OK, I take your point, but my wheels have only five spokes and one of those is where the valve is, so I was wrong about 180 degrees, but it still requires movement of much more than 'an inch or so'.

My main concern was that whilst I don't doubt that the lock bolt can cope with the strain, when it comes to undoing it, if there has been the slightest bit of movement of the wheel after the lock has been fitted, the thread of the bolt is extremely tight and there must be a danger of stripping the thread on either the bolt or the receiver.

the lock bolt can cope with the strain, when it comes to undoing it, if there has been the slightest bit of movement of the wheel after the lock has been fitted, the thread of the bolt is extremely tight and there must be a danger of stripping the thread on either the bolt or the receiver.

Indeed. So I remove the lock from the front (mover) wheel first, and then use the mover to relieve any strain on the rear wheel.  I rarely use the wheel brace to either fit or remove the locks, finger tight works well. The function of locking is puting the bolt in shear, not in tension. And an occasional wipe with a cloth, a spot of lubrication, and always using the yellow bungs makes it all work well.

Before I used this proceedure, I did notice that the locks could be fitted with the bolts finger tight, yet had become tight when it came to removal. I put it down to settling against the park brake being applied, or the movement of the caravan in use and with the wind.

And re your last paragraph - the act of using L 'n L tends to exacerbate this problem due to the fact that there is a very slight rotation of the wheel as it rises on the suspension.

I have tried doing as you suggest re using the motor mover to take some of the strain off the remaining (rear) wheel lock when disengaging.  However, because of the five spokes, the lozenges are very large ( as compared with our previous Bailey) and consequently, the fit is even more critical. It's therefore difficult to work out which way to move the van to take the pressure off the bolt and on the occasions I have done it, I have invariably ended up going in the wrong direction - with the fear that I might end up sheering the bolt altogether.

I'm glad to learn that it is not just me who invariably turns it in the wrong direction!  If I remember rightly, one needs to rotate to close the gap one can see on one side of the block.  Just don't feel for it with one's finger!

It is difficult with the mover to make a very small adjustment. However, there is an old engineers' trick for dealing with this. Make two movements in opposite directions. It is easier to make these differ by a very small amount than to actually make that small movement in one direction.

The lock bolts are substantial and would normally need a huge force to shear one. If it did happen it woud be on the plain shank beyond the threaded section, so easy to remove in two bits but very sore on the wallet to get a replacement.

Navigateur - I hope the photo shows the problem I have.  When I said that the lozenge is huge - I meant it. It's on a Knaus and its much, much bigger than on our previous Barcelona. You will see that because of its shape, the top surface partially covers the spokes (it has a shoulder that fits inside the spoke, if you understand me) - so it's not possible to work out, easily, which side the gap is.  Hence my invariably getting it wrong! It's a bit tricky to line the bolt up correctly even when the wheel is free to spin and there really is very little tolerance.

I think I can help with that.  I kept dropping the yellow bungs when getting them out or in, so I got a short bit of plastic pipe that was a tight fit onto them - part of a sink overflow actually - to use as a fitting tool.

When it is pushed onto the bung before unscrewing it makes a great guide for getting the wheel so the gap is centered on the receiver.