16' Series Ideas to solve bottoming out spare wheel carrier on driveway

[Wigs]

Hi,

We've just purchased our first caravan , a 2009 expanda 16.49 tourer to replace our old camper trailer. With 3 kids under 5 the camper was just too much effort. After picking up the van and driving home we were surprised how easily it bottoms out when trying to back up our driveway.

The driveway is not that steep however there a several changes of angle in a short space between the road and the flat section of the driveway.

Initially we bottomed out on the rear stabilisers, problem solved by flipping the tounge on the car upside down which raised the back by 50mm or so.

Now with the rear stabilisers only slightly touching all went well until we hit the underslung spare wheel carrier on the rear section of the drawbar. This completely bottoms out, to the point of getting the car compeletly stuck at one point. After a few beers and a good night sleep we were able to get the van up the driveway but not without using 150mm of sleepers under each rear wheel of the car and having to move them back with the car for a full 2m or so before the spare wheel carrier cleared. An absolute tedious process.

So what im wondering is has anyone encountered this before and whats the easies way around it? The tow vehicle is a VY commodore wagon with a trojan weight distribution hitch.
Ideas I've got are:
1 - cut off the underslung spare wheel carrier, put some new mounts for the spare wheel on top of the drawbar, just forward of the van and slightly to the left of the gas bottle.
2 - Build some sort of portable ramps out of timber - they'd need to be about 2 to 3m long each
3 - undersling the axle - issues with the annex not touching the ground and ball height?
4 - Install some polyairs in the rear of the commodore, this might gain an inch or to at best

Hoping someone can help - all of a sudden the convenience of the expanda compared to the camper trailer just got a lot more complicated!

Cheers
Wiggo

 

[macca]

Welcome! So is the spare wheel carrier something the previous owner made?

 

[Wigs]

thanks for the welcome Macca. It looks to be origonal fit, photos are attached. The first photo is looking from the top of the a frame, the second shows the wheel and brackets sit about 110mm below the a frame.
We had to chock the rear wheels of the commodore up with 150mm of sleepers for a distance of 2 to 3m before that wheel bracket was clear.
Im thinking that with that bracket gone and a couple of extra inches from the poly airs we might just make it?

 

[achjimmy]

Hi guys. Has the hitch been raised at all? I had an issue with our underslung spare on the 16 once I lifted the hitch 120mm to suit the Cruza.

 

[macca]

I used to have a 16.49, I never encountered your problem however I had it professionally underslung, then with our current 18 the first thing I did was get it underslung. It gave us nearly 100mm height increase, that's what it seemed anyway.
But with your wagon it might be a pain, I am wondering if your tailgate might hit the hitch? If you undersling it you might need some timber blocks for under the corner jacks and like you say, you may have to modify your annexe. See what other say!

 

[Wigs]

Gday achjimmy, thanks for trying to help us with this.

I actually dropped the hitch by about 50mm by flipping the tounge over. I had to do this to stop the rear stabilisers bottoming out first. Now the stabilisers only gently scrape! To compensate a bit on the front ive adjusted up the wdh to try and lift the hitch a little.

 

[chartrock]

Welcome to the forum @Wigs. :welcome:

The spare setup is standard but I and a number of other members have fitted the spare to a remodelled rear bumper. You could then cut off the offending bracket.

 

[Wigs]

hi @chartrock I saw the bumper idea on the forum and its without doubt the best solution but it looks expensive. Does anyone have an idea of how much that would roughly cost?

in the mean time im thinking of lopping the brackets off and getting a couple of bits of steel welded on top of the a frame. Plonk the wheel up there flat shouldnt cause any dramas yeah?

 

[chartrock]

@Wigs, @Burnsy makes excellent versions for forum members, send him a PM and he can advise on cost. It is not a big job if you are reasonably handy, there are a few posts on here about how members have gone about making their own. Here is mine.

 

[dagree]

@Wigs we had a 16.49.3 tourer and also had the same problem with the spare wheel bracket. Had to fit a different tongue (set higher) than standard. Tow the van off the drive and park on the road and change over tongue again. Was going to cut the whole thing off and do the same as you are planning but ended up selling it and getting an outback which solved the problem

Have also done the rear bar wheel holder.... Materials cost approximately $80 plus some blood, sweat and tears

I have a sketch with dimensions etc on it if you would like a copy to take to a fabricator to get a price for fabrication!

Mine can be seen here... http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/dagrees-david-greer-2014-17-56-2ob.4749/page-8

 

[jacbaz]

We had the same problem and cut ours off and put it on top of the aframe ... Baz bolted it on instead of welding it (used u bolts) but our gas bottle wasn't sitting on top of the aframe as we have a front boot

 

[macca]

I think underslinging sounds easier. Then you wont have issues going into servos and going over speedbumps in caravan and access to national parks etc. Its pretty cheap to do and you only have one axle.

What about VY Adventra shockers. They will get your car up higher,

 

[Wigs]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Long term I think im going to need to look at underslinging or the rear bumper option. Underslinging sounds like its going to cause new issues with annex and hitch height so I'll need to look into dealing with these. Perhaps the rear bar would be easiest.

@macca thats a good idea to look into the adventra shockers, hadnt thought of that.

In the meantime to get this van back out the driveway and start using it in the next few weeks I think I'll lop off those brackets as @jacbaz has done. The ubolts sound like a good idea, I dont have a welder nor can I weld so bolting sounds like somthing I can do quickly in the driveway.

@jacbaz , you wouldnt happen to have a photo of how you guys have mounted it with the ubolts?

 

[jacbaz]

On our way home at the moment but will take a shot soon and post it for you @Wigs

 

[Wigs]

thanks @jacbaz that would be great

 

[jacbaz]

Hey @Wigs - here are the pictures as promised - hope you can work out what Baz did !






This last picture is from underneath - the lower piece of metal was what the tyre originally bolted to - Baz just drilled a hole and bolted through this to fit the tyre ... hope these help!
PS had to straighten it out a little and then put plastic plugs in the end (from Baz!)

 

[Wigs]

thanks @jacbaz. Your photos have given me the confidence to get the grinder out on the weekend and lop this thing off.

 

[JaycoQ]

Hi Wigs I used to have the same problem on an old van, try leaving the jockey wheel on. I would raise it high enough to clear the draw bar for fee rotation and would point it in direction of travel. I figure it carries the weight of the van when stationary and had no issues. Got the idea sitting in traffic behind a bus, they sometimes have small wheels on rear chassis.

 

[Wigs]

hi @JaycoQ. Im thinking adding the weight of the rear of the car as well as the van onto the jockey wheel and then trying to lift both by 100mm or so is going to put a fair bit of load on that poor wheel.
How did yours hold up?

 

[JaycoQ]

Hi wigs had no issues in the time I did it and still do with the 20.63 depending on the spot I'm reversing into at home.
I'm no expert on jockey wheels but it will lift the back of the car when van is attached.