twin
inflatable
jockey
wheel
![](twinjockey11_small.jpg)
Our camper trailer came with a standard 120mm
solid jockey wheel which is very useless on sand or loose dirt with
a fully loaded trailer as it tends to sink in the ground. I wanted
to buy one of those inflatable big jockey wheels which are 250mm and
wide footprint, perfect for that kind of terrain, but at $130 a pop
was a bit expensive so I decided to make my own…even better a twin
jockey wheel, like the ones you see in heavy caravans.
When I tried to buy a pair of wheels they were
$48 each, but at the same shop they had a trolley with identical
wheels for only $25…a no brainer!!! I bought the trolley for $25, a
180mm M16 galvanised bolt and some washers for $8. A total of $33. A
lot less than the price of one wheel.
![](twinjockey2_small.jpg)
First I removed the bolt holding the existing
wheel and cut a piece of gal pipe the same length as the existing
gap to give the new setup some strength by not allowing the vertical
supports to bend with lateral forces. I you have a welder you could
weld the pipe to the supports which will give you the ultimate
strength. I do not own one, so no welding on this prototype.
![](twinjockey6_small.JPG)
I drilled a 2mm hole at the end of the bolt to
allow a retaining pin to hold the new axle in place. You could also
use the existing trolley axle and just trim it down.
![](twinjockey8_small.jpg)
Inserted the new wheel and bolt through the
spacer and put another wheel on the other side, a washer and
finishing up with a retainer pin to secure the assembly (as a matter
of fact, I did put two pins at 90 degrees angle, an overkill but you
can never be too cautious!!!)
![](twinjockey10_small.jpg)
And…Presto!!!
As there are two wheels with a maximum load of
180kg each, they do not even feel the weight of the trailer…
thanks
to Ivan Munoz for sharing this idea
june 2012
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