This R&D Posted on Public
Forum as well, on second thought... And the good news is that it is free of charge, as a choice, for those 20’ vans and up from March…
Over all I am still satisfied that the majority of the failures in past years with our standard geared Power Jockey Wheel are from unknowingly abusing it.. People lean on them too hard with the direction pawls opposing, bending the arm, bending the pawls… People do not insert the handle in all the way, and split the handle receiver housing or bend it. People inadvertently leave the direction levers opposing, and lean on it with it locked up, and it fails and they do not even know they did it. When it is locked up, they then throw both levers instead of the one that needs to be corrected so one is still the wrong direction, and lean on it again, this time harder thinking they can done the right thing and the van is just hard to move, and they bend something. They don’t even realize what they do, just send it back on warranty for a new one… However, there are also issues with the pump up tyre pain in the ***, and since there is no way to protect the double lever system from being locked up out of phase to be bent with a three foot handle, we have kept a watchful eye out. Sooooo……
This new one has a couple of advantages. First of all the tyre is solid rubber, and the unit has a 750kg download. Secondly, it is a single lever system, with a directional socket head-ratchet assembly in the handle. The style has been out for a while, but not in this substantial form. This new version has the proper reinforcing in all the right places and is a new heavy duty release that is now up to our Specifications. There really appears to be no way to abuse it. There are a few disadvantages, in that the tyre is a tiny bit narrower, for less bite, and the Jockey Wheel itself overall is about 5 kg heavier. However, I think it is OK, so it will be an option Free of Charge on all vans over 18’. It is overkill and not necessary for smaller vans, so our current Jockey Wheel will still be in service, but this will be available as an option, for vans over 20’ from March.
For those of you that would like to update, it will be available for over the counter sales with the mounting tab system welded on, at $290. And yes, I am putting one on my own 22’ van. My Power Wheel has not failed, but I like the ease of a solid tyre, and my kids and Wife have never been able to Master the double direction levers very well. This one is just simpler to use and stronger.
It it is finally up to scratch, and it finally gets the Nod from the Ranger…
Semper Fidelis
