Caster wheel on jack tube

[GusNJo]

Hello. My Geo-Pro came with a detachable caster wheel on the jack tube. During the walk through, I was told to remove the wheel before camping in it. It's a 14FK model that weighs 2000 dry and tongue weight of 320. The wheel makes it convenient to hitch up so I'd rather not remove it. Any thoughts on this? Is it really unsafe on such a small unit? Thanks.

[A32Deuce]

Reason being, 1 remove before driving down the road for clearence. 2 main reason when setting up that is how you help make it level front to back also with the wheel on does not help with movement in the trailer. You can get a flat foot to use when camped. I'm sure others will jump on with other points for setting up.

[pgandw]

As A32 Deuce said, you really, really don't want to have the tongue wheel (or foot or tongue shaft) hit ground in a dip while towing. Don't ask me how I know. Most likely the tongue jack shaft gets bent or the tongue jack mounts get bent. If you are lucky. You have just put a substantial stress on the trailer tongue, on the tow vehicle hitch, as well as the tongue jack.

The other good reason given is more stability in the setup camper without the tongue wheel - one less thing to move easily.

I keep my A-frame in the garage, so I want the tongue wheel on when at home to allow me to maneuver the trailer into and out of the garage corner by hand. So before unhitching at home I put the wheel on. My wheel attaches with a simple pin and spring clip.

When we leave on a trip, I hitch up, including WDH bars, with the wheel in place while I jack the tongue up and down. Then I remove the wheel and retract the jack all the way up before we leave the garage.

At the campsite, I put a 6" diameter 3/4" thick plywood disk under the tongue jack shaft to keep it clean and out of the dirt. The plywood was left over from another project. Depending on the site topography, I may add as much as 6" worth of Lynx Levelers (the orange lego blocks) under the plywood so I don't have to extend and retract the jack so far to unhitch and remove the WDH bars.

Once in a great while, it's easier to put the A-frame in the right spot at a campsite by hand rather than using the tow vehicle. If that's the case, I'll put the wheel back on before I unhitch, and leave the wheel on while we are camping. I just accept a little more movement of the camper from inside movement as the price of the perfect placement.

The pin and spring clip really isn't much trouble to avoid the potential nastiness from leaving the wheel on while towing.

just our thoughts and experiences
Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame - actual tow weight 2,800lbs, tongue 410lbs
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan with Equalizer E2 600/6000 WDH

[rockfordroo]

A lot has to do with your actual clearance when it's raised. I had a wheel on my popup for 20 years and never had an issue with it.

[Swampweasel]

I never tow with the wheel on, but when camping I use one of these:
Chock R Dock - Tri Lynx Corporation
The wheel sits in it and stabilizes the front of the trailer.

[GusNJo]

Thanks, all. Yes, I remove it while towing, but then wanted to put it back on before unhitching and camping in it. Swampweasel, that's a great idea. I would definitely need something like that if I were to leave wheel on in a sandy or soft campsite.