Rear safety wheels

[Don Ricardo]

G'day everyone.

At the rear of the chassis of our '49 Don 14 footer, there are two rear safety wheels:



I like to call them 'Oops, I've up-ended the van' wheels, as in: "Darling, I've up-ended the van. I think I loaded too many heavy things under the divan at the rear. " "That's alright dear, the van is fitted with rear safety wheels. "

The wheels are 'Kenworth' rubber wheels 3 1/2" x 1 1/2", similar to the jockey wheels used for some vans of the era. The jockey wheel on Cobber's Ol' 36 is a larger version of the same wheel. See Reply #9 at:
vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=technicalstuffboard&action=display&thread=1130624684&page=1

Interesting that Don used the rubber wheels at the rear but used steel wheels for the jockey wheel.

Now a couple of questions:

1. What other V V's have rear safety wheels? How common were they? I have seen some modern vans with a steel roller built into the rear stabiliser legs which I presume serves the same function.

2. A question for Don owners: Were the rear safety wheels fitted to all models of the 1934-1956 series, and were they all of the same type? Were they fitted to the post-1956 models?

If other people's vans are fitted with rear safety wheels, it would be interesting to post some pictures of the different types, a bit like has happened with the 'Old tow couplings' thread.

Finally a more technical question that you may be able to help me with: The wheels on our van are stuck fast, probably because they began to be painted at some stage (maybe always were?). Does anyone have any suggestions about how to free them without perishing the rubber? Would WD40 or something similar be appropriate? As shown in the pic, the bracket holding the wheels are welded to the chassis and the axles are welded into the bracket, so whatever is done to free up the wheels must be done 'in situ'.

As an aside, the photo of the rear safety wheels also shows the different shades of green paint used on our caravan over the years. (A bit like an archeological dig really. ;D) The original Don paint was obviously deeper and more grass green than the last few coats. Something to guide me the next time I'm trying to match the paint!

Don Ricardo

[dosse]

G'Day Don
Our little don does not have the rear safety wheels. I would think that
WD40 would do the job, just try and move it back and forwards little by little, this
may work. Restoration on ours is still progressing slowly.
Regards dosse. David.

[kingy]

Howdy Don, My mid 50's Supalite has a kenworth jockey wheel which was seized onto the axle also, i freed it up using wd but it took some doing. The axle was so seized it appears the original owner must have somehow dragged this van around (very light)with it's frozen jockey wheel, result - one jockey wheel with a severe flat spot (anyone got a spare?)
I must check, but i have an idea these wheels/housings are made as a unit, and not designed to be seperated - might have to get a later model
Kingy

[cobber]

G’day Don,

As you would be aware, back in the days
of “Vintage Caravans” a trip between any
of the capital cities could be quite an adventure
negotiating the many punt crossings, most with
very steep ramps on and of the punt / ferry.
That was before the Australian Government was
told about the invention of “bridges”.

It is a wonder rear safety wheels weren’t fitted
to all caravans “back then”.

The fact that your Don has had them retro ? fitted
indicates the old girl did a bit of tripping around in
her youth... good on her.

Stuck wheel ? WD 40.... light tapping with a
hammer.... jiggle back and forth... patience.

Cobber.

[Deleted]

My understanding of the use of these wheels has nothing to do with safety at all , but to do with their manufacturing process.

The story I heard was that these wheels were fitted to enable the body of the caravan to be easily shifted around the factory (for various jobs to be done) prior to being fitted to the chassis.

Made sense to me, considering that these were the days prior to caravans being mass produced.

Mark

[Deleted]

Hi Don.
I always thought those wheels where there to protect the back of the van if it dragged its rear coming out of petrol stations or home driveways
etc.

Rather than drag the chassis or the back underside of the van on the road. the wheels would take the weight of the van and the abuse being served up by the road as the van dragged its bum on the concrete, tar or dirt.

just my two bobs worth
Reddo

[fbmad]

My thoughts for these wheels are ditto to reddo's.I've seen the same sorts of wheels ( although bigger and more heavy duty) on the back undersides of buses so they didn't scrub their bums on steep driveways.

Terry.

[Don Ricardo]

Dosse, Kingy and Cobber
Thanks for your advice re WD40 on the rear safety wheels. I'll go to work on freeing them next time we have the caravan out on holiday (probably January at this stage). Apart from anything else, I'll have a bit more room to work when the van is out of its caravan port.

Mark
You may be right about having to have a method of moving the bodies of the caravans around the Don factory. The following photo shows that the bodies were built up before being placed on the chassis:



However, I don't think what I have called the rear safety wheels were used for this purpose for two reasons:

1. The wheels are attached to the steel chassis, not the body, and from the following photo seem to have been welded on before the body was placed on the chassis:



You can see the wheels in place at the rear end of the chassis. (The black dot under the wheel on the right hand side of the photo is not part of the chassis, just a stray dot of ink in the photo.)

2. I would think that if the bodies had to be moved around the factory, they probably would have used some sort of re-usable trollies rather than attaching wheels to the chassis which would have had no further use. Further one would think that wheels would be required at both back and front for this purpose?

Not sure what you think of this reasoning?

Cobber, Reddo and Terry
I like your theory about the wheels being necessary to negotiate punt crossings, steep driveways, etc. Good point about the buses, Terry - others have heavy duty 'skis' at the back. My wife and I once (very inadvisedly ) took our van down into a very steep gully where I reckon we probably almost used the rear wheels in the way you described when we started coming back up again. By the time we realised our predicament, there was no way back, or out. Boy was I sweating that day, but we all survived!

In fact your theory may explain why the wheels may have only been attached to 14 foot Dons, based on Dosse's comment that there are no wheels on his 12 foot Don. Maybe the rear overhang of the 14 foot van was long enough to be seen as being at risk in steep places?

Cobber queried whether the wheels were retro fitted to our van. I don't think this is the case. Apart from the wheels that can be seen in the picture of the chassis (above), you can also clearly see the rear wheels on the Don 14 footer in the 'Miss January' picture of the 2007 V V calendar.

More comments and speculation welcome!

Don Ricardo

[humpty2]

Why not use brake fluid on the wheels.......paint strip on rubber with safety and it will also penetrate..too easy

[Don Ricardo]

Humpty
Thanks for the further suggestion for freeing the wheels. I think the paint should probably be taken off the wheels, but they have certainly be painted as long as I can remember (and the wheels have been stuck as long as I can remember as well!).

Mark
I've checked the photos of your Don Cadet and your Don 110 on the transporter on their way to WA:
vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1132112802&page=2
Being on the transporter provides a good view of their rear undercarriages. From these photos, it appears that neither have the rear safety wheels (or whatever we're going to call them). Are you able to confirm this?

If this is the case, and Dosse tells us that there are no wheels on his Don 120, it appears that as far as Dons are concerned, the wheels may have only been fitted to Don 140's (the 14 foot version of the 1934 - 1956 series of vans).

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

G'day everyone,

Aussietanker PM'ed me a week or so ago to let me know that his Don 150 model also has the rear safety wheels. Maybe the wheels were just a feature of the bigger "luxury" Dons?

I'm always intrigued with how particular features on vans develop and endure or are abandoned, so I'm still interested to hear from anybody with other types of vans which have similar wheels attached (or don't!). What about folk with larger vans, such as Geoff 'n Jude?

Don Ricardo

[Geoff & Jude]

hi don

the roadmaster doesn't have any safety wheels on the rear.

as you can see from the photo, the chassis sits reasonably high on the stub axle (almost centered, using a 4" drop axle) and the tail of the van has much more radius than the front.



together, these features allow more pitch before the back of the van is likely to drag (i suppose).

i reckon the ford would drag before the van did.

geoff 'n jude

[firefighter]

Hey Don

our 12ft 1961 roadhaven has steel wheels fitted to the wind down stability legs rear of the van ..............why are they
on the wind down stability legs .........buggered if I know
F/F ;D ;D ;D ;D

[chippydave01]

My Fairland has rear wheels and they have only be used a few times on steep driveways.

I was hoping they had fixed the small crossing at Coledale because it would be nice to have flat spot at Coledale on the other side where its flat instead of being on hill where my jockey wheel is nearly wound up full.Its not a good spot for an annex or tent and is small for what i was thinking of bringing and still undeceided as I heard room was scarce with 48 vans going

I will need ugg boots to sit in my annex at night on such a slope if I wind my van level .Does anyone know if they are opening up the other side or r we all going to be south off the ditch ,Im not sure if i shall pack my tent also

[Deleted]

Don
There is no "mystique" about the "safety wheels" on the Dons. all they do is stop the arse getting torn out of your van on steep entry / exits .
They are common on older12ft plus vans and where probably readily available back in the 40s, 50s and 60s in solid steel or cheaper rubber at van accessory shops if you wanted to spend the extra bills and have then fitted,

ChippyD.
Hit the bridge at Coledale at an angle and all will be sweet.
park your van length ways on site.with the door facing the ocean
dig your "high side" wheel in and your annexe will be fine.

Reddo

[Geoff & Jude]

reddo said. "Hit the bridge at Coledale at an angle and all will be sweet."

that usually works but the bridge at coledale is too narrow and too short to hit at an angle when your towing a 16' van.

that's not to say you couldn't get across it, dave. you've got safety rollers, so you can do anything if you set your mind to it.

geoff 'n jude