Bongo Fury

Fitted the full size spare to the underside of l'oreal yesterday ( point of discussion at the bash ) and she just slides under there perfectly even with the chrome rear bar which the boys at the towbar centre lowered to fit the towbar, The spare has to be slid in from the rear drivers side but the issue may well come if i get a puncture to the offside rear.

fortunately my technical brain has been on the case and last week at a local carboot sale i picked up a brand new never used still in the bag with instructions camper leveling ramp and securing chock for £3 so in the event of an o/s/r puncture i can reverse l'oreal up on the leveling ramp to retrieve the spare

£3 frickin bargain

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pyramid-Chock ... 2316630f4a

Took MikexGoughs advice and mounted the wheel face down so that the valve can be easily accessed for regular pressure checks and top ups if required. Top Tip Mike

Hi,

I seem to be missing something here,why cant the vehicle be Jacked up and the spare removed.?

Cheers.

M 80NGO wrote: Took MikexGoughs advice and mounted the wheel face down so that the valve can be easily accessed for regular pressure checks and top ups if required. Top Tip Mike

I considered that but decided I didn't like the idea of the fair face of the wheel being exposed to abrasion and elements and the likelihood of dirt and mud building up in the cavity. But maybe I've been worrying about nothing. Mind you, my spare never seems to lose pressure anyway. Doh!

rita wrote:Hi,

I seem to be missing something here,why cant the vehicle be Jacked up and the spare removed.?

Cheers.

It probably can but would you trust the jack whist your working under the van getting the spare wheel out ?
when i used to work for the recovery services i'd always make sure that i had all the bits i needed for the wheel change right next to me prior to starting the wheel change

mikeonb4c wrote:

M 80NGO wrote: Took MikexGoughs advice and mounted the wheel face down so that the valve can be easily accessed for regular pressure checks and top ups if required. Top Tip Mike

I considered that but decided I didn't like the idea of the fair face of the wheel being exposed to abrasion and elements and the likelihood of dirt and mud building up in the cavity. But maybe I've been worrying about nothing. Mind you, my spare never seems to lose pressure anyway. Doh!

With the face being exposed i can not only do pressure checks but i can also clean it on a regular basis if i want to + before putting the wheel in its storage space i autoglymed on and off then autoglymed on and left it to protect against the elements

M 80NGO wrote:

rita wrote:Hi,

I seem to be missing something here,why cant the vehicle be Jacked up and the spare removed.?

Cheers.

It probably can but would you trust the jack whist your working under the van getting the spare wheel out ?
when i used to work for the recovery services i'd always make sure that i had all the bits i needed for the wheel change right next to me prior to starting the wheel change

Hi,you still need to jack the vehicle up to change the Flat,I would presume with your experiance that you would carry an axle stand or similar.

rita wrote:

M 80NGO wrote:

rita wrote:Hi,

I seem to be missing something here,why cant the vehicle be Jacked up and the spare removed.?

Cheers.

It probably can but would you trust the jack whist your working under the van getting the spare wheel out ?
when i used to work for the recovery services i'd always make sure that i had all the bits i needed for the wheel change right next to me prior to starting the wheel change

Hi,you still need to jack the vehicle up to change the Flat,I would presume with your experiance that you would carry an axle stand or similar.

That is all very true and valid but why carry a heavy bulky axel stand that hopefully you'll never need when i can carry a lightweight plastic ramp that i can either drive forward or reverse on to can be used on any surface and also doubles up for a levelling ramp for when i'm on a campsite ?

Plastic ramps also useful to give you a bit of extra ground clearance when changing oil filter, removing sump plug, etc.

Simon Jones wrote:Plastic ramps also useful to give you a bit of extra ground clearance when changing oil filter, removing sump plug, etc.

Hadn't even thought of that , i feel a bit guilty now as the guy origionally wanted a fiver for it but i bartered him down to £3

Are the 'lightweight' chocks solid or hollow?

My order of confidence would be axle stands, jack (if it's under the axle) and least of all anything plastic.

I always carry a bottle jack as well as the supplied jack.

The danger with jacking the rear of a Bongo is, of course, only one of four wheels remains braked and in contact with the ground. In this front wheel drive day and age it is no longer normal for handbrake and the gearbox to be braking the same axle, so if we are used to the safeguard of both axles immobilised we can get blasé when working on Bongos when they might be on a slope. Hence the supplied wedges, which get deformed very easily and are not really up to the job.


Frank

Diplomat wrote:Are the 'lightweight' chocks solid or hollow?

My order of confidence would be axle stands, jack (if it's under the axle) and least of all anything plastic.

I always carry a bottle jack as well as the supplied jack.

The danger with jacking the rear of a Bongo is, of course, only one of four wheels remains braked and in contact with the ground. In this front wheel drive day and age it is no longer normal for handbrake and the gearbox to be braking the same axle, so if we are used to the safeguard of both axles immobilised we can get blasé when working on Bongos when they might be on a slope. Hence the supplied wedges, which get deformed very easily and are not really up to the job.


Frank

It's solid fella, they are designed for levelling bigger motorhomes than the bongo for days on end whilst on a campsite they have a large surface area so as not to sink into the ground and have a stippled effect on the underside so that it doesn't slip it also has the chock so that a front wheel can be chocked if it's the rear thats jacked up, i do also carry a bottle jack and a torque wrench in my trailer and mine is a 4x4 so once in park all 4 wheels should be locked, when wheel changing i always put the wheel i'm removing straight under the vehicle sill once removed while i bolt up the spare, this negates the need for an axel stand roadside as in the event of jack failure the punctured wheel is acting as a fail safe, i'm not saying that this is how it is to be done i'm just saying that i don't feel the need to carry around a bulky axel stand for a wheel change, if a wheel change is done in the correct manor then an axel stand shouldn't be required.
It should just be a case of park on firm level ground, handbrake on and in park, get spare and tools out, chock wheel, crack wheel bolts, jack up offending corner, remove bolts, punctured wheel off and under sill, spare fitted on, wheel bolts fitted and nipped up, jack down, wheel bolts fully tightened, tools and spare put away, remove chock, recheck wheel nuts within 50 miles.