Submitted By: Wil P
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Jury Riggers Unite!
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minibago…
The wheels are on there to keep the bumper from dragging when going up an incline such as a driveway.
I’ve been ninja’d! =(
I think the van ran over this (it was bound to happen someday):
http://thereifixedit.com/2009/07/27/epic-kludge-photo-not-legal-to-take-those-off-the-lot/#comments
This is not a kludge — typical on RVs — small hard wheels mounted at the rear of the vehicle to prevent bottoming out the bumper and getting stuck (or gouging scars in the surface of the pavement) on driveways, curb cuts, and other steep slopes.
Uh… Those are not the drive wheels, they are what is called “smart casters” (Smart because they pivot 360*)
They are designed to prevent drivers from getting the rear bumper, and sewage dump pipes hung up on the ground when terrain causes the rear end to get closer to the ground.
There is nothing wrong with this photo. Kludge fail.
Great. Now OSHA will start regulating mechanic’s creepers.
Those are to keep the rear bumper from dragging when going over bumps or through dips. But despite having a sensible function, they’re still quite whimsical.
It’s common for RVs to have those wheels under the very rear to prevent the chassis from scraping on a steep driveway. Not funny, sorry, but true.
Makes parallel parking a snap!
Is that a fix for rear axle?!?!?
I love this site, but this is actually a common thing on RVs. Lots of RVs put these kinds of wheels on the back bumper so they don’t drag on driveways and other sudden inclines.
Don’t you just hate it when you hit the gas in your van and it pops a wheelie? Now, you don’t have to worry…
I find it extremely hard to believe that that is what it appears to be.
So, my explanation is that it’s just bolted to the underside frame, for occasions when they have too much weight in the van, to prevent it from actually hitting the ground.
Yeah. That sounds good.
This isn’t really a TIFI candidate. Heavy-duty casters like those are very commonly found on the back frame rail of RV’s around the US — they keep the tail end from slamming into the ground when easing out of a less-than-perfectly-level parking spot.
I’ve seen these on lots of RVs. It’s usually to deal with limited departure angles associated with a large overhang from the rear axle. Pulling out of parking lots causes the back to scrape. These casters hit first.
Clearly this is intended to keep the van from flipping over backward when it does wheelies.
I’ve always seen these as a preventative measure to scraping the ground when driving out of driveways and the like. Sort of like the feelers people put on their cars to not hit the curb.
Talk about excessive tread wear.
LOL @ Unibob
It’s more likely to prevent the back from hitting the ground especially at the bottom of a hill/bump…
You’re all wrong.
They’re on there to prevent the rear from dragging on driveways and inclines and the like.
Geez, some people are so slow on the uptake…
Weird. 21 comments and nobody has thought to mention that those might be hard casters installed normally in the rear bumper of RVs to prevent them from dragging over bumps and hills.
I guess the last 3 comments are dead on!
Not a fail – typical Win. Sorry, they have those available as kits at any good RV Supply Store…
But there are two ways it can become a Fail real fast – they don’t spend for the proper kit (some over $200!) and use light duty hardware store casters to be cheep. And/or they use rigid casters set to straight-ahead only. Then the wheels that are supposed to prevent damage actually inflict more when they break off…
@Daniel
LOL
too early for ground hog day
Seems to me you’d run the risk of suspending yourself between the steer tires and the casters, with the drive tires dangling, or is there enough elasticity in the suspension to take this up?
I haven’t seen it anywhere in the comments but I’ve heard RVs commonly have little furniture casters on the back in case some fatso is back there when it goes over a bump. Or something. And strangely no one has pointed that out in the 23rd comment or anything.
Maybe I’m mything something but it’s hard for me to tell whether it’s a caster or a Pollux.
Dono saves the day…again!
Who are you?@dono1
@JBD
Some say, his shoes point the wrong way no matter how he stands…
@Mr Evilwrench
I guess it is conceivable, but wouldn’t that be the case with out without these wheels? I mean, the kind of situation where that could happen to this setup, would also strand you without it. Also, it would take a level of determination that you couldn’t later excuse claiming accident.
Plus, you could then just put it in neutral and let it slide back.
Wow that’s a large shopping cart.
OK, you all get it it’s caster wheels. But did anyone know that it’s a 1970′s era GMC. They all sagged because they had torsilastic rear suspensions that FAIL over time and are very expensive to fix.
Kluge fail
TIFI FAIL
Could someone explain to me why an RV needs little wheels on the back?
Bet that spare is low on air…
@Fixit
…and the spare cover low on thread.
The first chromed wardrobe.
“If this van’s a-rockin’ it’s probably due to a failed torsilastic rear suspension, so it’s okay to come a-knockin’ “
You do realize how low the car is to the ground right guys???? (and the lack of incline to put those wheels on the ground)
It’s a very large toolbox.
It’s official. Dono1 is from Ohio!
@Ragtatter
Ahhh, Ohio.
Seneca for Great River, 17th state in the Union, capital is Columbus, “The Buckeye State”, it’s round on the end and high in the middle…
However, I’m not from that godforsaken place.
Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man’s father is my father’s son.
@Dono – You know I luv ya man but easy on the ‘godforsaken place.’
Sorry. Then again, have you ever visited Youngstown?
dono – you make an extremely valid point. But on the other hand, paint ALL Ohio with the same brush as Youngstown? Cleveland? Toledo? Akron? Perhaps we can agree that Northern Ohio is godforsaken (although I have relatives in Mansfield – the Big Guy smiles on them at least.)
The true fail in this picture is the tire cover.
If there were an acronym for “Laughed-so-hard-hot-coffee-came-out-my-nose-and-stained-my-new-shirt”, I would use it [here].
LSHHCCOMNASMNS. There you go, Evan.
Its actually a very good idea. I owned one of these GMC motorhomes and the rear end was always scraping up and down inclined driveways. Since its a front wheel drive, if the tail end raises up its OK.
No matter how many times we take it in to the shop, one wheel always goes in a different direction…
That wheel cover on the back is just full of more of the tiny wheels.
@Mr Evilwrench
This is a front-wheel drive GMC Motorhome made between 1973-78, so no danger of suspending the drive wheels in mid-air. It is equipped with a level-adjustable air suspension in the rear that can USUALLY gain you the ground clearance you need, But having bought a used GMC with a leaky airbag and the waste tank pipe scraped off I can see where this would have been a great (perhaps a bit desperate) fail-safe against airbag system leakage.
That’s just how he rolls
If you know this is not a kludge, just don’t comment. It’s no fun.
Just in case you missed hitting every woodland creature that came in your path.
OK. They’re for keeping the rear bumper from dragging, but wouldn’t wheelie bars be much cooler?
It just makes parallel parking that much easier…