Cotswold Rear Wheel Removal

Hi  Was having new tyres fitted today Fronts ones were fine but when the fitter tried to remove the rear wheels he could not  remove them because the wheel spats were preventing this, no matter how he tried there was no way they would come of. I suggested he phone auto sleeper and speak to Mark who said there should not be a problem but obviously there is a problem because as stated the fitter tried everyway to remove them without damaging the wheel spats It looks like auto sleeper have not tried taking the wheels of after fitting the body shell  Has anybody had this problem and did they resolve it  Just hope I don't get puncture in the mean time

Read this thread, it may help

https://www.autosleeper-ownersforum.com/t27328-corrinium-rear-wheel-removal

Our Suffolk was the same. 

The answer is in the thread Paul has linked to.

Looks as though it is the 16" wheels are the problem . I will have to contact auto sleeper to see if they will able resolve the problem by fitting new wheel arches although or modifying the originals  I doubt if they though will as my Cotswold is now 7 years old

Hi
   Has the fitter tried jacking the motorhome up on the chassis if it is strong enough so the axle drops down,that may give enough clearance
Regards
Alan

Tugg wrote:Looks as though it is the 16" wheels are the problem . I will have to contact auto sleeper to see if they will able resolve the problem by fitting new wheel arches although or modifying the originals  I doubt if they though will as my Cotswold is now 7 years old

If you read the thread linked above you would note that the problem with the wheel arches only applies to the new Corinium with the Alko chassis. Again in the thread linked above you are told how to remove the rear wheels on your Cotswold, the instructions are in the AS handbook if you have it.


Jack up the chassis using the Peugeot designated jacking point (not the axle or anywhere else) until the rear wheel is above the ground with a gap more than the width of the wheel. Remove the bolts (or nuts) and drop the wheel to the ground then push the bottom back under the van till the wheel is flat on the ground, then pull it out towards you. Reverse to re-fit.


This procedure works on the thousands of AS coachbuilts out there, you just need to find a fitter who will listen to the advice.

Can't find the wheel changing instructions in my AS manual, though it is referenced in the index as Page 4.1 but 4.1 doesn't mention it. Probably as it is MB chassis with no spare wheel.

The Cotswold manual does say:-

Jacking
Front and Rear - use the standard jacking
points as per the base vehicle handbook.
When changing a rear wheel raise the
vehicle to the maximum extent of the jack. In
order to clear the skirt when removing the
wheel, tilt the bottom of the wheel under the
vehicle and allow the top of the wheel to fall
outwards and clear of the hub.
Reverse the procedure to fit the new wheel

I have been in touch with Auto Sleeper regarding this issue . Still waiting for a response

I contacted Auto Sleeper nearly a month ago regarding issue with rear wheel removal as it has  been a problem with other Motorhomes   As of yet I have not received a reply  so much for customer service

I think you'll find that AS are shut down for the holiday period. 

How did you contact AS, members may be able to suggest another contact method. 

Instructions as to how to remove/replace your rear wheels are given earlier in this thread, it is not a generic problem.

I contacted them by their email at customer services . The tyre fitter  tried the methods  suggested but there was not enough room for the wheels to  come of without damaging the wheel arch so he would not proceed.  I have had look under the wheel arch and I think there may be a way that might give a bit more clearance and that would be to release the bracket that is fixed to floor at the front of the wheel arch has anybody any ideas whether this would help

Peter Brown wrote:I think you'll find that AS are shut down for the holiday period. 

How did you contact AS, members may be able to suggest another contact method. 

AS should be open (they reopened yesterday). They've never been good at emails ( I'm still awaiting an answer from service dept that I emailed over a month ago) I do wonder if stuff goes into their spam box if it's an email address they don't know. I think you would be better phoning Mark in service dept.

Some years ago, because several members reported difficulty removing the wheels, ASOC raised this as an issue with AS. A demonstration was arranged by AS where the wheels were removed from several models without difficulty.

It took me about 45 minutes to convince some German technicians to try 'my way' and find they could get them off. My local garage has two high lift trolley jacks that they use on the chassis jack points and they have the wheels off in a minute.

Ok thanks for feedback  I will have to get tyre company to have another try with the advice that has been given

Peter Brown wrote:My local garage has two high lift trolley jacks that they use on the chassis jack points and they have the wheels off in a minute.

  Not exactly something supplied in the tool kit under the seat Peter     as it eats into payload.  Still say this is poor design, any van should have the ability to change the wheel at the side of the road using the tools provided. A simple fibreglass  wheel arch held on by some dzus fasteners or similar would enable wheel change easily as used in the old Citroen ds etc
     Having used the services of the AA/ RAC to change my company vehicle  wheels even they did not a large high lift jack on board , only a regular trolley jack for ease of handling.

I would like to thank  everybody for feedback. I have now had rear tyres fitted and the way to do it is to lift van as high as possible and then by unscrewing the bracket at the front of the wheel arch which allows the arch spats to be pulled outward then this allows the wheel to drop down. I hope this helps anybody that may have the same problem