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Technical Bump stops on rear touching - MOT tester concerned

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Technical Bump stops on rear touching - MOT tester concerned

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petelang

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Hi All,
I hope there is an expert out there who can help shed some light on an issue with our 2007 Doblo Cargo. Just been for first MOT test. The van is equipped with a fridge and oven in each half of the rear section and mid section is a fridge compartment. The equipment is not particularly heavy.
MOT tester says the rear bump stops are almost touching rear single leaf spring and therefore it's overweight. As we only carry sandwiches it's hardly overburdened and has never been particularly stressed. The ride is not harsh and the gap between the wheelarch and the tyre looks enormous (a good 6 inches). Has my tester got something wrong? The bump stop is a large rubber device, like a big column rubber.
They passed it but with an advisory so I have to find an answer. This type of very thick single leaf spring is different to normal supension and I need to know what the design should be. Should there be a gap and if so how much?
Any advice much appreciated.
 
:)why not just remove items when going for mot and then replace them afterwords.mot centre doesnt need to know what you carry in between mots (y)
 
We took it almost empty. There was virtually no weight in the van at test. Otherwise we would have faced a fail and a lot of people would be hungry next day!
 
These bump stops just disintegrate. Mine rotted away years ago, but then I don't carry heavy loads, just bulky ones.
Anyone know how much new ones cost, I've been thinking about it for years?
 
Hi.
My Doblo does seem low at the back possibly lower than the local taxi's but It just passed its MOT two weeks ago with no advisories. Once upon a time you could buy spring assisters for leaf springs, McKinney comes to mind and no doubt much cheaper than fitting a new spring from Fiat!
 
I fitted grayston spring assistors to mine, bit crude and played hell with rebound damping.... but gave some semblance of ride height. After it failed mot sat on bumpstops, had to go empty stuff out until he was happy, then reload afterwards, and the bumpstops have just sort of rotted away.

I have since had a set of spring uprated to double leaf, by midland road springs...

grayston charge just over £100 for the assistors, which just slip over the bumpstops

and midland road springs changed about £150 to uprate the springs, but you need to remove springs and ship them to them.... I just bought another pair from ebay

uprated springs are definately the way to go if you do lots of miles, and if you carry weight make all the difference.

(if anyone is interested I have spring assistors and a spare pair of leafs kicking around now)

was told when I looked into it, that they had loads of enquiries about doblos, because they only come with single leaves, most vans have 2 leaves, and after facelift they fitted carbon fibre not steel (don't know if it's true though)

John
 
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We hade 3 Doblos all ride on the spring assistors!! Not bump stops.
Tried helper springs have them on floor as I speak, removed when we sold the oldest one, real harsh ride poor ride quality for modern light van.
Free to anyone who wants to arrange shipping
 
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Having my doblo since 2004 and since then I've changed 4 sets of bump stops. From all the comments here, I gather the design is such it has to be replaced once in awhile. Anyway, I noticed mine is just less than 1cm clearance from the spring hence the damage.
 
Hello.
I bought some assister's from John the Sparky, it only took 15 minutes to fit them!
The rear ride height has come up by 33mm and now with two 33inch CRT tv's in the back I don't scrape the ground!
Unladen the ride quality seems about the same but I am no Stirling Moss!
 
john the sparky said:
I fitted grayston spring assistors to mine, bit crude and played hell with rebound damping.... but gave some semblance of ride height. After it failed mot sat on bumpstops, had to go empty stuff out until he was happy, then reload afterwards, and the bumpstops have just sort of rotted away.

I have since had a set of spring uprated to double leaf, by midland road springs...

grayston charge just over £100 for the assistors, which just slip over the bumpstops

and midland road springs changed about £150 to uprate the springs, but you need to remove springs and ship them to them.... I just bought another pair from ebay

uprated springs are definately the way to go if you do lots of miles, and if you carry weight make all the difference.

(if anyone is interested I have spring assistors and a spare pair of leafs kicking around now)

was told when I looked into it, that they had loads of enquiries about doblos, because they only come with single leaves, most vans have 2 leaves, and after facelift they fitted carbon fibre not steel (don't know if it's true though)

John
Click to expand...

pictures please:)
 
Again I had the greyston rear spring assister fitted for my campervan conversion.

U can really load a lot of weight onto it now.

Also the greyston assister's raise the back a bit too much when unladen, which makes the van tilt forward too much.

I fitted adjustable greyston spring clamps to the front to up the spring height, and now the whole vehicle is pretty solid.
 
petelang said:
MOT tester says the rear bump stops are almost touching rear single leaf spring and therefore it's overweight.
Click to expand...

I question the MOT tester's ability. How can he say a vehicle is overweight without actually weighing it? Unless it's obviously 'on its knees' he's talking out of his rear end.

In your situation I'd spend a few quid having the Doblo weighed at your local weighbridge (total and axle) and go back with the evidence.
 
Ulpian said:
These bump stops just disintegrate. Mine rotted away years ago, but then I don't carry heavy loads, just bulky ones.
Anyone know how much new ones cost, I've been thinking about it for years?
Click to expand...

I paid around £90 from FIAT for a pair. Fitted them in about 15 mins or so, needed a mallet and an old screwdriver to knock the old ones until I could undo the thread by hand.

Very easy DIY.
 
been looking at the suspension set up and strange no one has gone for shackle extenders

and longer shocks normal process with lots of 4wd veicles

and the old ford escort vans

lifts suspension up and added clearance
 
Hi know its a late posting but can anyone recommend which sort of rear spring leaf assistors are the best and easiest to fit on a 2003 doblo 1.9 jtd sx or is it best to just replace the worn springs with new ones?.Been searching this site and the internet but still unclear as to the best option.any advise greatly received Mr Bonehead
 
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