Technical Doblo Family load area

[raven_nightmares]

Hi everyone,

We're looking to change our car (currently we've got a Fiat Marea Weekend 1.9JTD) and have been looking at the lovely Doblo. The problem is, we have two mobility scooters to transport (one of which is no lightweight and is 61cm wide by 132cm long). We have seen a Doblo Dynamic, but becase of the way the 2nd row seats work (only allowing for the double seat up, rather than the single) it won't take the scooter and two passengers.

And so, I was wondering if any of you can tell me what the width of space is like in the Family with two of the 2nd row seats folded? Also, are the 2nd row seats removable as well as foldable?

Also, does anyone know about towbars on the Doblo? Do fiat do their own, and if so, how much? I hate how the options list can make a fairly cheap car suddenly become...less so

Thanks in advance for any help that can be given.

Stephen

 

[Ozzie1989]

By second row seats do you mean the ones in the very back? Or the ones that are directly by the sliding doors. If you mean the ones by the sliding doors then they may not be removable (you can on the non family versions) as the one seat tilts to allow passengers to enter the two rear most seats. I may be wrong, and unfortuately only have the 5-Seater version not the Family version. With my row of seats folded in the back you could easily accomidate two mobility scooters, although you probably would need a ramp to drive/winch them up

 

[raven_nightmares]

Hi Ozzie,

By second row I meant the ones by the sliding doors, yes. Am I right in thinking that you can't remove the 2/3 seat and leave the 1/3 in your 5-seater?

We've got a ramp (well, a pair of them - great for both loading and small bunny-jumps ) but I think the width of the space wouldn't be sufficient (both scooters are 61cm wide...and I think the wheel arches might get in the way).

Thanks very much for your help...it's very much appreciated.

Best wishes

Stephen

 

[Ozzie1989]

I'll have a measure up of mine later and post you some measurements. Yes I think you can leave either the 1 or 2 seats there, but you'd need the two probably if not all to get the scooters in. I'll have a look for you

 

[Niall_G]

Also, does anyone know about towbars on the Doblo?
Thanks in advance for any help that can be given.

Stephen

Stephen,

We had a towbar fitted to my wife's Doblo Cargo JTD SX. We were due to be going on holiday with our caravan when our car encountered a few problems in the week leading up to going. It was quicker to get the Doblo equiped for towing than getting the car fixed so we had a holiday towing with the Doblo instead of the car - nice !

In truth it wasn't that bad. We had loads of room to store all the outside seats/tables etc and the van towed realy well. The torque of the JTD engine made easy work of pulling the caravan - I don't think the mpg fell too much either. the rear overhang on the Doblo is quite short which made for a nice stable outfit.

I can't remember how much we paid but it wasn't too bad. We got a local mobile towbar specialst to come to our house and supply/fit the towbar. Unfortunatley the ply lining gave him some problems and he had to come back after I had modified some of it. He actually finished a couple of hours before we left.

I can't remember the make of towbar but if you need to know I'll take a look at the label on it.

Cheers

Niall

 

[alexwood146]

Hi, our Doblo is used with a large four wheel mobility scooter (classIII), before that an Invacare Auriga four wheeler. Although I have a 5 seater you might find it a real push to accomodate two seats up plus a 60cm+ scooter unless you fold all the seats first, position it at a 'jonty' angle, then put the seats back again. For ease of transportation I usually keep the dual seat out of the car (just two Allen bolts to remove) and then you can have the single seat up. I've been thinking of contacting Allied Vehicles here in Glasgow to see if they could fit an approved buckle that can be attached to the floor and used as a proper seat belt attachment. They do high roof 'Freedoms' for wheel chair users and the same vehicle as a taxi so adaptions as a three seater should be do-able.

As far as a tow bar goes... I fitted one myself last year. If you know how to wield a spanner then it's easy. A vehicle manufacturer that shows type approval for towing must have all the necessary strong points and holes 'designed in' from the start. The rear step has a large, hollow, square bar running across the length of the car underneath it. You replace this with an uprated one with the towbar bracket. Each side has a bracket fitted to strenghten it all - if you open the back, lift the carpet in the corner you'll find the bungs filling the holes you use for these. Although I did the electrics as well a local auto electrician will do that side of it for you if you feel the need.

I bought a Witter, the link below also has the fitting sheet in Adobe format too...

http://www.autow.co.uk/towbars/vehicle_technical_details.aspx?VehicleID=985241445

I bought it online for £125 which include all the electrics.

Alex
Spirito di Doblo (20% A.B.V.)

 

[Ozzie1989]

Ok, here are some measurements of the back for you:

Floor Length Seats Up: 935mm
Floor Length Seats Down: 1343
Floor Width At Narrowest Point: 1196mm
Height of Opening: 1188mm
Height Inside: 1200mm

Hope this helps! You'd get the length of the scooters in no problem with the seats folded, but you wouldn't get two in as you haven't got the width there. You'd get one in leaving one seat free in the back though!

 

[fido]

I fitted a towbar to mine last week. It is a Brink swan neck type, bought at Towequipe in Nuneaton for about £107 with single electrics. They do a cheaper one but I chose this type because you can unbolt the Swan neck bit with the ball when not required. On my old Ford Courier the towball used to get in the way when loading washing machines into the back. I was generally impressed with the strength and finish of the Brink fabricated parts but had trouble with the nuts, bolts and washers. This was partly due to oversize holes in the towbar components. I suppose they have to do this to cater for dimensional variations between individual vehicles but they should supply "penny" washers big enough to adequately cover the holes. The electrics were quite time consuming to do because you can't pick up all the required connections from one side of the vehicle. I had run the cable to the left hand light cluster so it would not have to run near the exhaust pipe. The wiring to that cluster does not include the rear foglights, the right hand tail lamp or the right hand indicator. I therefore had to run a length of 3 core flex from the right hand cluster, up through the rear door frame and round to the left hand cluster. Fortunately there are various rubber blanking plugs you can take out to run the cable through bit by bit. I was not impressed by the complicated routine to get at the rear cluster bulbs and of the 4 screws holding the bulb holder section on, one sheared off and another had to be sawn off because it was just turning without coming undone.

 

[Ozzie1989]

Yes the rear light cluster is a bit of a pain, luckily I had a ratchet, extension, and a socket that was of a very similar size to the tool you get with the jack for undoing the light cluster so I used that, think it was M10? Then a screwdriver with a star bit on the end to do the outside bolts.

The rest I had no trouble with though hope to put some LED lights in there if theres room in the future

 

[raven_nightmares]

Thanks all of you for your help.

Alex - you mention wanting to get a proper buckle attached to the floor...that means if you remove the two seat, the third doesn't have a proper belt fixture? Good luck with getting it done. Thanks for the towbar link. Out of interest, what scooter are you using in it? Mine is a Pride Legend Classic XL8.

Ozzie - Thanks so much for the measurements! They are very helpful - we just need to get somewhere that has a doblo family so we can see how those seats work. We've also got our eye on the Multipla which has extra width and three seats up front. Shame really, as I prefer the look of the doblo...or, indeed, of the old multipla...there's something about a frog in a vice which works imho!

Niall - Thanks for the info...I won't need the exact make as it looks like there isn't a Fiat's own, so I'll just look at the different makes around.

Fido - Thanks for the detailed account...sounds like it was a real pain. Presumably you were working from a manual? If so, was it one of the ebay ones I've seen?

Thank you to you all for all your time and help. I didn't expect such a great response! I'll feel guilty if we end up with a Multipla after all your help!

Best wishes to you all, and may your Doblos never fail you.

Stephen

 

[Ozzie1989]

Thank you for your kind words

If you buy a multipla then I think we'll forgive you... If you buy a Peugeot or a Citroen you will be haunted by Doblo's forever Only Joking

All the best!

 

[Niall_G]

Thank you for your kind words

If you buy a multipla then I think we'll forgive you... If you buy a Peugeot or a Citroen you will be haunted by Doblo's forever Only Joking

All the best!

LUKHYGO......... (Let Us Know How You Get On)






sorry ozzie, it's late on Sunday night, the beer's been flowing and you're such an inviting target....... not as inviting as Suzi Perry on Fool on Horses tho

 

[raven_nightmares]

not as inviting as Suzi Perry on Fool on Horses tho

I could have cried when she was voted off... *sigh*

 

[Ozzie1989]

Glad I can be of such use to you Niall_G