Technical Doblo suspension

[dunphysos]

evening all. i am currently trying to lower my fiat doblo 1.9 and wondered if anyone knows if i can fit different suspension. im thinking punto shocks and springs or something like that. does anyone know if they will fit and will take the weight. and help will be great

 

[chrisb100]

The doblo has rear leaf spring suspension and mcpherson struts at the front while you should possibly be able to lower the front shocks the rear could be more of a fiddle, would'nt think there would be many places offering kits to lower a Doblo!!!!!!!!!!!

I personally have found my cargo to be pretty damm good at handling maybe stiffer anti roll bars and strut brace to stop the side to side roll,and larger rims to fill the hole

I'm sure if moneys no problem anything can be pimped to your requirements but the doblo just doesn't create the aftermarket need for" Maxing "

Good look if you find somewhere

 

[Ulpian]

I'm a curmudgeonly creature but my immediate reaction was; leave the thing alone. It's a van, and already the ground clearance under the sump is nothing special. And why would you want the poor thing lowered; it rolls but I haven't been able to get it to let go yet, and I've actually often wondered what its limits are. In fact, what are its limits????

 

[chrisb100]

I'm a curmudgeonly creature but my immediate reaction was; leave the thing alone. It's a van, and already the ground clearance under the sump is nothing special. And why would you want the poor thing lowered; it rolls but I haven't been able to get it to let go yet, and I've actually often wondered what its limits are. In fact, what are its limits????

I used to own a couple of pug sporty 306's which were renowned for exellent handling I have to say with the bridgestone tyre s I have on, once you get accustomed to the ROLL you can really throw her in and out of bends and she never lets go and dare I say it quite sporty

It is a van as you say and other than having disc brakes at the back I think there pretty damm good as is

 

[dunphysos]

the van does handle well at the minute but im looking at lowering it still.i am doing an axle flip on the rear which will drop by about 80mm and am looking for about 40-50mm on the front so the van will level up.the plan then is to fit 18 inch rims. it wont be for a couple of weeks yet as the van is in the garage having a respray

 

[Ulpian]

So does that mean a lowered suspension jacked up with big wheels and slicks? if so, you'll need to control the roll as slicks are not designed to operate much beyond the vertical. Sounds like a stiffer rollbar then, and as you initially asked, stiffer springs and dampers
This will be an interesting creature when its done. Photos please .

 

[dobyvan]

iv just brought a bodlo van and iv just fitted 17s to it, but i think the gap at the top of the wheels looks to much and woodnt mind lowering it, if u lower urs let me know how u do it thanks lee

 

[Finbarr]

... not sure why lowering is a good thing - except for appearance - my multijet 1,9 already skuffs over speed bumps - any lower and you'd lose the sump cover!! I'd join the rest in praise of the Dobby road holding - witness the A3 driver who couldn't understand why the block of flats in his rear view mirror was still there AFTER THE THIRD HAIRPIN! The Multipla is really good too. Rumour has it that the basic undertray pressing is Alfa Romeo. No matter how much you lower it, even by stiffening the anti-roll bars you cannot change the laws of physics, (captain,) and weight transfer will always be a problem - keeps interposing when I try to set it up in a drift - ROLL OVERSTEER. Stiffer roll bars will only help it lift its little hooves off the ground!

 

[Mad one]

Hi finbarr, the original post was some 6 years ago and the poster haven't been on the site for the same time, so either he did the lowering and then found the van couldn't get over his local speed humps or he found out that it could go round corners, probably on its roof........

 

[Sinny]

Going to zombie-fy this thread because it's the only Doblo lowering thread I'm toying with the idea of flipping my rear axle - it's never had any weight in it and is never likely to, so it's sits right up. If the OP is still around - how did you get on?

Chopping coil springs will certainly ferk things up in any number of ways, but flipping a leaf spring doesn't change the factory ride or the springs capabilities - it only sits the vehicle down lower and so lowers the CoG - which helps improve cornering, rather than makes it worse The only thing that "suffers" is the amount of spring travel - which is more than sufficient in an unladen Cargo like mine, even with the depth of the axle taken off it.