Technical Installing a spare wheel carrier in a ’67 Qubo

[jerb52]

This post adds to a couple of other threads on this topic :
“FIAT MPVs / Qubo / (Technical) / Spare wheel carrier for facelift Qubo”; last post January 2022
and
“FIAT MPVs / Qubo / (General) / Qubo Trekking spare wheel fitment“; last post July 2023

My Qubo is ’67 registered and the on-line VIN decoder states “2017 model” although the build year (VIN 10th character) is 0 so no build year !

Summary
To save you reading all the ‘how I got there’ chat I’ve summarized what worked for me :
If the central underbody studs look like they are arranged in the picture below – 4 in a rectangle with 2 angled on each side then you need these (FIAT part numbers) :
1 x 52096672 Raise/lower mechanism
2 x 52063722 Spare wheel bearer
1 x 51979045 Plastic knob wheel securer
1 x 51945334 M 5-sided winch tool to engage the recessed hoist
also
1 x 22mm ring spanner to turn the 5-sided winch tool
11 x M8 galvanised nuts (optional 11 x M8 washers, and 11 x M8 Nyloc nuts)

About 22kg including a spare steel wheel / tyre

If the centre-most studs look arranged as a triangle then you need a different raise/lower mechanism (see picture of 3-hole lifter) and associated parts – see the other threads above.

Chat
Having owned Doblos for many years I was familiar with the concept of the raise & lower spare wheel mechanism. Thanks to many contributors on this forum, especially those who’d posted pictures, installation on the Qubo looked straightforward. I’d looked underneath and seen the studs & took a pic to show their relative position (attached picture taken looking towards front).

This is before I cleaned them all up (!) – more on that later. Looks like a group of four studs in a rectangle with a pair either side at an angle. And, behind the camera, 3 more studs in a triangle where the winder would go.

First I wanted to know what components were needed. Understanding that the Fiorino & Qubo are ‘the same’ I looked on the web for a diagram showing all the bits. One is attached. I took this to my nearest MD to get some comparative costs. The FIAT parts system coughed up a complete list, with all the part numbers, as an installation kit. Mmmm, that’s a lot of ££. And a lot of parts. Some – like M8 nuts – I carry anyway.
Got a spare steel wheel and tyre from a breaker off ebay (quite a choice).
Next thing was to look elsewhere for more cost effective parts – especially the main rise & fall part; lots of those listed on eBay for a Qubo, with no differential as to version nor year. The part number quoted on many of these ebay listings was 51910321 at about £60 – interesting as the FIAT MD quoted for a different part number 52096672 (at £220). The pictures in the ebay listings show the main wire carrier on its side, two holes visible. I needed a 4-hole main part; and assumed that there were 2 holes on the not-shown side.
Ordered the part and, you’ve guessed, it was wrong – 3 holes which did not match any stud positions. Looked made from plastic (ABS ?) with steel sleeves for the 3 holes. Usefully the winder knob fitted a standard 17mm wheel wrench as used on the Qubo. Very helpful ebay seller tried to get the part quoted by the MD but unsuccessful; item returned for a refund. As for the other parts – especially the bearing plates like 2 and 3 in the attached diagram – no luck online. Back to the MD and ordered the kit. OW (£££).
Pictures attached of the 3-hole & 4-hole mechanisms.

While waiting I cleaned up all the studs. Borrowed a die set (as in “tap & die”) and, with engine oil, eased the 8 x 1.25 die along the rusty threads. Part forward turn die, reverse half of that, repeat; fully off every few whole turns to remove rust/oil; repeat. Check with standard M8 nut right up to panel work. I also cleared the M6 studs, expecting to have to use them; wasn’t necessary.
Collected parts from MD. The main mechanism is steel, not plastic. It has 4 holes - see attached picture. Clearly an older design than the £60 unit off ebay. Carried out a dry run fitting. Head-scratching. 4 bits looked obvious; a fifth might fit. The rest seemed to be redundant. And realized that I needed another part ! The winder operator is a 5-sided recess into which a winding rod needs to go. Like the Doblo. Got that off ebay. And then needed a 22mm wrench to turn the end of the winding rod. Grrr.
Fitted the 4-hole main wire carrier and its connected 3-hole winder. Fitted two of the bearing plates. All an exact match for studs. What about the 3rd bearing plate. Shaped as if it should fit but doesn’t quite match existing studs nor bolts. Leave for now. Attached the winding cable end & its securing plastic knob to the steel wheel, winched up. Looks good; little protrusion below the body when seen from behind the vehicle. But the spare wheel moves slightly if I push it. Maybe I should fit the other bearing plate. Drop the spare. Fettle the 3rd bearer. After some bending, it fits. Wind up the wheel; now it sticks well below the body line. Grrr. Clearly the 3rd bearer is not for this setup. Drop spare, remove 3rd bearer and wind up the spare. Test drive; all good.

Now, somewhat annoyed, I looked more on the internet as to any info on the actual parts needed. On a Polish site, a bit like Gumtree (allegrolokalnie.pl), was listed the raise & lower part and the two wheel bearers in attached pic. With the text (thanks to 'Google Translate') : “Brand new, dismantled during gas installation when the car was picked up from the showroom”.
As I’ve found, what's in this picture is all you need - plus some M8 nuts - to hold the spare wheel in place.
I’ll be updating my MD’s parts department with my findings ! And try to get a refund on the parts that the FIAT system stated I’d need.

 

[jerb52]

This post adds to a couple of other threads on this topic :
“FIAT MPVs / Qubo / (Technical) / Spare wheel carrier for facelift Qubo”; last post January 2022
and
“FIAT MPVs / Qubo / (General) / Qubo Trekking spare wheel fitment“; last post July 2023

My Qubo is ’67 registered and the on-line VIN decoder states “2017 model” although the build year (VIN 10th character) is 0 so no build year !

Summary
To save you reading all the ‘how I got there’ chat I’ve summarized what worked for me :
If the central underbody studs look like they are arranged in the picture below – 4 in a rectangle with 2 angled on each side then you need these (FIAT part numbers) :
1 x 52096672 Raise/lower mechanism
2 x 52063722 Spare wheel bearer
1 x 51979045 Plastic knob wheel securer
1 x 51945334 M 5-sided winch tool to engage the recessed hoist
also
1 x 22mm ring spanner to turn the 5-sided winch tool
11 x M8 galvanised nuts (optional 11 x M8 washers, and 11 x M8 Nyloc nuts)

About 22kg including a spare steel wheel / tyre

If the centre-most studs look arranged as a triangle then you need a different raise/lower mechanism (see picture of 3-hole lifter) and associated parts – see the other threads above.

Chat
Having owned Doblos for many years I was familiar with the concept of the raise & lower spare wheel mechanism. Thanks to many contributors on this forum, especially those who’d posted pictures, installation on the Qubo looked straightforward. I’d looked underneath and seen the studs & took a pic to show their relative position (attached picture taken looking towards front).

This is before I cleaned them all up (!) – more on that later. Looks like a group of four studs in a rectangle with a pair either side at an angle. And, behind the camera, 3 more studs in a triangle where the winder would go.

First I wanted to know what components were needed. Understanding that the Fiorino & Qubo are ‘the same’ I looked on the web for a diagram showing all the bits. One is attached. I took this to my nearest MD to get some comparative costs. The FIAT parts system coughed up a complete list, with all the part numbers, as an installation kit. Mmmm, that’s a lot of ££. And a lot of parts. Some – like M8 nuts – I carry anyway.
Got a spare steel wheel and tyre from a breaker off ebay (quite a choice).
Next thing was to look elsewhere for more cost effective parts – especially the main rise & fall part; lots of those listed on eBay for a Qubo, with no differential as to version nor year. The part number quoted on many of these ebay listings was 51910321 at about £60 – interesting as the FIAT MD quoted for a different part number 52096672 (at £220). The pictures in the ebay listings show the main wire carrier on its side, two holes visible. I needed a 4-hole main part; and assumed that there were 2 holes on the not-shown side.
Ordered the part and, you’ve guessed, it was wrong – 3 holes which did not match any stud positions. Looked made from plastic (ABS ?) with steel sleeves for the 3 holes. Usefully the winder knob fitted a standard 17mm wheel wrench as used on the Qubo. Very helpful ebay seller tried to get the part quoted by the MD but unsuccessful; item returned for a refund. As for the other parts – especially the bearing plates like 2 and 3 in the attached diagram – no luck online. Back to the MD and ordered the kit. OW (£££).
Pictures attached of the 3-hole & 4-hole mechanisms.

While waiting I cleaned up all the studs. Borrowed a die set (as in “tap & die”) and, with engine oil, eased the 8 x 1.25 die along the rusty threads. Part forward turn die, reverse half of that, repeat; fully off every few whole turns to remove rust/oil; repeat. Check with standard M8 nut right up to panel work. I also cleared the M6 studs, expecting to have to use them; wasn’t necessary.
Collected parts from MD. The main mechanism is steel, not plastic. It has 4 holes - see attached picture. Clearly an older design than the £60 unit off ebay. Carried out a dry run fitting. Head-scratching. 4 bits looked obvious; a fifth might fit. The rest seemed to be redundant. And realized that I needed another part ! The winder operator is a 5-sided recess into which a winding rod needs to go. Like the Doblo. Got that off ebay. And then needed a 22mm wrench to turn the end of the winding rod. Grrr.
Fitted the 4-hole main wire carrier and its connected 3-hole winder. Fitted two of the bearing plates. All an exact match for studs. What about the 3rd bearing plate. Shaped as if it should fit but doesn’t quite match existing studs nor bolts. Leave for now. Attached the winding cable end & its securing plastic knob to the steel wheel, winched up. Looks good; little protrusion below the body when seen from behind the vehicle. But the spare wheel moves slightly if I push it. Maybe I should fit the other bearing plate. Drop the spare. Fettle the 3rd bearer. After some bending, it fits. Wind up the wheel; now it sticks well below the body line. Grrr. Clearly the 3rd bearer is not for this setup. Drop spare, remove 3rd bearer and wind up the spare. Test drive; all good.

Now, somewhat annoyed, I looked more on the internet as to any info on the actual parts needed. On a Polish site, a bit like Gumtree (allegrolokalnie.pl), was listed the raise & lower part and the two wheel bearers in attached pic. With the text (thanks to 'Google Translate') : “Brand new, dismantled during gas installation when the car was picked up from the showroom”.
As I’ve found, what's in this picture is all you need - plus some M8 nuts - to hold the spare wheel in place.
I’ll be updating my MD’s parts department with my findings ! And try to get a refund on the parts that the FIAT system stated I’d need.

Few things to add :

A. If part number 51945334 is used, as specified, then the diameter of the end you have to turn fits a 21mm spanner – not 22mm as I wrote. Whoops, sorry.
I was using a 22mm socket to do the job, which was fine. But when I obtained a 22mm double ended (open / ring) spanner the open end just about caught but the ring was way too big.
[I measured the face-to-face, on the end to turn, at 20.46mm (with a digital micrometer ).]

B. Recommend some preventive maintenance relating to the T-shaped piece that holds up the spare wheel :
B 1. When inserting, or removing the T, the shorter ‘leg’ can catch on the centre bore (hole) of the spare – and that’s even when both bore & ‘T’ are not rusty.
Solution – file about 1mm off the end of the shorter leg so it doesn’t catch the bore & repaint with Hammerite
B 2. The longer ‘leg’ with the screw thread has a plastic knob to secure the T to the wheel. Over the years the thread gets rusty and can be hard to remove by hand.
Solution – carry a wrench / mole grip to get more purchase on the knob (or, on a regular basis, lower the spare, undo the knob, apply WD40; but who remembers to do that)

These thoughts arose when I remembered trying to use the spare on our Doblo (same spare wheel raise / lower mechanism) – and cursing the first time.

 

[trekkingnut]

This post adds to a couple of other threads on this topic :
“FIAT MPVs / Qubo / (Technical) / Spare wheel carrier for facelift Qubo”; last post January 2022
and
“FIAT MPVs / Qubo / (General) / Qubo Trekking spare wheel fitment“; last post July 2023

My Qubo is ’67 registered and the on-line VIN decoder states “2017 model” although the build year (VIN 10th character) is 0 so no build year !

Summary
To save you reading all the ‘how I got there’ chat I’ve summarized what worked for me :
If the central underbody studs look like they are arranged in the picture below – 4 in a rectangle with 2 angled on each side then you need these (FIAT part numbers) :
1 x 52096672 Raise/lower mechanism
2 x 52063722 Spare wheel bearer
1 x 51979045 Plastic knob wheel securer
1 x 51945334 M 5-sided winch tool to engage the recessed hoist
also
1 x 22mm ring spanner to turn the 5-sided winch tool
11 x M8 galvanised nuts (optional 11 x M8 washers, and 11 x M8 Nyloc nuts)

About 22kg including a spare steel wheel / tyre

If the centre-most studs look arranged as a triangle then you need a different raise/lower mechanism (see picture of 3-hole lifter) and associated parts – see the other threads above.

Chat
Having owned Doblos for many years I was familiar with the concept of the raise & lower spare wheel mechanism. Thanks to many contributors on this forum, especially those who’d posted pictures, installation on the Qubo looked straightforward. I’d looked underneath and seen the studs & took a pic to show their relative position (attached picture taken looking towards front).

This is before I cleaned them all up (!) – more on that later. Looks like a group of four studs in a rectangle with a pair either side at an angle. And, behind the camera, 3 more studs in a triangle where the winder would go.

First I wanted to know what components were needed. Understanding that the Fiorino & Qubo are ‘the same’ I looked on the web for a diagram showing all the bits. One is attached. I took this to my nearest MD to get some comparative costs. The FIAT parts system coughed up a complete list, with all the part numbers, as an installation kit. Mmmm, that’s a lot of ££. And a lot of parts. Some – like M8 nuts – I carry anyway.
Got a spare steel wheel and tyre from a breaker off ebay (quite a choice).
Next thing was to look elsewhere for more cost effective parts – especially the main rise & fall part; lots of those listed on eBay for a Qubo, with no differential as to version nor year. The part number quoted on many of these ebay listings was 51910321 at about £60 – interesting as the FIAT MD quoted for a different part number 52096672 (at £220). The pictures in the ebay listings show the main wire carrier on its side, two holes visible. I needed a 4-hole main part; and assumed that there were 2 holes on the not-shown side.
Ordered the part and, you’ve guessed, it was wrong – 3 holes which did not match any stud positions. Looked made from plastic (ABS ?) with steel sleeves for the 3 holes. Usefully the winder knob fitted a standard 17mm wheel wrench as used on the Qubo. Very helpful ebay seller tried to get the part quoted by the MD but unsuccessful; item returned for a refund. As for the other parts – especially the bearing plates like 2 and 3 in the attached diagram – no luck online. Back to the MD and ordered the kit. OW (£££).
Pictures attached of the 3-hole & 4-hole mechanisms.

While waiting I cleaned up all the studs. Borrowed a die set (as in “tap & die”) and, with engine oil, eased the 8 x 1.25 die along the rusty threads. Part forward turn die, reverse half of that, repeat; fully off every few whole turns to remove rust/oil; repeat. Check with standard M8 nut right up to panel work. I also cleared the M6 studs, expecting to have to use them; wasn’t necessary.
Collected parts from MD. The main mechanism is steel, not plastic. It has 4 holes - see attached picture. Clearly an older design than the £60 unit off ebay. Carried out a dry run fitting. Head-scratching. 4 bits looked obvious; a fifth might fit. The rest seemed to be redundant. And realized that I needed another part ! The winder operator is a 5-sided recess into which a winding rod needs to go. Like the Doblo. Got that off ebay. And then needed a 22mm wrench to turn the end of the winding rod. Grrr.
Fitted the 4-hole main wire carrier and its connected 3-hole winder. Fitted two of the bearing plates. All an exact match for studs. What about the 3rd bearing plate. Shaped as if it should fit but doesn’t quite match existing studs nor bolts. Leave for now. Attached the winding cable end & its securing plastic knob to the steel wheel, winched up. Looks good; little protrusion below the body when seen from behind the vehicle. But the spare wheel moves slightly if I push it. Maybe I should fit the other bearing plate. Drop the spare. Fettle the 3rd bearer. After some bending, it fits. Wind up the wheel; now it sticks well below the body line. Grrr. Clearly the 3rd bearer is not for this setup. Drop spare, remove 3rd bearer and wind up the spare. Test drive; all good.

Now, somewhat annoyed, I looked more on the internet as to any info on the actual parts needed. On a Polish site, a bit like Gumtree (allegrolokalnie.pl), was listed the raise & lower part and the two wheel bearers in attached pic. With the text (thanks to 'Google Translate') : “Brand new, dismantled during gas installation when the car was picked up from the showroom”.
As I’ve found, what's in this picture is all you need - plus some M8 nuts - to hold the spare wheel in place.
I’ll be updating my MD’s parts department with my findings ! And try to get a refund on the parts that the FIAT system stated I’d need.

I just happened to come across your thread albeit some time since you posted it, but wanted to say that I fitted the standard 3 hole type of lifter to my 17 plate Trekking which had the 4 stud set up and used some strong metal strips to secure the edges where the single stud hole was. It worked a treat and saved me all the hassle (and expense) of getting the newer kit. Why they changed it I do not know as it seemed a spiteful way to try and force owners into buying the carrier kit from them as the old 3 hole type was readily available cheaply on ebay. I was very pleased to defy them!

 

[jerb52]

I just happened to come across your thread albeit some time since you posted it, but wanted to say that I fitted the standard 3 hole type of lifter to my 17 plate Trekking which had the 4 stud set up and used some strong metal strips to secure the edges where the single stud hole was. It worked a treat and saved me all the hassle (and expense) of getting the newer kit. Why they changed it I do not know as it seemed a spiteful way to try and force owners into buying the carrier kit from them as the old 3 hole type was readily available cheaply on ebay. I was very pleased to defy them!

Yes, I did consider that as it was mentioned on a thread as a way forward. Trouble was that, IIRC, the other end - the winder part that fits at the vehicle rear - wouldn't align. I can't recall now (9 months on) whether it was the studs not aligning, the angle of approach to the hole, or something else. Anyway, I reckoned I didn't have the expertise (nor time - family problems) to sort both ends.
BTW - I did have a moan at the MD's parts department and eventually got a refund for the parts that I didn't need which the system had specified were essential ! I gave the boss-person a summary of the correct kit for them to retain/pass to FIAT part HQ; probably got binned.

 

[trekkingnut]

Yes, I did consider that as it was mentioned on a thread as a way forward. Trouble was that, IIRC, the other end - the winder part that fits at the vehicle rear - wouldn't align. I can't recall now (9 months on) whether it was the studs not aligning, the angle of approach to the hole, or something else. Anyway, I reckoned I didn't have the expertise (nor time - family problems) to sort both ends.
BTW - I did have a moan at the MD's parts department and eventually got a refund for the parts that I didn't need which the system had specified were essential ! I gave the boss-person a summary of the correct kit for them to retain/pass to FIAT part HQ; probably got binned.

That`s interesting because I found the studs were perfectly aligned to take the winder and it was only the carrier that had a different stud arrangement. Mine was an early changeover as it was manufactured in week 3 of Jan 2017 and registered in March. I believe the change happened just a week or so prior to that.