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Retro fix


Suda

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I believe you'll find that the current Ducato spare-wheel arrangement does not involve a "cradle". Instead, the spare wheel is lowered or raised via a cable-operated 'windlass' system.

 

In principle, the cable-operated system (and spare wheel) could be retro-fitted to a pre-2014 Rapido V56. In practice, Rapido may have built their earlier V-Range PVCs making no allowance for a spare wheel being carried and, if that was the case, may have exploited the space where the wheel could be housed beneath the vehicle for other purposes (eg. a waste-water tank or pipework).

 

Your best bet would be to ask an experienced Rapido dealership like Wokingham Motorhomes about this sort of thing.

 

http://www.wokinghammotorhomes.com/

 

If they can't say, try one of the other dealerships

 

http://www.rapido-motorhome.co.uk/concess.php

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Guest JudgeMental
Surely all issues should be answered by the dealer..they are making enough out of you... no one on here has this model and unless you look underneath you don't know..may be OK but if they have stuck a water tank there no
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Suda - 2014-03-13 10:32 PM

 

Thankyou. The local dealership are pricing one up so we'll see what happens next.

 

Returning to your original posting, may I ask why you are sure that pre-2014 Rapido V-Range PVCs did not have a spare wheel as standard?

 

It seems to be normal (as one might perhaps expect) for PVCs based on a Ducato X250 panel-van to have been provided as standard with a spare wheel.

 

More to the point though is that the "Standard Equipment" section in Rapido "Van" brochures for 2011, 2012 and 2013

 

http://www.brownhills.co.uk/downloads/cat/brochures?manufacturer=Rapido%20Motorhomes

 

all indicate that a spare wheel came as standard.

 

On that basis, if you've found an earlier Rapido V56 that is missing its spare wheel, you might well find that it still has the windlass raising/lowering mechanism (which would considerably simplify adding a spare wheel and reduce the cost of doing so).

 

If there's no spare wheel AND no windlass, you might want to investigate why this is so.

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Derek Uzzell - 2014-03-14 8:43 AM

 

If there's no spare wheel AND no windlass, you might want to investigate why this is so.

 

OR if there is no spare and only HALF a windlass (frayed/broken cable) it would be worth going to a Fi*t dealer and asking for a replacement windlass AND spare under warranty as it is a known failure.

 

Keith.

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Keith

 

Suda has been asking about the Rapido V56 model since February 2014.

 

I don't know if this latest inquiry relates to a new (but pre-2014 model-year) V56 or a previously-owned vehicle.

 

If it's a new vehicle, then its lack of a spare wheel needs discussing with the vendor (presumably a Rapido dealership).

 

If it's a previously-owned vehicle, while its original owner could be expected to successfully seek under-warranty redress from Fiat if the spare wheel raising/lowering mechanism broke and/or the spare-wheel were lost or damaged as a result, it's surely unrealistic to suggest that someone buying a previously-owned Rapido V56 without a spare wheel should be provided with one by Fiat under warranty even if it transpired that the original wheel had fallen off in the past.

 

Similarly, anyone buying a previously-owned vehicle with a known defect, (eg. a damaged windlass mechanism) or being aware of a potential defect (eg. the windlass mechanism fitted to earlier X250 vehicles) should be discussing this with the vendor.

 

It might be that the Rapido V56 Suda is interested in lost its spare wheel and the previous owner never bothered to replace it, or that the previous owner removed it, or that (despite the 2011-2013 Rapido UK brochures stating that a spare wheel was standard) this particular vehicle never had one.

 

Whatever the history, if Suda buys a secondhand Fiat-based motorhome knowing that it has no spare wheel and/or its spare-wheel windlass mechanism is missing or potentially faulty, it won't be Fiat's responsibility to rectify such shortcomings under warranty.

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