slowdriver Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 I am trying to establish the rear jacking point on my 2020 PVC Fiat Ducato, Maxi chassis, on 16” steel wheels. The manual has a photo which I have failed to decipher. So I thought MHM might be able to enlighten me. I attach three photos, all from the rear of the vehicle (continental nearside). The first photo shows one option - a hole in the lower leaf spring to the rear of the front suspension mounting (seems improbable to me but it is where the manual implies it is). The second photo shows a fairly beefy piece of boxing immediately in front of the suspension mounting bolt - my current favourite. The third shows a some boxing that appear to support the sill and therefore seems a bit unlikely. Any clues or guidance much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deneb Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 The correct mounting point is the square box section in your second image, between the spring mount plates and just forward of the spring, which incorporates the round central hole to locate a lug on the approved jack. If you are using a trolley jack or similar, it would be OK to lift beneath the spring eye mount using a suitable block to bridge the spring itself. I certainly wouldn't try lifting the vehicle on the spring leaf itself. When I want to raise and secure the van for servicing etc, I use a trolley jack and block under the spring eye mounting and secure with an axle stand located on the approved mounting point. The routing of service pipes by the converter does make access to the jacking point difficult, but not impossible, at one side of my van. Something I suspect that converters do not always think about when designing their vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowdriver Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Great Thanks. I have, now, successfully lowered the spare and jacked the vehicle which is what I wanted to achieve. Not sure if I will carry it in most of Europe given the prevalence of breakdown services. It is not exactly light or easy to manoeuvre. I will investigate the various gloop-get-you-home kits and see what they offer.Maybe keep it maybe not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 We have a 4 ton bottle jack and a 50 mm thick 150mm square block of hard wood. Would not trust the supplied jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddy Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Check that your breakdown cover will still help if you do not have a spare wheel ,if it came with one ,and your van was not supplied with a pump and tyre sealer from new instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 This YouTube video identifies the front and rer jacking points of a (Peugeot Boxer) X290 van As Deneb has advised above, the rear jacking point is as shown in the first image attached below. It does need saying that - in the Fiat Ducato Owner Handbook - the relevant drawing (2nd attached image below) is ambiguous to say the least, and does give the impression that jacking on the spring may be the correct procedure. (This drawing has been repeated in every Ducato X250/X290 handbook since the X250 range was introduced in mid-2006.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowdriver Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 weldted - 2020-07-16 5:55 PM We have a 4 ton bottle jack and a 50 mm thick 150mm square block of hard wood. Would not trust the supplied jack. Hw do you deploy the block of wood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plop Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 I have the same chassis and the instructions are bizarre. We're using a 5 ton electric/hydraulic jack that plugs in to the cigarette lighter and then resting it on axle stands on support pads on site so we get it pretty well perfectly level. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZCPZ62Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I'm thinking I might fix 2 of these little units (or similar) permanently(ish) upside down to chassis and wire them into the battery and add bluetooth remotes to create a pseudo auto levelling system. If it works/is any good I can probably write an app to use a phone as a spirit level then make it even more auto. Just need to look at making the jack unit IP6x - will take it apart shortly and see what I can get rid of and how to make another case for it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 I thought you owned a Chausson 650 - a coachbuilt design based on a Fiat Ducato Tempo Libero ('camping-car') chassis and significantly different to the panel-van that forms the basis of Chris's La Strada Avanti. The problem with the Fiat Handbook's drawing that I copied above is that, although the rear jacking-point's position is correctly arrowed, the rear spring is drawn wrongly. I suspect that this normally does not result in confusion, as the 'look' of the jacking-point makes it reasonably plain what its function is. However, Chris's La Strada has double rear springs with a hole in the lower spring that the Fiat scissor-jack MIGHT fit on to and where the Handbook's drawing suggests the jacking-point is. If Chris's La Strada had had single-leaf rear springs, I'm sure he would have known instinctively where to jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plop Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Derek Uzzell - 2020-07-17 3:28 PM I thought you owned a Chausson 650 - a coachbuilt design based on a Fiat Ducato Tempo Libero ('camping-car') chassis and significantly different to the panel-van that forms the basis of Chris's La Strada Avanti. The problem with the Fiat Handbook's drawing that I copied above is that, although the rear jacking-point's position is correctly arrowed, the rear spring is drawn wrongly. I suspect that this normally does not result in confusion, as the 'look' of the jacking-point makes it reasonably plain what its function is. However, Chris's La Strada has double rear springs with a hole in the lower spring that the Fiat scissor-jack MIGHT fit on to and where the Handbook's drawing suggests the jacking-point is. If Chris's La Strada had had single-leaf rear springs, I'm sure he would have known instinctively where to jack. Interesting, I had no idea about any different chassis - I've just taken a look and it has a single leaf spring either side. I just assumed this was the same across the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 This link is to the Fiat Camper webpage for the Ducato X290 ‘motorhome’ range https://www.fiatcamper.com/en/product/perfect-layout Besides the Fiat chassis shown in the photo attached below, there are all the AL-KO chassis variants (single or tandem rear axle configuration) and also a 4x4 ‘van’ version (LHD-only I think). Jacking was discussed in this 2019 forum thread https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Jacking-up-a-motorhome/51847/ and (although radically different from any of the Fiat products) it appears that current AL-KO chassis also have a ’turret’ into which the Fiat scissor-jack would fit if changing a rear wheel proved necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 The Fiat Ducato is a very strong car. And it has a very strong ladder chassis. And a very strong Hole to fit the heavy jack in the black box cover supplied whit your vehicle. Wich has a dedicated place in the rear. You must be a .... not to understand to use it. The hole 22 mm is also used on AL-Ko chassis. So you can use the fiat jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayc Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 slowdriver - 2020-07-17 7:40 AM weldted - 2020-07-16 5:55 PM We have a 4 ton bottle jack and a 50 mm thick 150mm square block of hard wood. Would not trust the supplied jack. Hw do you deploy the block of wood? When I returned from a Fiat main agent after the ERG pipe recall modification I found wooden blocks still 'jammed' into the two rear shackles where they had not been removed on completion. Good job they were jammed in hard and did not dislodge on my 20 mile journey home and cause problems for following drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 A bit worrying... ;-) It’s not that uncommon for a new vehicle's suspension to be ‘jammed’ temporarily when it is to be transported long distance, but I can’t think why this should have been done by your Fiat main agent when your Ducato was having EGR recall work done. Did you contact the Fiat agent for an explanation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayc Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 Derek Uzzell - 2020-07-19 8:48 AM A bit worrying... ;-) It’s not that uncommon for a new vehicle's suspension to be ‘jammed’ temporarily when it is to be transported long distance, but I can’t think why this should have been done by your Fiat main agent when your Ducato was having EGR recall work done. Did you contact the Fiat agent for an explanation? I meant that wooden blocks that the garage used between the 'jack' on their hoist and the rear lifting point had been mistakenly left there when the work was completed. They had wedged into place. I guess they were used as the front wheels had to be removed whilst it was on the hoist so they used the 4 point jacking arm. They were used behind the shackle in the place shown in the middle photo in the post under where the Fiat jack point is. They were just square cube of wood with approx 100mm sides which allow a broad based lifting pad to use the proper lifting point without pressing on the shackle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 OK, thanks for the clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.