My VW Multivan (joysteer)

[JenR]

Hi All,

I am new to this board and I am liking it! I see you are all interested in drive from wheelchair cars, let me show mine It is my first car and it is only a year old, I'm still quite proud

It is a VW T5 Multivan with joysteer steering (4-way joystick). More information about joysteer can be found here: http://www.joysteer.ch/index.php?id=6&L=2 I guess this is not available in the US. It is a bit like the EMC Aevit system I think. What I really like about the system is the feedback you get through the joystick, you can really feel what your car is doing.

The floor is lowered a little bit as I am quite tall. I use a permobil c500 lowrider that is secured with a permolock. the passenger seat is mounted on a permolock as well, so I can be passenger and my wife can drive the car if needed.
I chose a side entry lift because I really wanted to keep the back seats and not lose all the space in the back. The lift is a Braun UVL.

For the secundary functions (direction lights, horn, ...) I use smartsteer (warning, dutch pdf: http://goo.gl/tORjPH).

And last but not least, a picture of my car on the beach in Denmark:



I don't have any nice interior pictures atm, but if you guys want, I'll arrange some...

[Burgerman]

Compared to the Chrysler lowered floor mini vans most of us have they are really well built. I had a VR6 Caravelle many years ago. They can have a fully lowered floor too (money!) if you want. But getting square on to the wheel in a large powerchair isn't possible so you are driving from an off centre position. And they are not cheap!

I would have another fully lowered floor version, if money was no object.


http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/vw-cara ... sabled.htm

And new ones:

www.wheelchairdriver.com/images-mobility-roadshow

[rustyjames]

I have a VW too but use this type of lift: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=VW+ ... tedIndex=5

I like it because it's simple, reliable, easy to work on and it doesn't require a large parking space to load.

@Jen: I see the ground clearance looks a bit close on your under vehicle lift, does that ever give you problems? How about ice/snow/cold? I'd like to see some pictures of the inside when you get a chance.

[Pierrick]

Hello, i'm looking for a used van for my daughter in France.

I have found a Renault Trafic with a BRAUN UVL Lift like JenR's van.

Is this kind of lift very usefull and reliable ?

P.

[Burgerman]

If kept clean, lubricated, adjusted that should be more reliable than the van its bolted onto...

[Pierrick]

"Qui part en Renault revient à vélo"

French proverb meaning something like "Who's leaving in Renault come back to cycling"

The Wheelchair i will have to buy with my Renault

Permobil.jpg (82 KiB) Viewed 12149 times

[Pierrick]

The Lift was clean and lubricated, the van too ... i finaly bought it this week.

I havent got any problem to come back home with my Renault (1000 Kms on motorway at maximum legal speed).

But i discover later than the barrier actuator was scraping the housing assembly as in this picture :

2014-09-17-0843b.jpg (100.2 KiB) Viewed 12060 times

After many operations i finally modifiy the 'below stow switch', it seems to be ok.

Has anyone else got this problem with BRAUN UVL lift ?


P.

[Red Dragon]

Which model of engine you got there ?
is it 2.0 tdi dsg 7 140hp ?

How many kilometers per liter of fuel ?

[Pierrick]

I finally found a solution for my barrier actuator : 3 hose clamps !

2014-10-29-0923.jpg (75.8 KiB) Viewed 11879 times

[Red Dragon]

JenR

Please more photos.

[Pierrick]

Hello JenR, i hope you still be enjoyed with your VW T5, every one says it's the best car (excepted Burgerman Dodge's) for disability.

My Braun UVL Lift works well (it has 3 years old) but i noticed that the cylinder (Vérin in French) of the front gate actuator rubbed against the frame.

I shot 3 pictures to explain.

On the first there is in 1) the cylinder, on 2) the adjustments rings, 3) the place were the cylinder is rubbing on the frame

Uvl Lift

2014-11-02-0927c.jpg (62.76 KiB) Viewed 11840 times

On this one this is the cylinder rubbing on the frame when the lift is stowing.

Front barrier actuator when stowing the lift

2014-11-02-0932b.jpg (30.54 KiB) Viewed 11840 times

On the third, the adjustment cam that I placed as best y could :

Stow position Adjustement cam

2014-11-02-0933b.jpg (46.14 KiB) Viewed 11840 times

Have you noticed something like this on your UVL ?

P.

[JenR]

Hi everyone.

Sorry for my (very) late response. I kinda forgot about this topic...

@Pierrick: The mechanism to adjust the stow position of the lift when it slides into it's housing is indeed very sensitive.
You can change it with the 'increase stow level' clamp that is on your picture.
If that clamp is set correctly (very sensitive, 1mm is a lot), the cylinder does not rub against number 3 on your first picture. But if you lower the stow position too much, the lift can't be stowed anymore, it gets stuck when it's almost al the way in (sticking out about 7cm).

I regularly have the issue that the stow position is too low, then the lift gets stuck when stowing... This is mostly caused by my dog that jumps on the lift when it is not completely out yet. This screws up the setting of the clamp...
I now have a good setting on the clamp, in which it stows completely, and doesn't scratch number 3 (barely, half a mm of room).



@red dragon, here are more pictures from the inside:

The 4-way joystick:


Here you can see the permolock, and the amount of floor that was removed. The box on the floor (below joystick) holds an extra battery for joysteer, and some of the electronics.


Here you can see the other chair that is on a permolock as well. The chair can be moved to the driver side, and my wheelchair can be placed on the right side so I don't have to drive.



The engine is indeed a 2.0tdi dsg 140hp. It consumes between 8.5 and 9.5 l/100km. The underfloor lift blocks alot of wind I think, so this can be less if you have a lift that is in your car.

[Red Dragon]

how mach in the city and how much in highway ?

I have a Chevrolet Uplander Petrol 3.9 liter v6 4 speed 240hp 2009 30,000km I am going to sell it.
and it do in the city 23 liter for 100km in the city .
and in the highway 11 liter for 100km.

I am going to buy a t5 tdi 2.0 140hp 7speed dsg or toyota sienna Petrol 3.5 liter v6 266hp 6 speed ?

I'm afraid that dsg will have problem.

[Pierrick]

Hello Red Dragon, In Europe everything is smaller than in the US.

The cars are less powerful but consume significantly less than yours (our gasoline is 4 times as expensive).

A Van T5 with a 140 HP Diesel engine officialy consumes 10 liters in the city and 7.5 on highways (for example my Renault Trafic do 9 liters on highway at 130 km/h and 10 liters on city)

The gearbox DSG is considered very reliable.

P.

[Red Dragon]

How much battery you have in the car.
2 or 3 ?

[Red Dragon]

the dsg 7 speed is less reliable than the dsg 6 speed.
How many years do you have Warranty ? 2 years or 5 years or 10 years?

Do a Google search dsg problems 2014 .

[JenR]

If I try really hard, I can average 8l/100km. This is mostly highway and a bit of city traffic. When I don't care about fuel, I average 9.5l/100km. This will be better if you have a lift that is not under the car.

The 7 speed DSG has been very reliable for me, no issues, it is very smooth. Warranty is 2 years in Belgium, my car is 3 years old.

I have 2 batteries in my car. 1 battery is dedicated as a backup battery for my joysteer system. This means that this second battery is never used (except for emergency situations). So everything actually works on one battery.

[garriew]

That permolock is HUGE. I didn't realise it was so much bigger than an EZ-Lock.

[ICEUK]

What is your top speed you have got out of your van using joysteer?

[JenR]

I once did 165km/h on the autobahn without any problems. It would go faster, but this was enough for me

[ICEUK]

I have the Joysteer Tiller, electric brake, steering, throttle, auto selection, handbrake and remote tail ramp/doors, I got mine to 70 mph but that's enough for me, I don't even have the steering wheel attached, I will get some pictures up of my build, Mercedes Sprinter.