A curious question... <Spare Tire Carrier>

[msinabottle]

Does anyone have a good picture of the spare tire carrier for an '86 or later Vanagon?

Apparently, they added some sort of lip to the latching plate so that you could get a slightly wider or larger tire up into it, and in as much as I know where there's a good welder, it would be interesting to see what the later mod looked like and to see if I could duplicate it. Winston's new rims are a bit larger in diameter, if the wheels themselves are less wide than the older ones--although they may fit. Still, if it's EASY...

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[wbx]

If you want easy, you can do what i did... simply remove the retaining bars that go on top of the wheel (using bolts as the new pivot pins for the tray), and get some webbing and buckles to hold down the new wheel. No welding required, but this was all in an effort to switch from the stock 185 series tires to my current 205 series tires. This should help with a larger diameter, as well.

As far as i know, the later model tray/top bars are a straight bolt-on swap with our earlier setups.

If you just look at how the tray attaches, you can see how it is pretty easy to lower it a bit should you need to go more drastic.

-Damon
_________________
'84 Westy (first owner).......but my daily driver has pedals
My "perspective" mantra:
A Volkswagen Vanagon is just a material thing,
As such, it is of the earth,
And if i need to, I can let my Van go.

[CF]

you can buy the "up grade" tire carrier from
van cafe
fast forward.ca

or you can get the tail gate model from jerrys rack

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/gary2a/rack/vanagonrack.htm

i have the roof rack and i love it.

[joetiger]

I don't have a pic handy, but it's just a two-inch extension on the front of the carrier where the hook rests, making it sit down a bit.

I'll bet Larry has a late model carrier he'd part with...He's got enough Vanagons over there!
_________________
Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com

[Mad-Max]

_________________
my parts for sale
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=551409

[msinabottle]

That was very nice of you, Mad-Max (May I call you Mad?) and that's a good idea about calling Larry, Joe. I suppose the obvious thing to do is to see if the new 15" rim and alloy wheel fit as things are, but the Big O tires absolutely would NOT.

I hope it wasn't too much trouble to take that shot!

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[elwood91]

Bend the carrier at the hinges at the back some as well. 215/75/15 BFG also needs some grinding on the frame to fit, but smaller tires shouldn't.

[Mad-Max]

ya no problem, i had that photo for a while.
my real name is max, i was named after mel gibson in mad max so the nick name stuck!


_________________
my parts for sale
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=551409

[msinabottle]

So essentially you extended the hook and got a longer retaining bolt with a spacer. That, too, is intriguing. Thank you, Elwood!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[wbx]

msinabottle,

you never said how big of a wheel/tire you are putting in there... Are you going monster truck?

-damon
_________________
'84 Westy (first owner).......but my daily driver has pedals
My "perspective" mantra:
A Volkswagen Vanagon is just a material thing,
As such, it is of the earth,
And if i need to, I can let my Van go.

[msinabottle]

No, I have those huge Big O R/T's on Winston, just now. Those don't REMOTELY fit in the original carrier, but might with some minor mods. It's an issue I never solved.

I did, though, get a Vredestein Comtrac to replace the Goodyear that was in the carrier when I bought him. That tire had cracked sidewalls and scared me every time I looked at it.

I've got a 5th Audi rim from Dogpilot, but I'll probably just leave the Vredestein there. It's good enough for emergencies, and fits fine. Still, if it was EASY to fix the old tire holder to a later tire holder... And I wanted to know!

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[ChesterKV]

15 inch South Africa steel wheel and Michelin Agilis 51 tire (205/55 R 15 I think ? whichever size retains the stock diameter) will fit in my stock '84 spare tire carrier although it's tight...........but it fits fine..

[1621]

Check this one out, I have a 205/65R15 comfortably nestled up there. Piece of cake to put on.

http://www.van-cafe.com/vanagonparts.jsp?pa=ip&ip=764380099

Lundy

[Raynor Shine]

I just put the van-cafe one on mine. Holds a BFG AT 215 75 15 on a rhein rim at 10lbs. the only gripe I have is man that tire is heavy & you have to make sure not to pinch the coolant lines.

[70coupyel]

I'm trying to use the bolt extention for the clamshell. Most auto stores will not have the 12mmx1.5 bolt in stock. Industral hardware store is the way to go.
27x8.5x14 is what I want to fit in my clamshell. Looks like I have rail to rail clearance and I just need to drop the clamshell down about 1.5 to 2.0 inches.

_________________

[70coupyel]

Just an update.
The extension I made is only 1'' longer.
For my spare tire size (27 x 8.5 x 15) 1-1/4 to 1-3/8 would have been better. Stock steel wheel.

_________________

[greebly]

[Vanagon Nut]

Have other users of 15" 27.6" OD tires (e.g. BFG 15" AT KO) found that the had to clearance the frame rails to fit that 15" into the OEM spare tire location? I wish I'd known of that detail before buying 15" wheels!

Neil.

[spooky_net]

All,

Along the same lines, I have my spare tire on a swing away in the back (89 syncro w/ 16" wheels). I'm converting the front spare carrier to some storage space (for the BBQ gear

So I'd like to replace the bolt with something that can be turned by hand like this:

http://www.jwwinco.com/products/section8/gn5334a/index.html

Quoting greebly: "The bolt on my 91 is a M12 x 1.75mm", which I got but seems that the threading is too coarse and it won't bolt in. Comparing with the original bolt in place seems to confirm that.

This kind a blows me away as the standard threading for M12 is 1.75mm and I don't understand why one would go for a finer one (which limits options dramatically).

Anyway, Am I the only one with that set-up? If not, what the threading spacing that I should get?

Thanks,

[davevickery]