Extending the spare wheel carrier, and what's its capacity?

[arcadelt]

For a practice run, I just removed and refitted the spare wheel in the comfort of my shed. I have to say, that is certainly not something you want to be doing for the first time out of necessity by the side of the road while it is raining and dark.

Anyway, my main reason for doing that was to have a look at how you extend the spare wheel carrier capacity to accommodate a wider tyre. I'm thinking of replacing my stock wheels, so that would be necessary if I needed to carry a matching spare. I'd love to find a 225/60/17 tyre with a minor amount of off-road capability (say 5-10%) that would be closer to the dimensions of the stock tyre, but that seems almost impossible to find with the correct load rating in our market. Therefore, it seems I am destined to follow many others into fitting a 225/65/17.

My resultant questions to the hive mind are:

1. Can I get away with the standard 215/60/17 spare wheel, even though it will be (at worst) 10mm narrower and 35mm shorter than the upgraded wheels? For context, I am in Australia where there can be vast distances between tyre repair places and our van is an Ocean TDI 450 with 4 Motion.
2. For anyone that has extended the spare wheel carrier, did you get the stainless steel pin out by straightening it, because the other end is crimped?
3. Before I go to that effort, is the extension of the stock spare wheel carrier suffient to fit a 225/65/17?

Stock spare carrier shown in first picture. Characteristics mentioned in second picture.

 

[Tarquers]

BFG 225/65/17 will fit under

 

[arcadelt]

BFG 225/65/17 will fit under

As is, or after extending?

 

[Tarquers]

You will probably need to drop the back of the attachment to the lower setting, but this is really simple to do. The upper setting is for 16 inch narrow wheels so it’s going to need moving anyway. There are some pictures on the forums with guys running 19 inch rims so much wider than the 17s you are thinking of.

 

[dspuk]

Try the T6 forum - there are a few threads there of guys that have done this.

Also note on the crimped end, because this stumped me for 5 minutes, feed it through via the non crmiped end.

 

[WelshGas]

For a practice run, I just removed and refitted the spare wheel in the comfort of my shed. I have to say, that is certainly not something you want to be doing for the first time out of necessity by the side of the road while it is raining and dark.

Anyway, my main reason for doing that was to have a look at how you extend the spare wheel carrier capacity to accommodate a wider tyre. I'm thinking of replacing my stock wheels, so that would be necessary if I needed to carry a matching spare. I'd love to find a 225/60/17 tyre with a minor amount of off-road capability (say 5-10%) that would be closer to the dimensions of the stock tyre, but that seems almost impossible to find with the correct load rating in our market. Therefore, it seems I am destined to follow many others into fitting a 225/65/17.

My resultant questions to the hive mind are:

1. Can I get away with the standard 215/60/17 spare wheel, even though it will be (at worst) 10mm narrower and 35mm shorter than the upgraded wheels? For context, I am in Australia where there can be vast distances between tyre repair places and our van is an Ocean TDI 450 with 4 Motion.
2. For anyone that has extended the spare wheel carrier, did you get the stainless steel pin out by straightening it, because the other end is crimped?
3. Before I go to that effort, is the extension of the stock spare wheel carrier suffient to fit a 225/65/17?

Stock spare carrier shown in first picture. Characteristics mentioned in second picture.

View attachment 116381

View attachment 116382

The 4Motion system is very particular regarding Wheel Circumference/Diameter.
Width is not a problem .
Unless you can fit the exact same Circumference/Diameter spare as the wheel/tyres fitted to the vehicle then it should be treated as a SpaceSaver spare, limited miles and speed otherwise the 4Motion system can be damaged.
? Carry an exact spare on a tailgate/towbar rack?

 

[arcadelt]

The 4Motion system is very particular regarding Wheel Circumference/Diameter.
Width is not a problem .
Unless you can fit the exact same Circumference/Diameter spare as the wheel/tyres fitted to the vehicle then it should be treated as a SpaceSaver spare, limited miles and speed otherwise the 4Motion system can be damaged.
? Carry an exact spare on a tailgate/towbar rack?

I suspected as much, so the intent is to fit the same 225/65/17 tyre to the VW steel spare rim, and that will be mounted under the car. My only pause is that the offsets are different, with my new wheels being ET35 and the steel wheel ET55. Do you think that offset would be an issue for up to a few hundred kilometres until a flat tyre could be repaired?

 

[B J G]

I have a 235/60/17 tyre as a spare with some diameter clearance remaining.

Your option of 225/60/17 is approx 12mm less diameter than mine therefore will fit with no need to alter the carrier which is designed for the 235/55/17 tyre fitment with the setup that your photo shows.

 

[B J G]

I suspected as much, so the intent is to fit the same 225/65/17 tyre to the VW steel spare rim, and that will be mounted under the car. My only pause is that the offsets are different, with my new wheels being ET35 and the steel wheel ET55. Do you think that offset would be an issue for up to a few hundred kilometres until a flat tyre could be repaired?

I wouldn't have mismatched offset wheels on the steer axle as it will have an effect on the geometry.
A back to front swap would get around this with the spare always being put on the back/rear axle.

 

[WelshGas]

I suspected as much, so the intent is to fit the same 225/65/17 tyre to the VW steel spare rim, and that will be mounted under the car. My only pause is that the offsets are different, with my new wheels being ET35 and the steel wheel ET55. Do you think that offset would be an issue for up to a few hundred kilometres until a flat tyre could be repaired?

See Post 9

 

[arcadelt]

See Post 9

Yes, thank you. I've seen it and liked it.