Spare Wheel Removal

[TripleBee]

Bit difficult if you have a rear puncture.

I had one last week. Right rear tyre was empty.
Jacked the van up, plugged my spare out of the basket, and put it on.
Put my alloy in the living area, as I won't put that one in the basket.

 

[AKBOB]

Attempting to remove the spare wheel from my recently acquired 2014 T5 Ocean . Removed the securing bolts lowered the wheel, no problem. BUT how do I get the wheel out!. The left hand securing bolt is in the way, it will not come out sideways, silencer in the way. I have not tried jacking it up to allow the wheel to possibly pass under the bolt yet.
I was doing this exercise on a nice day, I shudder to think of doing this in wet windy weather with a rear wheel puncture making the rear end even lower.
There must be an easy way,I cannot see VW designers making it so difficult.

I was inspired by your post to give my 2016 a try to make sure it ran free. It turned out the right hand bolt had a round head that just spun. I finally deduced that it was a locked bolt, so found the kit to loosen it and then found the lug wrwnch did not fit the head so had to find the appropiate socket. SUCCESS! Would have been scuppered on the side of the road. will grease and reinstall. Your post got me in gear and set up for a future tire change. Many thanks

 

[SusiBus]

This thread is well worth reading for anyone new to Cali ownership. Practice at home recomended.

 

[Aidy P]

Does the SpareSafe corrode? Yes.
Is the spare wheel holder an infuriating piece of metal that over time bends, rusts and doesn’t fit properly? Yes

 

[KGCali]

View attachment 109642 Does the SpareSafe corrode? Yes.
View attachment 109643 Is the spare wheel holder an infuriating piece of metal that over time bends, rusts and doesn’t fit properly? Yes

I burnt off all the old flaking paint from my SpareSafe after 2 years and painted it with CureRust then Hammerite and copper greased the bolt threads and it's been fine for the last 2 years. No rust on my 2010 spare wheel carrier. Never easy changing the wheel though, always have to jack the Cali up just to get the 17" spare out and wrestle with it to get it back in.

 

[B J G]

View attachment 109642 Does the SpareSafe corrode? Yes.
View attachment 109643 Is the spare wheel holder an infuriating piece of metal that over time bends, rusts and doesn’t fit properly? Yes

Sadly they are just painted without any primer process. 2 years max before needing a strip and repaint but that would be found on regular annual spare wheel removal and check/clean up.

 

[Aidy P]

The hammerite is definitely coming out of the garage.

The real frustration is the carrier has bent after 7 year and now needs replacing. Shoddy VW solution.

I hate changing wheels and hope that my wife is never in the situation where she has to do it as she wouldn’t be able to get the bloody wheel off.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Because our van was approaching 7 years old I decided to take the rear wheel off just to see how difficult it was and the thought of struggling on a French motorway at night frightens the begeebers out of me. I replaced the standard bolt with a locking one a few years ago.
With a spray of WD40 it came off fairly easily.
Putting it back on I greased everything in that area.
Like one of the previous posters said the worst part was actually getting the wheel free of the cage. That’s a different story.
But then I suppose that’s what breakdown cover is for.