Today I finally got round to doing it properly. The task was to make a bracket, fit it, try it. And it works. First of find a space saver from an Audi or something with a PCD of 112. Find an old spring plate and cut the end off. Weld in a nut and paint. Drill (and ruddy drill. Those spring plates don't like drills) and fit avoiding the elongated holes in the side. Rob your Golf of its spare wheel nut and make a long enough thread bolt so it doesn't stay there and gash your shins when you walk past if the wheel is removed. Fit. Check that it does actually clear the seat belt And clears second gear. And more importantly that the cocktail cabinet does open. Fit cover. And walk through. And now I have the task of cleaning up. I did however find my rear light covers under the front seat cubby holes. SAFETY NOTICE: I'm not endorsing the use of a space saver wheel in anyway. Some will question if it can handle the weight of the bus. Use at your own risk. For me this is to get me somewhere safe should l be stranded in No mans land or on the hard shoulder of the freeway as I don't like the idea of not having a spare wheel.
Really interesting solution Mr B! How easy is it for the passenger to put their seatbelt on? What size is the tyre, what's the width of it? I've often wondered if I could fit one between the bars of the roof rack. Cheers s
It's a 125/18 R17. The tyre itself is about 5" wide. 7" in total with the bulgy bit of the rim. Number on it reads: 4B3601027. It's diameter is the same at a standard wheel. The walk through width has been reduced to about half what it should be. The belt you see which is mine is easy to fasten if not as easy as it was but still not a problem. I just have to do it with my left hand instead of my right. If your going to throw a wheel on the roof rack your best of just using the standard. This wheel really is only to get me out of a sticky wicket if l say end up with a flat on the freeway or in the middle of nowhere.
i fasten mine standing up behind the passenger seat with a bungee and throw it under when i camp, do i win best prize for 'poor man's cock' ?
does the wheel fit on a bay with no mods ? i know the PCD is the same but what about wheel nuts, off set, centre hole size etc
The wheel nuts are fine and the offset is perfect. The 2 nuts that hold the drum on need to be removed when fitted. I did need to cut a small amount away from the centre hole to fit. There are other 112 PCD rims out there. I did look for a Mercedes one in the vain hope that it would be bigger but I wasn't able to try one and the ones l saw for sale were for over £110. I think a Merc ML had a space saver according to the www. For an experiment l thought £110 was a lot. The Audi one I got was for £50 of eBay.
Far too much hacking required, it would offend my sensibilities to chop out both "cubby holes" either side of the walkthrough. Worse than the spare on the front. I got bigger fish to fry now - I fitted a "new" gearbox last week and it's flippered. Got to change it all back again.
How about this for an an idea. Maybe you could put your spare wheel in that long cabinet where the booze is ?
