

| Subject: | Another "upgrade" completed |
| From: | Kim Brennan |
| Date: | Thu, 8 Jul 2004 20:00:57 -0400 |
So, in the never ending tale of "upgrades" to my Vanagon fleet... After I had upgraded my wheels and tires (to 215/75R15 tires on 15" wheels) I could not put the spare tire in the original tire carrier. While there are all sorts of ways to approach this, I decided to go fo the VolkCafe spare tire carrier (which replaces the original one). It's a pretty straight forward install. Pop off a couple of retaining clips on the old, pull the "wire" forms that form the hinge, Drop the old carrier out of the way. Then install the new (using bolts instead of the wire forms). As they suggest, I deflated my spare down (they suggest 10psi, I didn't measure). That way it shouldn't rub against the steering linkage. This also means I'll be carrying a tire pump in the future (probably should anyway). Since I have the fiberglass bumpers with my front air dam still intact, you can't see the tire (if you don't have the air dam, you will be able to see the tire. This also means that when I next go driving off road with Derek Drew, I'll have to pull the spare out and put it someplace safe. My old carrier was a bit dented up after Syncro de Mayo Este (good thing my spare wasn't in there.) :)
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