I keep a tire puncture repair kit handy, as well as a compressor, and have never had to put my spare on since I bought my van in 1987!  I've put over 120k miles on it.  

The only tire issue I had was in 1992, when I hit ice on the highway, was blown off the road, and my tire was knocked off the rim and deflated.  Needless to say, a tow truck was needed, and the tire was remounted and was driving again using the same tire.  The HD multi-ply tires tend to hold up very well.  Frankly, I'd rather keep a 185/R14 in the clam shell, for safety and short drives. 

I've upgraded to 16" rims, and as Dennis said, the diameter is close and I have 2WD, so I'm glad to have it set up this way.

Jack R.
84 Westy

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Chris S
Sent: Thursday, April 1, 2021 8:33 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Spare tire location

I recently engaged in same conversation on FB Vanagon group because I thought so too. I’m not so sure now because there does not seem to be a lot of structure behind the spare.  After 21 years of Vanagon ownership put me in the “plausible” club. 

Chris. 
Wysłane z iPhone'a

> Wiadomość napisana przez Rob <vwrobb@gmail.com> w dniu 4/1/21, o godz. 18:05:
> 
> The vanagon spare tire laying flat right up front like that is there to
> absorb energy when you run into something.
> 
> Rob
> Vwrobb@gmail.com