I could be wrong but I heard a couple years ago that the spare tire acts as
protection or cushion for the gas tank in case of front impact...

On Sat, Apr 3, 2021 at 10:31 AM Stacy Schneider <vwcrewman@gmail.com> wrote:

>          If you don't believe it then that's up to you. Just make sure that
> you have not changed the breakaway bolts in your steering column either.
>
>                                                            Stacy
>
> On Sat, Apr 3, 2021 at 10:07 AM David Boan <dboan@outlook.com> wrote:
>
> > Just my $.02, but doing the crash test with the stock spare tire is not
> > evidence that the spare is part of the integrity of the van.  You would
> > need tests with and without the spare to see if there is a difference,
> and
> > I am not aware of any such evidence.  Still, lack of proof that the spare
> > matters is not proof that it does not matter.
> >
> > Dave B
> > Boise
>