Date:         Sat, 25 Sep 1999 12:02:35 -0700
Reply-To:     daveb@CP.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Bayer <daveb@CP.NET>
Subject:      Re: Flat and spare tire carrier woes
Comments: To: David M <dmc@CYBURBAN.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

David M wrote:
>
> I recently got my first flat tire and had to change the wheel.
> The spare carrier nut was rusted and the VW supplied wrench was useless.
> So I used pieces from my metric socket set and eventually stripped the
> nut threads.
> How to get this nut off to get access to my spare tire?

        Start all by applying penetrating oil and
        then heating. Then:
        - Try using an easy out.
        - Drill the head of the bolt out. Drop the
          spare tire. Then try an easy out on the threaded
          portion of the bolt.
        - attempt to loosen the bolt with a chisel.
          (you want to place the chisel near the edge
          and angle it so that as much of the energy/force
          of the blow will will translate into turning
          the bolt which means to near to tangentially
          as possible, but leaving enough of an angle
          so that the chisel has some metal to bite into
          for a few blows).

> Also, where do I get a new spare carrier nut from?

        Once you have the bolt out, take it to a hardware
shop (a decent one that has lots of metric bolts) and use
the guage - its a little metal plate with a bunch of threaded
holes - to match the diameter and pitch of the bolt. Then ask
for one of those in the right length. Or just go to the dealer.

> What an absolutely stupid design to have the spare tire secured in this
> manner.

        If you rotate the spare in or use antisieze on this bolt,
you should never run into this problem.

dave