Probably the most uninspiring question of the week from a fairly = new owner, but should the clearance for the spare tire storage underneath in the = front be so tight as to make closing it up very difficult? Mine is, and I = am concerned I may be partially pinching closed my radiator hoses. = While closing it meets resistance with still about 2 inches to go. I can = push it on up and latch it but only with great difficulty. Have tried = flipping the spare, but no difference. The spare is 185 R 14 which came on the vehicle.

Also, most of my cooling system hoses are probably 13 years = old. A mechanic has replaced 5 or 6 but others look pretty bad, especially = upper and lower radiator and the ones to the front heater. I've studied the = diagrams in Bentley, Vanagon.com, Bus Depot, and Vanagain, but can't find those = latter ones. All I can find is what looks like ones to REAR heater = core. Finally, are the long hoses front to back that connect to the radiator = hoses plastic and likely to need replacement? I'm finding some moisture = on what appears to be a thick insulating coating of some type, but not enough to = id it as green coolant.