Club 80-90 Forums

Hello, I am after a spare wheel carrier for a 16 inch syncro (OEM). If any one has one or knows of anyone with one please contact me!

MY SEARCH IS OVER I HAVE ACQUIRED ONE!
Thanks for everybodys help and comments and advise!!!!

Prepare for bank account drain to commence.....

If you get tired of waiting for the holy grail of OEM carriers to appear you might try Petes (on this forum) latest offering or take a look at Gary Lee racks in Canada. Dollar rates are favourable but taxes/shipping are not.

A Gary Lee went on german Ebay for £700 plus the other day.

Syncro Spare Wheel holder madness is now a confirmed epidemic!

poshbuggers wrote:Syncro Spare Wheel holder madness is now a confirmed epidemic!

The cost of these things is depressing but it seems to me that (unless you simply HAVE to have it on display) there is enough room to put it in the normal (2WD) position under the cab. So all you really need is the tray and other associated hardware from a 2WD Transporter - surely available cheap from a breaker. I can't really fathom why VW didn't do this in the first place!

I will do this... when I get 'round to it

you wont fit 16" under their neither most larger 15" wheels n tyres,cj.

and 205r14's have a specific carrier that reduces front ground clearance....

I bow to your knowledge on that CJ but I'm only running 205/70 x 15 so I think mine will probably fit.

(ground clearance is not a big issue to me as I don't do "serious off roading" just some unsurfaced tracks and muddy camp sites.. )

vw did a syncro fromt drop down wheel carrier fitted to the Tristars and a few others (M478) (M343 is sub frame ready to take wheel carrier with hinge points - most v late vans have this), will take a 205R14 at max, space between deform member and subframe being the limiting factor. Still available from VW if you want to go down that route.
2wd version not dual purpose bashplate and most only take a 185R14, 205 2wd version rare.

It might, it might not.. depending on what the tyre is like.. my 205/70 15 wont go in Aidans "205 carrier" as they are bloomin chunky..

I can't really fathom why VW didn't do this in the first place!

I think they did on some I think SA ones, but maybe felt there was too much crash bang wallop going on down there off-raod

it's a pre SA thing, probably initially for Tristars (and the extra hang down being hidden by the plastic bumper)so as to not get the rear interior dirty putting spare under rear seat as per normal dokas, but also used on Beaker, a Hitop panel van from the factory and part of it's normal extras package ( ie M codes contained within type code, ie 256 GC7), late subframes generally have the hinge points welded on.
Jagdwagens went for mounting spare on rear of cab on loadbed as the gun rack went in the locker, but wanted to keep max approach angle.
It does reduce the angle a little but I've not found it a problem in practice.

Hmmm, all interesting stuff guys - thanks

This spare wheel issue is a vexing one. I'm certainly not about to pay £xxx for a swanky swing-away but I do get fed up of lugging the wheel from the 'boot' into the cab everytime I go camping witth my chickadee...

I don't mind sleeping with a wheel but she doesn't seem to like it for some reason.

These vehicles are about maximum utilisation of space, and one of the most awkward compromises made was the spare wheel stowage, in some cases - spare wheels.
Once the Syncro got serious, particularly with larger wheels, things got difficult.

The other place of course, and somewhat cheaper than the rear carriers, is a front mount. TerryVanMan had his spare there, on a big bullbar extension, and some of the Syncro Ambulances did, even ones with 5 cyl. VW/Audi petrols. All reported no obvious loss of cooling, but they were petrols and diesels seem to need a lot more air through the front.