Spare wheel spacer - Live Axle

[Sam Monoogian]

I noticed while on Wight Blat that more modern cars have a spacer bracket between the spare wheel and the rear skin, whereas my '97 Vauxhall 8V Live Axle has the wheel hard up against the skin, restricting the access to the middle of the boot, which is fine when going for a blat, but a pain when touring.

 

I found this thread here but the links no longer work I guess due to website updates.

 

Am I correct in thinking this is the part I'm after? And that I'd need to ensure there's a decent boss in the rear skin for it to sit against?

 

Is there any other reason why this wouldn't be a simple buy and bolt-on job?

[John Hughes]

My previous 1986 Live axle car didn't have a spacer originally.

 

Made one out of a piece of 1.5" plastic pipe cut to the appropriate length and 2 disks of 5mm plywood at each end one with a 1.5" cut out so the pipe fitted in it.

 

Worked well for 20k + miles, you can also male the gap to do the poppers as big or small as you like and will cost next to nothing

 

[Mort]

This gets horribly complicated............

 

My original SuperSprint didn't have a spacer, the spare was hard up against the body like yours, with a large washer to hold the spare in place. The retaining bolt went through the washer and had a lock (a bit like a wheel lock, with a key) on it to prevent the spare being nicked.

 

My current 1.4K has a spacer but no washer or locking bolt - it just has a thumb screw that holds the spacer to the body and the spare is held onto the spacer with a couple of standard lug nuts.

 

I tried buying I few different spacers from the small ads on here to try to make a neat locking spacer version, but with no joy, as the various different versions are different sizes and the bolt lengths are different. None of them are compatible with each other. In the end I just gave up and went back to using my original spacer, and I bought a bike lock to give the spare a measure of security.

 

I can confirm that there are at least two versions of the spacer type available, each of which use different bolt lengths and different sized spacers. One type has a hole through the thread so that you can attach a padlock from inside the boot, and you'll then need a normal locking wheel nut to secure the spare to the spacer.

 

if you have the same type that I had on my SuperSprint (see para one) then I'd stick with it. It's a much more secure and elegant solution, and you can get to most of the stuff in the boot from the sides, so you don't need to unscrew the central spare bolt unless you want to fit the hood. If you have a half hood then you won't even need to to that.

 

You're probably even more confused now that you were before you read this - apologies. 😬 The management summary is If you buy a spacer you'll need to ensure that you have the correct length bolt to hold the spacer to the bodywork and you'll need a couple of lug nuts to hold the spare to the spacer. Just don't expect to be able to lock it.

 

 

 

 

[Sam Monoogian]

John, I might give that a go, got to be lighter than what looks to be a steel fabrication too.

 

Mort, I had to read it twice but got there in the end Obviously John's DIY solution may still mean getting a bolt of the right length but worth a bit of experimentation anyway.

 

If I did go for the Caterham part, lug nuts wouldn't be an issue - my car's previous owner seemed to be building a collection and I must have about 3 spare sets in my spares stash.

[brianmurray325hotmail.com]

just buy the bit from caterham (a Y piece shaped like a catapult) and do a proper job, it fitted my old 81 crossflow and it keeps the spare from rubbing on the bare ali

[Golf Juliet Tango]

My experience has been that when using a spacer and the penny washer, spirited driving creates movement and the thread gets worn. The problem, of course, becomes worse as ever more play is created.

With 95,000 miles on the clock, the thread (the boss on the chassis) will no longer hold a bolt so I use a rachet strap on the wheel.

It is a bit of a pain that you obstruct the boot cover (so I bung my luggage on the passenger seat!)

[John Hughes]

Sam

 

Worked well for me, as GJT says the wheel can move slightly. I forgot to say I did have a luggage strap over the wheel / rack to hold it firmly in place even when my luggage rack was attached for 3 camping trips to Le Mans.

 

The original long bolt / washer / locking device was easily long enough to cope with the mod.

 

John