Spare Tire

I have a CMC on a 1973 VW body. I was told that a 15 inch rim,with a 135 tire,would fit in the trunk. There's no way I can see the trunk lid closing with just the 15 inch VW rim, must less with a tire mounted.
Paul McGuffin, Green Valley, Arizona

Paul: Yes, a spare will fit. My '79 IM came w/a full size spare. The added weight in the front is a bonus.

Chuck

Paul:

I'm using 16" Fuchs rims on my CMC from a 911, so I wanted a 16" spare as well (and it had to fit under the hood, too).

I'm using a 16" space-saver spare (with a 135X16 tire mounted) from a Cadillac Sedan DeVille (a junk yard special) and it fits under the hood just fine. It lies down in front of the gas tank and the bottom edge just rides on the top of the battery box in the front, although it's supported such that it's just making contact with the box and not applying any weight to it and it has a center tie-down bolt (also taken from the Caddy) attached to the trunk floor about mid-way between the gas tank and the battery.

Everything fits just fine.

Also; you can use a T125 70D 15 (T is for temporary) I got mine in a junkyard off of a recent Chrysler Stratus and mounted it in a 4.5 wide 15" VW rim. In fact, that size is the one recommended in the CMC manual.

I have a 135 tire on a chrome 15" rim. I have to have it laying flat in just the right position for the lid to close. Just dont force the lid down. When the front two inches of the tire lays on my battery it's just about in the right spot.

BD

My VW rim is 5 1/2" ?? What are the 4" off of.
Paul

VW rims come in 4.5" and 5.5" widths.

Thanks for all the help... I picked up a 4.5 inch VW rim yesterday along with a 15/135 tire.
Paul

Paul,

I have a Spare Tire in my 88' CMC. The only clearance problem I encountered was my Battery is frount mounted and enclosed in a "Battery Box." The Height of the Battery Box intered with the spare tire/front bonnett. I modified the Battery Box Cover and the Bonnett "Opens/Closes" with out much concern.

I utilized the "Stock Wheel Rim & 135 Tire."

Good Luck,

Jack Blake

Use the temp tire recommended by CMC on a stock 4" rim --- if you have stock size gas tank it will fit.

Couple folks mentioned 4.5" rim --- the '68 and 69 (at least) came with 4J15 with 5.06x15 bias ply tires so you may want to go with a 4" wide vice the extra 1/2" one. Here's link to owners manual for a '69 showing the 4J15 rim. www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/69bug/page19.jpg