Full Size Spare Tire

Thinking about ditching the donut in favor of a full size 205/55-16. Does anyone know off the top of their head if the Fender Sound System subwoofer will fit?

Yes, but you will need to make a longer plastic retaining stud for the spare/sub because the smaller diameter wheel will cause the sub to sit higher in the wheel backside and the stud will be too short for the nut to engage. Very easy to make this, though. If you're interested in doing this, I'll post a pic of how to do it.

The other issue is that if you want to use the lower cargo floor position you will no longer be able to retain the sub because of the increased sub mounting height.

I believe you also need to trim the plastic panel along the rear of the car, in order for the full size spare to sit deep enough. I quickly tried sliding it in there and it didn't seem to sit low enough/back far enough without trimming this panel. Can anyone confirm?


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Not true for the SW, but I believe is true for the hatchback.

Thanks, Chris. I measured the subwoofer and I'm not sure that it will fit inside a full size spare's wheel. the donut is 18" and the standard spare has a 16" wheel. I've got a local salvage yard with a 16" steel wheel and I'm going to run out there tomorrow to see if it will fit. If you have a picture of your fix, I'd definitely be interested.

Chris Bell said:

Yes, but you will need to make a longer plastic retaining stud for the spare/sub because the smaller diameter wheel will cause the sub to sit higher in the wheel backside and the stud will be too short for the nut to engage. Very easy to make this, though. If you're interested in doing this, I'll post a pic of how to do it.
The other issue is that if you want to use the lower cargo floor position you will no longer be able to retain the sub because of the increased sub mounting height.

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It will definitely fit. I've got a 16" aftermarket aluminum rim in there and it fits; the steel rim should fit slightly better (ie. lower).

Chris Bell said:

It will definitely fit. I've got a 16" aftermarket aluminum rim in there and it fits; the steel rim should fit slightly better (ie. lower).

Click to expand...

Roger that. Thanks! My all-season tires are on aftermarket rims with conical lugbolts and my summer tires are on BBS rims that use the standard VW spherical bolts, so I'll just get a spare set of VW bolts and keep them in the tool kit.

Securing a GSW subwoofer in a full size spare

For a GSW: To allow the Fender subwoofer to be secured within a full size 205/55-16, 225/45-17, or 225/40-18 spare tire:

The Problem: A full size spare tire will fit in the GSW spare well nicely, but the OE Fender subwoofer can't be held-down with the stock stud & nut because the sub sits quite a bit higher from the well floor.

The Solution: Increase stud length (insert joke here).

Get a 2nd stud/nut set (p/n 5Q0803899). Pull the end caps off both studs and connect the two studs back-to-back with 1" PVC pipe. The pipe is a perfect press fit in the stud bores and can be secured either with epoxy/adhesive or 7/16" threaded rod w/ lock nuts on each end. I chose threaded rod since I wanted to be able to use the stud for both temporary and full size spares and this method allows quick conversion from short to long stud. Also I didn't want to risk possible iffy bonding between PVC and POM parts (and so I can't vouch for this method).

If using threaded rod, drill out the end hole in each stud to 7/16". Mock up the full size spare w/ the "double" stud and sub in place in the spare well in order to determine the correct length of pipe. I won't specify a pipe length since wheel backside inner diameters and tire widths will vary and hence sub mounting height relative to well floor will vary with each application. If using threaded rod, you want minimal projection of the ends of the threaded rod past the "T" on the studs; just enough for the lock nuts to fully engage rod threads.

Hopefully its obvious from the photos that the wheel and sub are held-down separately with their own nuts. You don't want to use only a single nut to hold down both because only the 18" temp. spare wheel (and possibly an 18" full-size spare) allows the sub to fit flush in the wheel, which distributes a stable clamping force to sub & wheel. Smaller wheels force the sub to sit wedged into and above the wheel which makes sub mounting somewhat unstable and subject to possible rocking and loosening of the nut over time. The two-nut method assures secure hold-down of the spare regardless of what's going on with the sub hold-down.

The sub clears the underside of the cargo floor only w/ floor in upper mounting position. This is why I use the full size spare only on long trips and the temp. spare for routine local driving; I want to have the option to lower the cargo floor when driving locally while having the safety and no speed limitation of a full- size spare on a trip.

The higher sub mounting position will stretch the sub wiring harness and it may no longer reach the sub connector. If so, cut a second harness exit slit in the spare well soft trim several inches directly to the rear of the existing slit and relocate the harness through the new slit.

A 195/65-15 spare is somewhat iffy because the sub sits precariously high in the backside of the wheel and is more subject to rocking than when mounted in larger wheels.

Thank you, Chris!

great problem solving there!

Going to ask a mod to move this to the MK VII DIY sticky thread.

Just got the new stud/nut assembly in the mail today. I'll post pictures when I've got it done.

Great info all! I have some spare 18’s from another SEL so really no excuse for me not to test and verify.

I need an extension for the sub leads for the alltrack as there isn't enough slack, I slid a 205-60-16 tire on a bioline in the trunk this past week.

My cheap solution, place the sub face down then tire on top rim face up. right now the spare isn't secure but she's all there.

740GLE said:

I need an extension for the sub leads for the alltrack as there isn't enough slack, I slid a 205-60-16 tire on a bioline in the trunk this past week.
My cheap solution, place the sub face down then tire on top rim face up. right now the spare isn't secure but she's all there.

Click to expand...

See post #17

I'll give it a whirl, it was about 3-4 inches too short.

My memory about how to extend the harness was wrong (in my defense, it was a while ago). I took another look and realized the way to do this is to cut another slit in the well liner so that the harness emerges further rearward from the stock location. Just go straight back from the original slit a few inches and cut another slit. You should be able to thread the harness back through the original slit, then pick it up in the new slit, but I didn't try that because I already had the liner out and it was easier that way.

If you have to remove the liner, remove the hatch threshold trim panel and the 3 cargo floor riser blocks.

Thanks, I'll tackle that once I order the extra stud and correct my dangerous flying projectile rim.

I just finised this DIY on my Sportwagen SEL. I found a new VMR wheel that matches my summer set in diameter and offset for $125 so I put that in for a spare. I can confirm that the 225/40R18 does clear the floor with the sub and DIY hold down assembly in place.