spare wheel carrier

[vwsharan]

Looking for a spare wheel carrier (used to lower and rise spare wheel from under car) for a 05 sharan . Can anyone please advise a good website for spare parts?

[matthewgdavies]

I shopped all over for a replacement for my Alhambra (May 09) and cut my losses in the end and went to a Ford dealer - Seat wanted an arm and a leg (£150), VW an arm and both legs (£200ish) but Ford part is only £67.96 plus vat - it takes about 5 mins to fit assuming you have the correct torx socket (from memory T40)
Your old one can probably be repaired for a few pounds by drilling out the rivets and replacing the cable - they are normally damaged by Fast Fit centres lowering the carrier using an air gun or spider which spins the capstan too fast and kinks the cable - the Ford part number is 1418290 - they will no doubt tell you it won't fit but it will

[matthewgdavies]

Would add that it's essential on these that you keep tension on the cable while slowly raising or lowering the wheel and only use the car's standard wheel brace or a socket and ratchet

[vwsharan]

I shopped all over for a replacement for my Alhambra (May 09) and cut my losses in the end and went to a Ford dealer - Seat wanted an arm and a leg (£150), VW an arm and both legs (£200ish) but Ford part is only £67.96 plus vat - it takes about 5 mins to fit assuming you have the correct torx socket (from memory T40)
Your old one can probably be repaired for a few pounds by drilling out the rivets and replacing the cable - they are normally damaged by Fast Fit centres lowering the carrier using an air gun or spider which spins the capstan too fast and kinks the cable - the Ford part number is 1418290 - they will no doubt tell you it won't fit but it will

Thanks for your help on this matter.
I will order the part from Ford on your excellent advice. The cable is not broken but the gear mechanism is slipping on the centre shaft, I have opened the unit to study the fault and it resembles a cheap kids toy. This was the first time use of the spare wheel device.
If only i could meet the designer of this rubbish product and give them a little education on very basic mechanical engineering.

[matthewgdavies]

Pleased to help, I never saw my old one as the fast fit centre concerned just told me it was u/s and binned it - I believe from old threads on here that Ford have re-designed it using more nylon parts but I never had the chance to compare them - I believe the Ford part is a simpler, cheaper but better thought out solution - at least with this one the wheel is there when you need it and not awol as on most Peugeot, Citroen and Zafira mpvs having been lifted by some chav for his Saxo Tw*t Hatch (perhaps that should be some tw*t for his chav hatch) Good luck - also just checked and it is a TX40 torx socket you need for the two retaining bolts