How to remove inflation kit foam insert?

[Metalogic]

Hi - I have a late-2021 (post-facelift) Ibiza FR 1.0 TSI 110. As I'm going on a long road trip to France in a week, I don't fancy just relying on the the inflation kit the car came with, so purchased an official SEAT full size spare wheel kit (with jack and foam insert for it).

To fit the spare wheel I need to remove the foam insert for tge inflation kit, but it appears to be help in place with a weird-looking plastic fastener and I can't see an obvious way to remove it without damaging the foam insert - how does this come out? Sorry if this is a dumb question!

Once I can remove the insert, I can fit the wheel and jack kit insert into the well, which look like this:

BTW what's the bit of bent metal wire shown bottom right in the image above for?

Also what are you meant to do with the strap that comes with the jack kit insert? I assume it's to pass around the spare wheel and jack kit insert to help keep things in place? But doesn't the screw thing in the middle of the insert do that? How is the strap meant to be fitted?

 

[East Yorkshire Retrofits]

It just unscrews, turn it anticlockwise

 

[East Yorkshire Retrofits]

The bent metal is to remove the wheel bolt covers, however it depends which bolt covers you have as there are two types with different tools

 

[Metalogic]

It just unscrews, turn it anticlockwise

With what? Just fingers?

 

[Metalogic]

The bent metal is to remove the wheel bolt covers, however it depends which bolt covers you have as there are two types with different tools

Ah, thanks! I think my ones come off using the black forcep-like ones.

 

[RUM4MO]

I'd try using a suitably sized screwdriver to remove that retainer, ie fit screwdriver into the slot in the head of the retainer and unscrew as advised already.

Edit:- also, there is a black plastic "wheel locating/positioning dowel that is handy to add to your tool kit, it is VW Group part number 893 12 223, usually available via ebay or can be ordered in via an Audi dealership parts department.

How exactly to fit that strap could be an annoying puzzle, but its purposes are to hold the insert down on some cars and to provide a "handle" to lift/extract the spare wheel from its recess - it does work, my wife's 2015 Polo has that on its spare wheel as does my 2011 Audi S4, so I know from experience (of removing the spare wheel every year service time to check and top up its tyre pressure) that it works as intended. You do need to fit the plastic buckle to one end of that strap and feed it through a hole at one side of the spare wheel across and out another hole on the other side, then try to work out how to fit the other end of that strap into the plastic buckle in a way that allows you to lift the wheel up using that strap, there is a part of the plastic buckle that clicks open and shut - just an annoying challenge for you, if you get it to work some way for you then that is good enough, I'm sure on one of our cars that I end up making sure that the "free end" of that strap is firmly gripped in my hand before trying to lift the wheel out.

Also, you might find that you need to drop the rearmost end of the spare wheel down and under the plastic trim piece first before lowering the front end down - wheel obviously fitted in upside down so that there is a recess for the tool insert.

That bent bit of wire has, on some cars, got a second use, and that is to remove (maybe) fog light trims to get in to replace the bulb - maybe some other trim removal elsewhere.

Another Edit:- it looks like you need to put VW before that plastic dowel part number to find any on ebay, and it seems like currently £8.99 is the going rate for them, I'd think that it would cost less if bought new via an Audi dealership, though remember that they would need to order it in for you, so a 2 day turn around for that. I'm sure that you can't buy that dowel from SEAT Skoda dealerships as it was never supplied as part of any of their cars new.

 

[Seriously?]

The bent metal is to remove the wheel bolt covers, however it depends which bolt covers you have as there are two types with different tools

Yep. The common SEAT/Skoda/Audi ones are removed with the black plastic U shaped tool on the left of the insert

 

[Metalogic]

I'd try using a suitably sized screwdriver to remove that retainer, ie fit screwdriver into the slot in the head of the retainer and unscrew as advised already.

Edit:- also, there is a black plastic "wheel locating/positioning dowel that is handy to add to your tool kit, it is VW Group part number 893 12 223, usually available via ebay or can be ordered in via an Audi dealership parts department.

How exactly to fit that strap could be an annoying puzzle, but its purposes are to hold the insert down on some cars and to provide a "handle" to lift/extract the spare wheel from its recess - it does work, my wife's 2015 Polo has that on its spare wheel as does my 2011 Audi S4, so I know from experience (of removing the spare wheel every year service time to check and top up its tyre pressure) that it works as intended. You do need to fit the plastic buckle to one end of that strap and feed it through a hole at one side of the spare wheel across and out another hole on the other side, then try to work out how to fit the other end of that strap into the plastic buckle in a way that allows you to lift the wheel up using that strap, there is a part of the plastic buckle that clicks open and shut - just an annoying challenge for you, if you get it to work some way for you then that is good enough, I'm sure on one of our cars that I end up making sure that the "free end" of that strap is firmly gripped in my hand before trying to lift the wheel out.

Also, you might find that you need to drop the rearmost end of the spare wheel down and under the plastic trim piece first before lowering the front end down - wheel obviously fitted in upside down so that there is a recess for the tool insert.

That bent bit of wire has, on some cars, got a second use, and that is to remove (maybe) fog light trims to get in to replace the bulb - maybe some other trim removal elsewhere.

Another Edit:- it looks like you need to put VW before that plastic dowel part number to find any on ebay, and it seems like currently £8.99 is the going rate for them, I'd think that it would cost less if bought new via an Audi dealership, though remember that they would need to order it in for you, so a 2 day turn around for that. I'm sure that you can't buy that dowel from SEAT Skoda dealerships as it was never supplied as part of any of their cars new.

Thanks, that's helpful, will see if I can get that part you mention and will see how I get on attaching the strap!

For my trip to France will probably take the compressor and sealant (which is still within the use-by date - I suspect many are driving around with sealant that isn't!) as well, as may be able to sort out some types of flat with just that.

Still trying to decide whether it's worth taking out European Breakdown cover, considering my car has only done 21k miles, though I guess I could just get it for the time I'm away. Obviously I have insurance cover for Europe and all the bits and bobs needed for Eurooean travel (warning triangle, first aid kit, yellow jackets, UK magnetic plate, emissions badge etc.).

 

[Metalogic]

IHow exactly to fit that strap could be an annoying puzzle, but its purposes are to hold the insert down on some cars and to provide a "handle" to lift/extract the spare wheel from its recess - it does work, my wife's 2015 Polo has that on its spare wheel as does my 2011 Audi S4, so I know from experience (of removing the spare wheel every year service time to check and top up its tyre pressure) that it works as intended. You do need to fit the plastic buckle to one end of that strap and feed it through a hole at one side of the spare wheel across and out another hole on the other side, then try to work out how to fit the other end of that strap into the plastic buckle in a way that allows you to lift the wheel up using that strap, there is a part of the plastic buckle that clicks open and shut - just an annoying challenge for you, if you get it to work some way for you then that is good enough, I'm sure on one of our cars that I end up making sure that the "free end" of that strap is firmly gripped in my hand before trying to lift the wheel out.

So something like this (the strap is threaded through two opposite holes in the wheel below the insert)?:

Or is the strap intended to go around the outside of the tyre to avoid compressing the insert when lifting the wheel out with the strap?

BTW realised I put the strap on upside down, as the buckle fastener is underneath the strap, but it works and I couldn't be bothered to change it .

I pumped the tyre up to the standard front wheel tyre pressure (38psi) before putting it in.

 

[RUM4MO]

That is the way to fit it, it seems a horrible design for something to join, tighten and retain that strap - probably a German design!

I usually inflate spare tyres to 41psi so that (hopefully) for the duration between checking the pressure, the pressure stays above the highest pressure needed for that car.

I saw a SEAT Cupra the other day that had the narrow space saver "bike" tyre on a front hub, I always thought the plan should be to only ever use it on the rear - okay that means twice the effort to achieve that when you get a front puncture, but that, I believe is the best plan. Also I don't know some VW Group marques are mean enough not to include a double ended screwdriver in the kit, that double ended screwdriver can be quite useful as the handle end is shaped so that it fits the wheel bolts, so can be used to speed up removing slackened bolts and fitting them back again. Being a bit "excessive" I've fitted reflective tape round the handle so that I can find it hopefully if I need to use it at night time and I drop it!!

Edit:- maybe with that "round" design of insert, the plan is to just have the strap fastened loosely but lying hidden below the insert so that it is only being used as a "handle" for the spare wheel.

 

[RUM4MO]

Years and years ago, I ended up with a Ford Escort/Orion that had a soft boot floor/mat and it annoyed me that when loading "stuff" in the boot, the soft floor/mat sunk down into the spare wheel, so, I found a large piece of hardboard and cut it to size to fit above or on top of the spare wheel so that the boot floor/mat stayed flat, that was moved from car to car, then into my wife's Fiestas and then 2002 Polo before ending up in our older daughter's 2009 SEAT Ibiza, when it was sold, that hardboard ended up back in my garage - I think, as all our current cars have stiffened boot floor/mats. It was amazing (maybe) just how much support that hardboard provided.

 

[RUM4MO]

Sorry I missed saying this - maybe move that strap over a bit so that it is not in contact with the insert+wheel hold down bolt, as leaving it there will mean that anything resting on the boot floor/mat will wear it away slightly with time.

 

[Metalogic]

Sorry I missed saying this - maybe move that strap over a bit so that it is not in contact with the insert+wheel hold down bolt, as leaving it there will mean that anything resting on the boot floor/mat will wear it away slightly with time.

I think you're right, think I'll either wrap it around the tyre or leave the strap loose under the insert.

 

[Metalogic]

Years and years ago, I ended up with a Ford Escort/Orion that had a soft boot floor/mat and it annoyed me that when loading "stuff" in the boot, the soft floor/mat sunk down into the spare wheel, so, I found a large piece of hardboard and cut it to size to fit above or on top of the spare wheel so that the boot floor/mat stayed flat, that was moved from car to car, then into my wife's Fiestas and then 2002 Polo before ending up in our older daughter's 2009 SEAT Ibiza, when it was sold, that hardboard ended up back in my garage - I think, as all our current cars have stiffened boot floor/mats. It was amazing (maybe) just how much support that hardboard provided.

I use a SEAT plastic bootliner all the time, so think that shouldn't be so much of an issue for me, even though the boot floor carpet is soft. I also have a fold out bumper flap, to protect the bumper from getting bashed when I put my road bike in the back of the car.