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Refactored cargo area

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Campbell
#1
I've been tweaking the cargo area over the last few months, and I think I'm finally happy with it.

The (not quite) "full size" spare had to go, but I still prefer an actual spare over a can of slime. So, like a few others on here have posted about, I swapped in a lightweight, aluminum spare (eBay) and retainer (Tasca). It took some fiddling to get the stock jack to fit underneath, but it worked out fine in the end - nice and secure, with no rattling.



I planned to use the WeatherTech mat for non-ST Fiesta's, but wasn't sure what to do about the upper floor perches (the ones against the back of the seats). I wanted every change to be completely reversible, so cutting the plastic wasn't going to work for me. But removing the outer, plastic part left the bare metal perch, with some rough edges I wasn't happy with. The kids and I put a lot of stuff in the cargo area daily, and I figure it was only a matter of time before the perches snagged something. So I swapped in a pair of rear seat hinges from a non-ST hatchback (Tasca). I also saw a post with a close-up of the TB Performance trunk bar - something I'd been considering anyway - and unlike the Pierce and Mishimoto bars, the TB looked like it might actually fit with the lowered, stock floor.



And indeed it does!. As an added bonus, there's still plenty of room under the floor and around the spare for a few tools, first aid kit, etc.



With the WeatherTech mat in place, you'd never know the trunk bar was even there.



The only remaining issue was the now-larger gaps in the side panels around the hinges. I was going to just leave them open, but then opted to (sort of) fill them with the no-longer-needed pocket dividers. Good enough.



I've been running the lightweight spare + WeatherTech combo for a couple months now, and it's easily my favorite (and by far the most useful) mod I've done to the car. I should have done it as soon as I took delivery.

The hinges swap is just for peace of mind, and the hinges were only ~$25 a piece.

The TB Performance bar... eh, the butt gyro thinks it feels a difference, but I have no way of actually measuring it. The quality of the piece is outstanding, it's unobtrusive, and my hope is that it will work well with the other chassis and suspension mods I'll eventually get to.
 


M-Sport fan

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#2
^^^Good job on this!! [thumb]

I eventually want to get the WeatherTech cargo mat as well, but I will use it directly over the spare, with no board in between (to save as much weight as possible).
I want to take out the whole back seat assembly anyway, as my kids are grown with cars of their own, so I'll never use it.

Do you happen to know the overall diameter of that compact spare, and about what did it run, price wise, with the tire from Tasca?
I also want to save some weight there, and would prefer a very light, full size (~23.5" O.D.) 15" setup, but don't want to spend that much on a high end light wheel/tire.
 


OP
A FiSTful of...
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Campbell
Thread Starter #3
I tried:
  1. OEM ST all-season mat / lowered, stock floor / stock spare
  2. WeatherTech mat / lowered, stock floor / stock spare
  3. WeatherTech mat / stock spare
  4. WeatherTech mat / lightweight spare
  5. WeatherTech mat / lowered, stock floor / lightweight spare
Day-to-day use of the combos with the lowered, stock floor and stock spare were awkward. The floor tended to tilt and shift if there was too much weight to one side. The combos without the stiff, stock floor under the WeatherTech mat were tricky if I need to keep anything stable or upright. The WeatherTech / stock floor / lightweight spare combo feels like stock.

Based on the specs, the diameter of the tire on the lightweight spare (125/80D15) is about 2.6% smaller than the stock 205/40R17 (22.9" vs 23.5"). It will only be on the rear, and at worst for a couple miles, so I'm fine with it. Absolutely worth it for the increase in cargo space and the ~15lb weight cut.

Tasca's discounted price for the wheel alone is $229 before shipping, so I rolled the dice on eBay. There were dozens available, but a lot of the descriptions were brief/vague and it was tough to tell if they were listing the aluminum or smaller steel spare. I went with the cheapest one that had a decent picture in the listing. It ended up being ~$75 shipped, and appears to be new/unused.
 


Spaceman_Spiff

Active member
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JeffCo
#4
what is that spare from? is it a ford factory-supplied spare tire? that's gotta be the nicest "donut" i've ever seen...
 


OP
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Thread Starter #5
It's an OEM Ford spare. I don't recall if anyone here was able to identify which Fiesta (or Focus) models it shipped with. It's been discussed in a couple other threads.

I think it's Ford part number BE8Z-1007-A.
 


M-Sport fan

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#6
^^^Does anyone know the actual WIDTH of this wheel??

I am looking to see what NON-compact tires (to save some coin) could possibly fit onto it, given how narrow it might be. [wink]
 


OP
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Thread Starter #7
According to the stamps of the inside of wheels:
  • Stock spare is 15x6 +47.5mm
  • Aluminum spare is 15x4 +47.5mm
 


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Lincoln
#8
did you actually replace the rear hinges of the seats with the one from a non-ST or you just bolted them in?
 


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San Francisco
#11
Thanks for the writeup! Love the WeatherTech rear solutions.. will be doing the same thanks to you!

About spares, my full size spare fits fine.. 205/45r16. Jack and tools still fit below and using factory retainer also. I don't see why anything else similar in size would not fit.

 


M-Sport fan

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#12
^^^I take it that wheel is a 4x100 PCD, and you did the hub conversion/drilling, or did you find the ONE Volk/Rays wheel with a 4x108 PCD? [dunno]

What did that spare wheel/tire combo end up weighing?
 


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San Francisco
#13
^^^I take it that wheel is a 4x100 PCD, and you did the hub conversion/drilling, or did you find the ONE Volk/Rays wheel with a 4x108 PCD? [dunno]

What did that spare wheel/tire combo end up weighing?
It's 4x100, bought a set of five. If I have a tire mishap either at the track or on the way to a show, I can simply toss on the spare and fix the damaged tire at my leisure, continue on as normal. I don't know what the factory spare combo weighs tho.. my setup may even be heavier? I dunno.

Weights

Wheel - 16x7 TE37: 11.2lbs
Tire - 205/45r16 RE-11: 22lbs
 


OP
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Thread Starter #16
Couldn't leave well enough alone...

The one problem (more of an annoyance) I've run into with my cargo area changes is with accessing stuff store under the floor. Because the floor is shifted forward to clear the TB trunk bar, I can't just lift up the front of the floor to get to the stuff beneath, because it runs into the rear trim panel (with the load supports for the stock-positioned floor). So accessing the stuff under floor means removing everything in the cargo area and the WeatherTech mat. It's not a big deal, but comes up occasionally because I keep garbage bags stashed down by the spare to use for muddy boot, sweaty running gear, etc.

So, I've been checking eBay for the rear trim panel from a non-ST, hoping that eliminating the load management supports would solve my problem. One popped up on eBay earlier this week, and the seller was also listing both non-ST side panels and the non-ST floor cover. They were waiting for me when I got home Friday, so Saturday morning was tinkering time.

The non-ST rear trim panel didn't work out - beneath our rear trim panels are steel supports welded to the body. I probably should have guessed that given the construction of the supports attached to the seat hinges. Sure would be nice to have a real shop manual. The Chilton DIY site is generally helpful, but most (all?) of the images for 2015 Fiesta are for the standard Fiesta. Anyway, I'm still trying to avoid destructive mods, so the non-ST rear trim panel is out.

The non-ST side panels worked out fine.




Installing them required removing seven other interior panels, and I managed to do it with only a single broken plastic tab. New personal best! [party]

The non-ST floor cover hasn't worked out yet. It extends deeper into the cargo area than our stock floor, and doesn't fit well with the TB trunk bar. It's too thick to fit under the bar, and putting it on top of the bar results in the floor being tilted towards the rear. So, still working on this one. I'll probably use the non-ST floor to build a hinged floor similar to Ernie's DIY plywood floor.
 


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Detroit
#17
It's an OEM Ford spare. I don't recall if anyone here was able to identify which Fiesta (or Focus) models it shipped with. It's been discussed in a couple other threads.

I think it's Ford part number BE8Z-1007-A.
My old 2014 Fiesta SE with the SE Appearance package came with that spare. I agree, it's a very nice looking spare.
 


OP
A FiSTful of...
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Thread Starter #18
I got a few questions via PM, so I'm adding my response here...

—Did the non-ST cargo floor/liner not work just because of the bar you had installed? Would it have otherwise worked?
It's definitely too long (deep) with the bar installed. Without the bar installed, it'll sit flat and level, but the tabs on the ST rear trim piece may still be a problem - you might run into them if you're trying to lift the floor piece up to access the stuff underneath.

—Was it difficult/complicated to switch the rear seat hinges? Could someone who doesn’t do a lot of wrenching do it pretty easily.
I'm (at best) a lousy wrench, and I thought this was relatively easy - especially considering I didn't have a decent shop manual.

It did require a little persistence. There's a sprung retainer on each hinge that probably took me ten minutes to figure out the first time. In the end, the solution was literally a big, flat head screwdriver placed just so and a smack from a rubber mallet.

It also required a bigger torx bit (T50, I think) than I could find locally, so I had to order that.

—You said you had to remove 7 trim pieces to install the non-ST side covers (covering rear wheel wells); again, was that a difficult/complicated install?
It wasn't difficult, but very tedious. Lots of clips, grommets, etc - often in non-obvious places - and all at least partially made of brittle plastic. It was a lot of slow, gentle pulling and prying, and praying that I'd remember how everything went back together.

I spent a lot time studying the (non-ST) manual on the Chilton DIY site, and that helped a lot.


Overall, I'm still really happy with how this project turned out, and it's by far the best time and money I've spent on the car for day-to-day drivability.

The compact spare and WeatherTech mat are 100% worth it. If removing the front, stock floor supports is worth ~$60 and an hour of your time, then the hinge swap is a no-brainer as well. Again, 100% worth it to me. The trim pieces... I don't know. I like the results. I like that it looks stock. I like that I don't have to worry about stuff slipping through the holes and getting lost behind the trim. But I already hated pulling/installing interior trim, and this didn't help.
 


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Location
Chicago
#19
This is very helpful, thanks.
I already have the compact spare and Weathertech mat.
I’ll probably just replace the hinges for now. Since my car is Magnetic, the holes in the trim coverage are not all that noticeable.
Maybe if I decide to add some sound deadening material to the hatch down the road I’ll replace the trim pieces at the same time.
 


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Location
The Sewers
#20
Good thread!

I liked the idea of having a full size spare but I need all the cargo space I can get since I need to fit a hockey bag in there twice a week with two booster seats in the rear. Of course, putting the floor panel all the way down didn't fit flush so I actually thought about ditching the spare until I came across this thread. [thumb]
I am waiting on my "mini-spare" to show up. I found a bunch on ebay, ordered the newest one I could find since I didn't want to get a tire from 2011. Ended up getting a wheel/tire from a 2015 wrecked Fiesta SE then RIGHT after I bought it, I found one from a 2016 for less! DOH!!! [?|]

If you are looking for one, search something like "15x4 aluminum 8 spoke wheel" and "fiesta" in the subject and also look for the newest tire or donor car you can find since tires deteriorate after time even thought they aren't used.
 


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