Foolishly tried to lift the boot floor/spare wheel cover to store something in the spare wheel well at the weekend while there was still some luggage on it. The grab handle promptly snapped under the strain.

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schuster can make one for you.

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I used an old holdall bag strap, unpeeled the underfloor floor sound insulation and secured the replacement strap with heavy duty staples from a staple gun, then reattached the insulation with a few more staples..... jobs a good’un 👍🏻 Current: Supercharged 06 FFRR in Java Black
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nino_nino wrote:

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schuster can make one for you.

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I've the same issue. What/who is Shuster? Quick google returns a boiler company, amongst others

Not available as a separate item, but I’m sure with a bit of ingenuity it’s repairable. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
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Buy a new TV. The box will have a suitably sized plastic handle.  .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
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deansmith wrote:

nino_nino wrote:

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schuster can make one for you.

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I've the same issue. What/who is Shuster? Quick google returns a boiler company, amongst others

shuster - cobbler, shoemaker, shoe repairer





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I replaced mine with a couple of heavy duty cable ties - downside was that they didn't sit flat - upside was that I could thread them through the existing holes and didn't have to touch the trim.

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Cable tie

Well I finally got around to having a bash at fixing my broken handle. The above replies were helpful in finding a solution that worked. In the end I decided to re-use the leather strap - even though it's in two pieces - and strengthen it with two very large (360x9mm) cable ties. Here are a few pics of what I did to fix it.

An elastic strap runs through the handle and is attached to the spare wheel cover at each end with a short bolt screwed into the fibreglass and a few staples. My solution doesn't use the screws as it turns the handle into a loop. There is a stiff plastic strip in the handle under the leather and I think one of the ends of this cut into the elastic and the leather, causing it to break. I left it in place to maintain the handle's shape.


I threaded two large cable ties through both parts of the strap (under the leather) from opposite ends so that the buckles would not be next to each other. For this I had to undo the stitching at the ends of the leather strap to allow the ties to slide through. There is just enough room in the strap to allow the two 9mm-wide ties to lie in parallel.


I had to peel back the insulation on the underside somewhat to allow access to the strap.


I threaded the ends of the strap through the two strap holes in the cover and bent the cable ties towards each other and tightened them as much as I could. Most of the adhesive on the insulation was still sticky enough to re-stick it to the cover but it had lost its adhesion in a couple of places so I solved this with some double-sided carpet tape and some fabric adhesive.


The stiffness of the cable ties prevents the handle from lying flat so it remains slightly raised off the floor but it allows easy hand access at least.



It might not be perfect but it will do until I find a cheap replacement spare wheel cover. 2012 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 automatic (LHD), Santorini Black
2008 Vogue 3.6 TDV8 automatic (LHD), Java Black

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