The Load Floor

12483 Views 33 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Karl Kutchi, Apr 2, 2014

Stevelach

Discussion Starter · Sep 8, 2013

4

I got my FiST yesterday and couldn't get the load floor to go to the lower position. Today I took out the spare and noticed that the spare tire is actually larger than the cutout for it and as a consequence it is difficult to lower it into the hole completely level. I think the tire touches the sides, and not the bottom. After adjusting it to a more level position, I was able to get the load floor into the lower position.

One thing I hadn't noticed until today was that the load floor has spring loaded tabs on the sides of the baggage area which will keep it in the up position so you can have access to the lower area without having to hold it up. VERY nice!

I have one of those soft-sided foldable dog crate I use for my 70lb dog in the car, and the crate fits really nice under the load floor when it is in the upper position. This is going to be a very useful feature for me!

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MGORDON

· #2 · Sep 8, 2013

Interesting! Do you think you could post pictures of it in the upper and lower positions from the same angle for a close comparison?

Mayhem

· #3 · Sep 8, 2013

I thought I recalled seeing this topic being touched on in one of the interview video's... Where one of the engineers had mentioned that...the space below that load floor was basically due to the size of the larger spare tire.. and them not having anything "on the shelf" to fit better than the current setup. So, the result was that wasted space. I can't recall where I saw that. A little disappointing to leave I as seemingly an afterthought... But I guess if you're going to cut costs/corners somewhere.... That is better than some of the alternatives.

Neat that you were able to fit it though, was it actually level/flat when you squeezed it into the lower setting? Or did you end up with a bulge from the tire?

If only the back seats folded flat... That would make me happy.

Stevelach

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 8, 2013

MGORDON said:
Interesting! Do you think you could post pictures of it in the upper and lower positions from the same angle for a close comparison?

Yup. I'll post more Picts tomorrow.

Stevelach

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 8, 2013

Mayhem said:
I thought I recalled seeing this topic being touched on in one of the interview video's... Where one of the engineers had mentioned that...the space below that load floor was basically due to the size of the larger spare tire.. and them not having anything "on the shelf" to fit better than the current setup. So, the result was that wasted space. I can't recall where I saw that. A little disappointing to leave I as seemingly an afterthought... But I guess if you're going to cut costs/corners somewhere.... That is better than some of the alternatives.

Neat that you were able to fit it though, was it actually level/flat when you squeezed it into the lower setting? Or did you end up with a bulge from the tire?

If only the back seats folded flat... That would make me happy.

It's not completely wasted space as long as you don't mind having an unfinished area for your stuff. With the spare in a level position and the load floor in the lower position, I was able to get the floor completely level. There is a fairly large gap between the load floor and the rear seats when in the lower position though.

amathophobia

· #6 · Sep 8, 2013

Am I right on seeing in the first pic that there is no carpet under the rear seats?

Sil3nt611

· #7 · Sep 8, 2013

2

amathophobia said:
Am I right on seeing in the first pic that there is no carpet under the rear seats?

They put carpet under seats in cars? Why?

As for the adjustable floor, I tried to get it in the lower position but I had a hard time and couldn't figure out what it was hanging up on and the salesman didn't even know they were adjustable. I didn't know there was a way to hold it up though.

Here's the pictures I took of the car I test drove. in the high position and with it held open.

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Stevelach

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 8, 2013

3

No carpet under the rear seats. Here are some more pictures taken from the same angle.

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MGORDON

· #9 · Sep 8, 2013

That's awesome - thanks for the pictures. That looks like an extra few inches of room - which might be perfect for me... I'm removing the 60% backrest and installing a custom bike rack there. Maybe that will give enough height to not have to take the rear wheel off.

Stevelach

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 8, 2013

"Neat that you were able to fit it though, was it actually level/flat when you squeezed it into the lower setting? Or did you end up with a bulge from the tire?"

No bulge. It sits completely flat. It does take a bit of fussing to get it to slide below the load floor mounts though.

csaites

· #11 · Sep 9, 2013

MGORDON said:
That's awesome - thanks for the pictures. That looks like an extra few inches of room - which might be perfect for me... I'm removing the 60% backrest and installing a custom bike rack there. Maybe that will give enough height to not have to take the rear wheel off.

Looking forward to some pics of what you come up with as I am looking for a way transport a bike inside without laying it down

Devon

· #12 · Sep 9, 2013

Thanks for the snaps. Is the load floor "locked in" in the lower position or can/does it move around a bit?

Stevelach

Discussion Starter · #13 · Sep 9, 2013

Devon said:
Thanks for the snaps. Is the load floor "locked in" in the lower position or can/does it move around a bit?

It doesn't move around. It is held into place by friction and the tight fit.

wash

· #14 · Sep 9, 2013

The rear seat does fold down pretty flat if you have the center head rest out and line up the side head rests to drop in to the foot well area.

So far I haven't run out of hatch space so the load floor hasn't been a bother yet. When that day comes I'll figure out how to use the lower position.

AlanBDahl

· #15 · Sep 9, 2013

I don't have mine yet but I was planning on ditching the spare altogether to get the floor back to the level of my SES. I have another car with a can of fix-a-flat and an air compressor so I imagine the same setup will work for the ST.

MGORDON

· #16 · Sep 11, 2013

How much work did it take to get the spare tire in all the way? I can't for the life of me get it far down enough that the floor will sit flat.

Sil3nt611

· #17 · Sep 11, 2013

MGORDON said:
How much work did it take to get the spare tire in all the way? I can't for the life of me get it far down enough that the floor will sit flat.

It's a full sized spare, so you can't really get it to go in any further.

Stevelach

Discussion Starter · #18 · Sep 11, 2013

It will go ALL the way down. It took some work, but once I got everything aligned it works well. It does sit on top of the spare, but is level and a tight fit!

D1JL

· #19 · Sep 12, 2013

Stevelach said:
It will go ALL the way down. It took some work, but once I got everything aligned it works well. It does sit on top of the spare, but is level and a tight fit!

I am glad to hear that.
I was hoping not to have problems with mine.

Dave

MGORDON

· #20 · Sep 12, 2013

Got it - I just wasn't sliding the floor back toward the rear of the car far enough - the spare tire actually didn't need any wrangling at all after that.

Unfortunately it's not going to be as great for transporting bikes as I wanted... I've removed the 40% rear backrest, and will be carrying one bike at a time (inside) it appears. I wasn't able to remove only the 60% backrest as the pivot for the 40% is built into the 60%.

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