I noticed that the carpet in my trunk has a lump under it where the plastic thing screws in to hold down my spare tire.

I've never had the spare out so I don't know why it came unscrewed but anyway, the weird thing is that the carpet is all stuck to the board which lies on top of the spare, so I can't really get at the plastic screw.

Is this normal? The owner's manual doesn't say much and I already searched here to no avail. I just don't know if I'm supposed to pull the carpet off the board or what.

 

Yes, the carpet it glued to the board. You lift the whole board out, and the carpet will flap loose on the two sides. It's possible the board is stuck under the trim on the inside of the trunk if you can't lift it up, that's supposed to sit underneath the board, not on top of it. If you want I can get a couple camera-phone pics for you.

 

Yeah, I can't lift the board, that's why I assumed that the carpet need to come up first and then I would unscrew the plastic center cap to get the board out. Not the case though, eh?

 

Nope, the whole thing comes out. Try sliding it forward a bit if it's not lifting straight up.

 

If you put weight in the trunk the screw starts to grind itself into the bottom of the masonite. It's probably hung up in it.