Do it yourself

So all of my tires are bald and the front had the cords showing. Not wanting to lose a steering wheel, I moved the cord tire to the back. Yesterday, the tread tire I put up front done went flat. And it was late, and I was with my kid, and I was 40 min from home.

And guess what? I couldn't get the damn spare off the back! So embarrassing. I can't figure this damn thing out.

It's a typical truck spare, held under the bed by a cable which you wind down from inside the bumper. I unwind it and it drops about 4" at which point it hangs up. The cable itself will drop to the ground, but the tire remains hung loosely, and I don't know the f#$% why. This is exactly all it is...



The "box" is mounted to the truck. That clamp is turned sideways and fed through the hole in the rim. When you wind it up, the clamp catches on the rim and pulls the tire up with the cable. On the end of the cable is a spring, which you compress to get it on nice and tight. So why in all of the f#$%s won't this tire drop?

The cable goes right to the ground, so the clamp is not hanging up on the cable. I can feed the cable by hand in and out, no problem. The tire drops 4" and dangles, so the rim is not rust welded to the bed or the box. The clamp can be spun, so that's not rust welded to the rim either. There is no mention of an additional safety restraint in the manual, and I've dropped this GD thing before - there is no other restraint.

WHY THE F#$% CAN'T I LOWER THE SPARE??!!!!111!

I had to bail and leave my truck in Hamburg overnight, and I swear to the Man Jesus that GD school better not have had it towed. But I hammered it, kicked it, jumped on it, and the thing just won't come down. Any thoughts?

All you ever had to do was ask the kid how it worked!!

Is this the same vehicle you took the bed off? Dunnit come with an instruction manual?

Quote: rxwine

I wouldn't have guessed a stream that shallow and appears to be barely moving would move that wheel so vigorously.

It's a cute toy, but you won't run squat
from it. A small 12V camping fridge,
a small 12V TV and a couple low
voltage lights. I'm not even sure you
could run the fridge and TV at the same
time.

Quote: Face

I had to bail and leave my truck in Hamburg overnight, and I swear to the Man Jesus that GD school better not have had it towed. But I hammered it, kicked it, jumped on it, and the thing just won't come down. Any thoughts?

How old is the truck? Sounds like something rusted and seized.

Different system but same result on my SUV. Rusted solid. Tire not touched since it was in Korea. I checked as soon as the weather broke but told folks I know to check those truck spares as the mechanisms catch all kinds of crap under them. Mine cost like $10 to get the part for, would have been more if we did not have a torch to salvage another part.

Ain't it fun Face. In donut hole on meds. Insulin first patented 1935, but still no generic. Always upgraded somehow to new and latest. 3 big manufacturers, one owns both Lantus and Tujeo. What had this to do with car trouble.

Decided to sell 1998 dodge van, 270 K. Long story short, bought 1998 Missan Sentra. Car was half full of empty soda cans, sitting 3 months, 157K. Started with a jump. Drove home, blowing hot air, CD works not working, 2 front windows inoperable. What the hell, it was $300 and son in law is mechanic. Next day hit AC button when I found it and blows Ice Cicles. Found CD was home made and a Frank Sinatra one worked. Told daughter I wished I had a radio. She played with buttons on what I thought was a CD player only. No radio plays and dials and face turn different colors.

Girl I bought it from said Power steering was shot. Just a leaking hose. Good thread all the way around Upholstery good. Only one thing wrong. At 50 MPH I found out hood latch was shot. BANG Up comes hood, smashes front window. Just dumb luck I cursed instead of hitting brakes, slowed down and exited onto median strip. Heard screeching brakes and girl hits right rear bumper, leaves paint no dent.
Insists on calling cops, told her she would just get a ticket. She is adamant my fault. She got ticket. Her defense : She was not following too close, she was the second vehicle behind me.

As far as spare tires, I once had a Dodge , I think. Spare had holes that would not line up. Had 2 people bring spares, same trouble. Drove the 6 blocks home at high speed. Flat was on fire when I got there. Ain't in fun, Face ?

Quote: petroglyph

Is this the same vehicle you took the bed off? Dunnit come with an instruction manual?

Quote: AZDuffman

How old is the truck? Sounds like something rusted and seized.

Different system but same result on my SUV. Rusted solid. Tire not touched since it was in Korea. I checked as soon as the weather broke but told folks I know to check those truck spares as the mechanisms catch all kinds of crap under them. Mine cost like $10 to get the part for, would have been more if we did not have a torch to salvage another part.

Yeah, same one I just disassembled. And I can't recall when or why, but I know I dropped that damn tire within the last two years and it worked flawlessly.

I did check the manual thinking I was forgetting something in my haste. Nope. Even checked the troubleshoot and nothing there either. I know it sounds like something rusted and seized, but the unit does work. Like I said, that cable drops all the way to the ground, and it's the cable that holds it in place. If not the cable, then sure, I could see the rim rust welding to the bed or frame, but the tire does drop 4" and hangs loose. The rim is not rusted to the truck itself, nor the body of the crank, nor the clamp that holds it.

It does sort of feel like there is something still holding it, like some sort of safety catch. But the manual does not say, the intertron does not say, and GD it, IVE LOWERED IT BEFORE. I know there is no safety on the effing thing. It's dropped enough I can get my arm above it, and there is just nothing up there.

Damn the luck. In a major turn of luck, not getting it off required an emergency search and purchase, which just nabbed me 4 used tires with 50% tread for just $50. However pissed I was / am just got made up for and then some.

Someone remind me to f#$% with this thing come spring =p

The cable on my minivan was the subject of a recall. Apparently, they were rusting through causing the spare to cut loose at inopportune times.

Could the cable be knotted or pinched in the spool, or off the pulley? My weedwacker gets those all the time. That is my first guess, but I'm not clear on what is getting hung up. You mention that the cable is unwinding completely, but the tire is only dropping four inches. If the cable is unwinding, do you have enough play to turn the "plug" sideways and stuff it back in the hole to release the tire? You could also consider cutting the "plug" off and re-attaching it later.

The other suggestion I have is to use a long lever to force the tire down. Be careful with this one though. I broke my finger doing something similar when the long breaker bar I was using slipped and smashed my hand into the ground.

There could be a secondary safety latch.

Check out this video

I had the opposite problem with a Ford. The spare would occasionally come free from the trick bag way they store them underneath the back of the truck where sure as hell, when I get a flat, its in the back and lowers the truck to where I can't drop the tire down. hahaha. I'm running 16's, these things are heavy.

So, I hate changing tires in remote places. I buy the ten ply so I can jump curbs and stumps towing a load or carrying one. My last Ford half way in between boondocks, and some really out of the way place, middle of the road, no friggin way off, forward or back without driving solely on the rim, I find out. Do you know what Ford did with all the split rim 16 inchers when they disappeared? Yep, stuck them up underneath the bed of unsuspecting pick up truck buyers. Hard to find a tire man who will change a split rim anymore.

OK, I got a situ going. I got a F250, just because. No love, it's what was available in my range that would pack my weight. They did [among other stupid things] this two fuel tank thing. Where one gets low, you switch and voila another couple hundred miles or so, for whatever reason, completely escapes my ability to reason.

Dodge has one big tank, around 35 gallons. This is all diesel by the way. My last [also Ford, no particular reason] also had two tanks, but it was gas. I always would run one completely out and could switch tanks blindly and the engine would pick up and be running off the other tank before I slowed to a crawl, it kept the dirt from building up on any tank. Diesel, you don't want to run a tank dry. There isn't enough battery to suck up the fuel from the other tank and get you started again. So, I have changed those switchers on every truck I have owned, because they fail, and you don't know they have failed, until you are coasting to a stop with the other tank full of fuel. This truck, it just happened again, while I was way out, coming back from Wupatki monument. http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/wupatki/national_monument.html. I have 18-20 gallons in the front tank, and I can't use it. And, I don't dare run a tank dry, and the gauge's lie, thankfully to my favor.

So, the last few times I've done this, the part is less than 50 bucks. I'm hurting, so I take my truck to the shop, they call later and say the part is 450 dollars, just for the part. I nearly spit up in my mouth, and said, no way. With one tank, this thing has no range at all. I go down to talk with the guy, and the front desk lady is livid with me, that I dare question their pricing. I have a print out with me, showing 4 of them for less than 60 each and one for 97. In a fair fight, I think this gal can take me, so I just tell them to stop, they charge me 170 bucks for services rendered. So, I lost 170 bucks, pissed off the front desk lady, apparently I am some threat to the mechanic, and my tank still won't switch and is full of fuel. I just seem to have kick me on my forehead lately? I was however able to fix my camper heater with the help of youtube. Saved hundreds there.

I remember the diesels were all the rage, everybody that had any testosterone had to have one. The torque is pretty amazing, but they violate you with parts. I have spent nearly two thousand bucks on brakes. God forbid I would have to replace injectors. My friend just had to change some in his duramax and they were 650 bucks each. So I think he only did three? He also has an early Dodge Cummins PU, it has two fuel pumps, an expensive one [around 500] and a really expensive one.

Truth be told, I hate vehicles...and they seem to hate me right back. I guess I'm lucky I am in that stress free living program at the clinic?