Hi all.
I have a nice older 10 foot Alaskan slide-in camper that I'll be putting on the back of my 96 4x4 2500. Given the camper sticks out 2 feet in the back, people rest the back part on the lowered tailgate. Problem for me is: how do I lower the spare tire if I need it on the road, since with the tailgate down it blocks the access point to the hex socket for the lowering mechanism??

I thought of maybe trying to jury-rig something underneath, so it could be lowered by crawling under the truck, but with the tire in place I'm not sure that would be an easy feat.

I cannot mount the spare on the back of the Alaskan, and putting the spare on the front bumper (assuming some kind of attachment is available) would be both unsightly and limit cooling air flow.

Any ideas, suggestions? Thanks!

 

I don't think there is a way, at least not if it's like the 3rd gens.

Can you leave the tailgate off and have better access to the access point? If the access point isn't blocked you should be able to get a few more extensions and go from there.

 

Yes, I could take the tailgate off and probably access the jack's hex socket, however I'd prefer having the back 2 feet of the camper supported by the tailgate. Someone else I asked suggested there may be a way to turn the tire pulley mechanism from underneath, near the bumper, so I'll investigate. Thanks.

 

Check with the mfgr and see if the tailgate is needed for support. But I would be willing to bet the tailgate cables flex more than the camper does, so it may not provide as much support as you think.. thou that's just a thought.

 

I would be concerned that the road stones, gravel would chip and damage the paint on the tail gate.

I used to remove the tailgate when I had a slide in camper (9'6"). Mind you I have a full 8 ft long box which might make a difference. Do you have the long box or the short box ???

 

I have the long (8') box. Hadn't thought about stones and gravel damaging the tailgate, good point.

 

Checked things out. Attached to the spare tire pulley is a round pipe held on by a pin, at the other end of which is the hex opening that is located just under the (closed) tailgate, in which the matching hex pipe fits in and allows turning the pulley from the outside. That round pipe could be disconnected and shortened, leaving the hex end underneath the truck (secured somehow), into which a proper hex socket could fit in and be used to lower the tire with a ratchet. That's the only way I see this working.

 

^^ this is what I was going to suggest

 

Get AAA and let them deal with it!!

I'd take the tailgate off with the camper in place, you don't really need it if you use the proper camper tie downs, at least I didn't when I had mine.

 

I done this, turned the tube from underneath with a small pipe wrench, A good set of channel locks would work also. It is not hard to turn after the initial 1st turn.

 

Haha, I got CAA (Canadian equivalent), I can imagine the poor bugger showing up and having to do this! Seriously, I plan on traveling on some pretty remote roads up North, so need to be able to access the spare myself, if need be (even though I'll be traveling with new tires when the time comes...)

 

Yeah, I figured the tire could be lowered like this, but to get it back up may be another matter altogether, which is where a ratchet with pipe extension may provide enough leverage to lift the weight of the tire. Unless of course, I just throw the bum tire in the back of the camper until I get to a service station...

 

I wonder if you could build something with a 3/8" extension and u-joint?

Do you have room for a air pump and plug kit? Unless you have a blowout you can fix a pretty decent hole with those and not have to use the spare.

All the flats I have had on back roads have been able to be plugged.

 

No room for u-joint attachment, unfortunately. Indeed, I'll be bringing along an air pump, and a plug kit, just to be on a safer side. Thanks.

 

I have an Alaskan also and had the same problem.
I just carry an 8" pipe wrench and use it to turn the shaft between the bumper and spare.
Have to lay under the truck to do it but it lowers and raises the spare just fine.
Not something I plan on doing very often if at all so I felt no need to get fancy about it.