Spare Tire Winch
 

Have any of you ever replaced your spare tire winch under your truck bed? I have to replace mine and I am wondering if it can be done with the bed on or do I have to lift the bed?

Mine failed under warranty on the 98.5. It bolts right up. I secured my spare after that with a ratchet strap as I do on my '07.

Thanks for the info.

The cable broke on mine...You could access the tire winch 4 bolts from the top, without lifting the bed..

I gave this job a quick try, I am not sure I would describe it as 'bolt right up'. I quit because it is only a few degrees above freezing with howling wind and freezing rain and I couldn't feel my fingers after 5 minutes but even if it was warm it wouldn't have been easy. I am going to try to find a REALLY long 13mm box end wrench with no offset. If I could find one of those ratcheting box end wrenches in the right size and length, that would be even better.

How hard is it to disconnect the box and lift it 12 inches or so at the back end? If I could do that, this would be a 5 minute job. In case it matters I have a Ram brand hard box liner in the box.

75* here today. A little easier. It's been yrs since I had that done.

I looked under the truck today....Well either the cable broke or someone cut the cable and stole the tire. It's been fine for years...any way to tell if it broke or was actually cut?

If it was cut it should show evidence of abrasion across many of the cables, if failed it should have multiple strands narrowed and broken and only a few shiny at the ends when it finally overwhelmed the tensile strength of those remaining....

6 bolts and 4 electrical connectors, and the lift pump if you bolted one to the bed. You will also need to be careful about the crank tube for the tire lift while you are raising the bed. Not too bad to do.

Well...thanks, I guess it was cut and stolen. I found a few spares on Craig's and a third winch....ugggg, I hate thieves.

Well that sucks. Mine still has the original spare Michelin under there. I maybe should check the cable, I've never lowered it....

How did they get in there to cut it?

It's possible to cut the nipple off the swaged end of the cable, I was going to do that on my sons 2013 when the winch/hoist stopped working with the wheel still up there. https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...-hoist-321884/

The winch isn't cheap either $100 and then add in the spare tire & wheel $100+.
I have no idea where it could have been stolen from. My house is gated and pretty secure with two dogs.

The one on my wife's old minivan parted. I found that out when I went to change a flat on the road and only found frayed wires[duhhh]
Now on my truck every year I lower it all the way down and douch the wire good with WD40 then coat it in fifth wheel grease. AMSOIL Synthetic Fifth-Wheel Grease
I've found the fifth wheel stuff is pretty sticky, doesn't drip and keeps road salt etc from eating the cable.

I should revise my statement. The dealer replaced it under warranty. I dropped it off and they called less than two hrs later. More to it than just unbolting it.
I use a ratchet strap horizontally across the tire on my '07 to take the weight off the winch.