mr T

hey im taking a long trip in a couple weeks and wanted to make sure the spare tire is good to go in case somehting happens.....it looks like it has never been taken off ....so i inserted the bar into the lil hole obove the bumper and turned

well i snapped something cause the bar is just turning freely without lowerign the tire...looks like there was a safety pin in there and that snapped easily....

i put a longer screw in place of the pin just to get her to turn and lower the tire and i snapped that again no problem

tire is still in place so i can drive no problem but umm i better not get a flat before i get this mobilized....what to do? soak that lil machanism that stores the cable with PB blaster for a day? or what? should i get another pin? the original one was rusted

phox_mulder

Yes.

I had the exact same thing happen on my Toyota, but I didn't find out it was all rusted shut till I had the blowout.

After I got home from the trip, I soaked it and it freed right up.


phox

mr T

thanks phox...i had a feeling....i dont think im gonna be loosening anythign on this truck no more without PB blaster the day before...its 10 years old...the rust belt up here doesnt help...its easy to snap things that are seized

jeff_hiller

I had the same thing happen about five years ago on a road trip to Alaska.
Luckily, I was near Anchorage. I took it to a shop and they cut out the rusty mess underneath with a oxyacetylene torch and I had my tire. But from then on the spare rode in the back of the truck.

Jeff

Boatnik

My truck didn't come with a spare so I went out and bought one. Now if I need a spare I have to drive home to get it because there isn't anything underneath to hang one. Most likely I won't be able to loosen the lug nuts without an impact gun anyway because the duallies are torqued to 325 lbs. ft. Love my AAA

mr T

well i got the tire off today i just knocked it off the hanger with a hammer...that was a highly unpleasant experience cause i had to do it from a distanec so the thing wouldnt fall on me...but the mechanism with the wire rope isnt working...there's somehting cracked there ...im turning the lil input shaft on her but its not lowering the cable down....whatever....im gonna unbolt the mechanism and lay it on the table....

good thing i looked at this before leaving for Georgia...at least i have a working spare

waynem

Hey, at least you have your tire ????

I have had 2 of those units break the wire rope, and drop the spare tire,
someplace on the road (imagine coming across that in the middle of the road in the middle of the night??) Those stupid things are about $ 80. bucks each,
and then a new spare rim ($ 180) and new tire ($ 185).

I am looking at installing a chain or something around the tire under there
to hold the thing in , just in case it breaks again.

mr T

yeah its just a ridiculous little unit....it should be coated with antiseize from the factory....the spare tire is an emergency safety thing....that thing should be coated and greased such so that it never seizes on me...i dont care if its been 10 years and 10 snow and salt seasons later

99 cummins

Theres somebodies chance to make their million. Develop a better carrier for under there. I searched the internet over and there aint such a thing out there.

waynem

I sort of like Chevy's mount, it is a "A" type frame that holds the tire up there,
probably a nightmare to get the spare in or out of it, but at least you can get it up or down when you need to. NO stupid little wire to break, and you CAN put a lock on the hardware, if you need to.

You would think that Dodge would look at something heavier with all the bigger tires that the trucks use ????

Boatnik

Well you can look at what Ford put under their 87-96 F-series trucks. It was a piece of stamped steel beam with a center post to hold the wheel, that had a rod holding up one end and the other end the rod was threaded. A key hole slot allowed the lowering without running the nut completely off and you used the jack to help raise and lower the spare. It ruined some clothes but I never lost a spare tire. Occasional use of penetrating oil kept things working. The tire iron fit in a hole in the nut, like a loop, to turn it. The wheel was pressed up against a cross brace under the bed of the truck. With all the Fords in the salvage yards today getting parts ain't to big of a problem. There is a difference in distance between frame rails though which would have to be addressed. And then there is the ridicule from Dodge owners which could preclude any such adventure as this. (Don't tell anyone and you will be OK)

displacedtexan

Did you ever have to get a tire down from that set up? NOT fun, no sir, not at all.

Boatnik

It wasn't to bad if you used the bottle jack. There is a hole straight out of the end of the steel beam that allowed the use of the lug wrench for extra leverage. I must admit that the Ford this was on was a F-150 and it was a P235-75-15 on a steel rim and I was a little younger then. I carry a floor jack with me now that would make it easy.

displacedtexan

Mine was on a F-250, and I was not smart enough to put the jack under it. And looking back it was putting the tire back up that was the most fun.

waynem

Well, compare all the heartaches to having that flat out in the middle of nowhere and then jacking up the truck, taking off the blown tire and looking under the back end to find just a broken wire hanging down, spare tire had fallen off somewhere ????

This happened twice to me, first time I was going to a "radio" site to do some work, and we left and returned, to notice "somebody's" tire on the road, which we laughed about until we noticed it was OURS.

Second time, I just noticed it was missing, had to have fallen out someplace on the highway, in the middle of the night ???

That cost me a bundle, new spare tire "crane" assembly, new Dodge spare rim, and new tire, in all around $ 600.

I WILL take the ridicule from the Ford guys if it helps me save $ 600.

Dodge HAS got to figure out something better there.

The "crane" assembly is great for lowering and raising the tire, but it should not be the MAIN device to SECURE the tire !!!!