What is this rear rotted beam for? and spare repair?

[bspurloc]

I am pretty sure this has been rotted thru for awhile I just never noticed it. with force I can wiggle the side nearest the tire.

The spare mechanism of course is rotted. How do I fix that? is there a replacement kit anywhere? ah I see Tire Carrier rock auto $75 ugh.

I am going to get it welded back but am wondering its dangers of being like this.

This is Driver side left of the hanging spare tire. towing wiring jack is in front of it

 

[gmcman]

I'm going to speculate a cross member specifically for the tire, not a structural piece. There's tubular cross members for strength and I would assume a competent welder could hook it up. Just be mindful of the fuel tank and filler neck.

 

[bspurloc]

yeah the square one above it looks solid although I cant be sure of anything till I get this tire down which I surmise is not an easy thing with the secondary latch.
I have to assume that is most likely rusted solid and isnt going to move...

 

[Mounce]

There's two members here selling their "spare mechanism" for a decent price. They work, the owners just took them off because of moving the spare location or doing away with the spare.

 

[Fire06]

Iagree it looks like the spare tire bracket/resting place when the tire is up

 

[NJTB]

Make sure you dis connect the battery before welding on the truck. The power surge through ground blows up the computers.

 

[Sparky]

You can't really rebuild the spare tire hoist. It just needs replaced.

I'm toying with removing and selling mine since it doesn't do me any good anymore (oversized tires don't fit under there too well).

 

[Bruce83]

Welding on any GM model with the battery connected burns out the alternator and replacing an alternator with a dead battery will burn it out too.

 

[Sparky]

Neighbor welded the rear bumper and liftgate back together on my TB, didn't burn anything out.

If you're welding in the back and your welder ground is on the piece you're welding then I don't see why you'd have any issues given the electrical current wouldn't be anywhere close to either the battery or the alternator (or PCM for that matter).

 

[bspurloc]

I had an area near here welded up 6 months ago so I am not worried about that sort of damage.
how do I get this spare tire thing down?
of course the spare tire secondary latch is frozen. I sprayed it all up but I can not get it to move with pliers.

I think I am just going to cut away a section of the lip that will let the latch get by it. Seems like an easier way to get it down and will always be there if it siezes up again along with keeping the safety of it intact.
With the tire jacked up and cable down, I have nice clean access to the lip so I can use a drill bit or dremel tool to cut a section of it off.

 

[RayGumm]

Imho, I wouldn't cut on the wheel if that's the lip you're referring to. I would just soak the thing with pb blaster or the like and let it sit for a spell (6 pack) and then try cranking the tire winch 'up' until it clicks 3 or 4 times (you won't break it) and then lower it down as far as it will go, then repeat. Eventually it'll let go, but could take several 'spray it and let it sit' sessions to do it.

Or just whack the whole mechanism off and mount the spare on the roof. You could sell the mechanism on here then put the $$ towards the roof mount mod!

 

[Sparky]

I don't remember how we got mine off... I think just used some large channel locks or vice grips to forcefully squish the latch, then cut the end of hte cable off to drop the holder and wheel down off the rest of the unit.

 

[kickass audio]

My recommendation on getting the spare down with the stuck secondary latch is to do this.

Lower down the spare tire winch to the limit of where you can no longer see the tire lowering, once you reach this point turn the winch back up one full turn.

CAREFULLY push the spare tire off the support bracket that goes between the middle of the rim (idk the real name of that part, its the oval shaped piece of metal in the middle like where your CV nut would be)

Next carefully stick your finger into the little opening between the hole in the spare tires rim and the secondary latch and there will be 2 sides you will feel on the mechanism. One of those sides you will feel have a hump sticking outward and it is nice and rounded, the other side will have a valley in it, if you run your finger around the entire piece you will feel the notch in there, this is the side you want. Once you find the part of the latch that has the notch get yourself some PB blaster and soak the latch for about 10 minutes. Next get a long flathead screwdriver and wedge it between the opening on the rim and that little notch you found on the latch. Pry the screw driver so that the tip of the screw driver will be pushing into that valley as hard as you can. While doing this either use your foot to kick that winch for lowering the tire counter clockwise a few times and if you released it enough the tire will drop.

Note: when I do this to my truck I turn the winch down 4 turns before I take the screw driver out and get out from under the truck to drop my tire. I did this on my truck and I swear my spare tire was never taken off the truck since day 1 as there was so much gravel and mud on the rim and that spring loaded secondary latch was rusted solid. I managed to pry it off the truck and I then soaked the part with Pb blaster some more and started striking it with a small hammer until I could get the secondary latch to start moving. Now 2 times a year I drop the tire, check the pressure and put some more PB blaster on the latch and move it back and forth by hand and put the tire back up.

 

[Grimor]

I have a spare tire winch I'm not using if you need one, I'd do $40 + shipping. Works fine and is oiled, I got it off jrSS last year.

 

[bspurloc]

So how this mechanism works is that center piece attached to the wire is supposed to move down and up through the lower black part? I'm not meaning the secondary latch mechanism that goes left right to loosen seat in the latch. I am meaning the cable is supposed to move up down in the bottom black part which then triggers the latch in?
I see an example on the "other" website.
So tightening the thing all the way up should yank it loose, by pulling the cable free in the bottom black part? I was hitting it with a hammer trying to loosen it but I wasnt hitting it too hard because it was past 9pm and neighbors needs out weighed the needs to break this loose.
Hammering it upwards the same direction tightening the winch would do, aka hitting the very bottom of the piece of cable that is sticking out.
I dont believe mine is rotted to the point that I need to replace it. the cable I can see is nice and new looking. I just need to get this stupid latch free then apply tons of grease.
I see people saying lithium grease... Why not axle grease? I have tons of that! I'll drench the whole thing down! I'll fill the whole channel with axle grease!!
The screwdriver prying thing aint gunna work on this, however pinning the screw driver to the mechanism that wont move and hammering it should knock it loose, eventually. I PB blasted the hell out of it and filled the center area several times. meaning spraying into the channel of the latch which comes down into the black area bottom and fill sit all up to break that rusted area up too.

 

[kickass audio]

Actually the whole design of it is to have the cable push down through the black piece when the secondary latch catches. This is to show that the latch has secured the tire not that you get down under neath there and wiggle the tire and risk getting hit with it because people are that stupid.

I myself grabbed that little nub with some locking pliers and bent it free and then used a wire wheel on the tab to get rid of the rust on it but the damn thing rusted back up on the bottom piece the next winter so I said screw it and left it alone. I can still get it down and out of there without having to pull the cable through that black piece. I just do like I described earlier and get it down off the ledge the latch locks onto and go about my business.

You can use axle grease if you want to. I did for the entire cable (even though it isn't necessary as it is stainless steel) and I put a gob of it on the latch itself when it goes up and locks in. I also once in a while spray the mechanism that winches the cable up and down just to keep that moving nice and easy. I never fail to get my tire down and out. You could always just get the tire down and mount the tire upside down if you wanted so the latch never engages.

 

[bspurloc]

ok so there really is no need for that cable to be free of the bottom black area?
funny thing is I almost discovered breaking it loose by twisting it. I wasnt sure if it was supposed to be loose or not and was using the pliers squeezed on it and twisting it to break all the rust off it as PB dripped. I never sueezed it hard enugh to break it loose as I was just trying to get the rust off.
Cant work on it now due to football! maybe 2moro!
The spare tire rim I can see is completely rusted out. I can mount an OEM tire up there? I have 4 oem rims sitting in the garage as there are after market alloys on.
I may even get out a sawzall and just cut the rim to get the cable free and tire down cuz I can see the mount holes are horribly rotted.

Actually the whole design of it is to have the cable push down through the black piece when the secondary latch catches. This is to show that the latch has secured the tire not that you get down under neath there and wiggle the tire and risk getting hit with it because people are that stupid.

I myself grabbed that little nub with some locking pliers and bent it free and then used a wire wheel on the tab to get rid of the rust on it but the damn thing rusted back up on the bottom piece the next winter so I said screw it and left it alone. I can still get it down and out of there without having to pull the cable through that black piece. I just do like I described earlier and get it down off the ledge the latch locks onto and go about my business.

You can use axle grease if you want to. I did for the entire cable (even though it isn't necessary as it is stainless steel) and I put a gob of it on the latch itself when it goes up and locks in. I also once in a while spray the mechanism that winches the cable up and down just to keep that moving nice and easy. I never fail to get my tire down and out. You could always just get the tire down and mount the tire upside down if you wanted so the latch never engages.

 

[bspurloc]

OK! I guess a day of the PB eating at the rust I was able to pry the hook in against the lip with a screw driver and got the thing undone!
I PB the hell out of the cable area at the black thing at bottom and got the cable able to pull thru, up and down thru it. I couldnt get the latch system to loosen up it kinda looks like the edge is squeezed into it hanging it up! may have been from my vise grip attempts dunno!
But I didnt bother anymore, its is loose enough where I can pry it down and do it during the day time.
The pulley system looks all good, no cracks or anything, cable looks new. The rim looks usable but looks like a fullsize tire to me... yall sure I cant latch up one of the OEM alloys up there?
Ill look more at it during sunlight.

 

[kickass audio]

I would see no problem mounting an OEM one up under there other than that the OEM rim may stick up a little bit and get scratched some on the underbody but thats all. I have stored one under my dads tahoe before when he blew his tire out but his is so old it doesn't have that stupid secondary latch.

And congrats on breaking it free! It does take a lot of PB Blaster, swearing and force to get the stupid latch to move out enough to get it off that ledge. What you can do if you want to just forget that dumb secondary latch is to either mount the tire upside down (don't really recommend this IMO) so that the outside if the rim is facing down to the ground instead of up to the body of the truck. What I would do is pry that spring loaded area of the secondary latch out and get a dremel or any other cutting wheel and cut off those 2 little tabs that you will see are like fingers. Just cut them right off and you can mount the tire the OEM way where the outside is mounted facing upward and you don't have to worry about that damn secondary latch getting seized up or making it difficult to remove the spare.

And your cable will never rust out on ours as it is stainless steel. The only thing that would rust on ours would be that little bottom piece which it seems like its made of a type of lead as it is very soft. But that little nub that sticks out of the bottom of that black piece you do not need to have it broken free. You can if you want to so that if you do use the secondary latch and you go to drop the tire down and it doesn't move you can tug on that little nub and try to pull the cable down, if it comes down then you know the cable isn't bound up and that the latch is locking the tire up. That is really the only purpose of that being free. Other than that I say just leave it stuck on the black piece and be done with it.

 

[bspurloc]

I can protect the alloy with some radiator tubing or something but of course that will scuff it up too.
I'll figure something out.
I am thinking maybe sawzall a notch in the lip that the latch catches on. so you just need to lower the tire let the stupid latch catch, then get under, lift the tire and twist the hook till it gets to the cut away area and can drop past it.
but really I dont see this cable breaking. I think Ford doesnt use a secondary latch or Toyota. A dude at work had his cable break on his Tacoma I think it was and his tired dropped to the ground.
No reason to overly tighten the cable either. just get it snug then back off is what I observed.
Mine does not click click as you get tighter and I wasnt going to make it even tighter till the cable tangles. there is no reason for it to be that tight. unless of course u like cable tangling into itself tightly.

 

[kickass audio]

Good idea with the sawzall , that would work BUT the problem with that latch is the ledge it grabs onto is fairly difficult to cut away at unless you have a grinding wheel on a dremel or something of that sort. I would not do it with something large like a sawzall for risk of it bouncing off and getting yourself hurt in the process of cutting that tab. I say just cut off those 2 nubs on the latch and be done with it. And our cable will never fail unless it gets bound up for some reason because again we have stainless steel on our cable so it won't rust out like other ones that were just regular steel.

You should have the latch click when it gets tight. I only go one click on mine and then I stop. You really don't have to make it click to know it's up all the way. You can feel the tension build up when it's up as far as it can go before that ratcheting mechanism kicks in and makes it click. Even though it's not necessary I coated the living death out of my cable with bearing grease 4 times in a row within the same day to get grease all inside the assembly to minimize the risk of a bind up situation.

I will admit I got lucky because my second time dropping the spare to check the pressure I had the damn secondary latch hold it up and the first time I dropped it the latch did not work and the tire came down as if it didn't have that dumb latch. Well the second time I thought it bound up so I was wiggling the death out of the cable and I fully unwound the cable (like an idiot) until I looked on here and found out about that annoying secondary latch and then I wound the cable back up and popped the latch over to release it and got the tire to come down.

 

[bspurloc]

yeah you know maybe I will just cut that lip hook off... I keep forgetting if I cut a notch I will be creating a sharp edge that will cut the wire over time... so that is not a good IDEA I have haha...
unless over course I polish it up nice nice!! nah just cut the stupid thing sounds good!
I mean this is my daughters car and the tire is going to need to come down easy not GM dumb!
thanks for all the info!

 

[bspurloc]

maybe cutting it like this is a good idea... as it wont drop straight down quickly... u will have to tug it to get it to compress the latch in past the lip.

yeah I know over thinking things! that is what happens when at work and cant do anything...

 

[kickass audio]

It would make 0 difference if you had it angled like that or if you just flattened it right off. The weight of the tire is so strong that it will pull it right out of that latch if you left it angled. I would just take it straight off and make it so it has no burrs or anything to snag on the rubber dust boot or even worse get your hand cut if you grab it when putting the tire up or down.

 

[bspurloc]

I was thinking that route because I had the latch just squeezed enough to get by the lip but the weight of the tire wasnt pulling it through. I pulled down on the tire and it suddenly yanked passed the lip.
I just cant wait to do the parking brake shoes and mechanism on this effing truck! I think I have all the replacement hardware so it should go smoothly.

such a bad design. why didnt they just sink the tire into the floor in the back. obviously there is room for that. OR put the tire on a Y gate under the rear with multiple level hand operated latching to not let it suddenly drop with the latch at the bottom of the Y and the hinges at the top of the Y.