Spare Tire Stuck (Need Help)
- Thread starter Solarplex
- Start date
Tiggerr
Member
When I used to drive wreckers, we used NAPA chain lube for our winch cables. Worked wonderfully. Soak them down couple times a yr. kept them flexible and nice and greasy. That my plan if I can ever get the blasted thing down in my rainier. Lol
C-ya
Member
- Aug 24, 2012
- 1,098
I switched my tires for the winter ones because my All-Seasons were shot. As part of that routine, I decided to drop the spare as a check.
HAHAHAHA!!!
Yeah, it dropped about 2 inches and hung there like an idiot. I cursed and swore and tried to figure out how to get the tire down as it also wouldn't go back up. YAY!! I had to get it off so it wasn't swinging around down there.
I finally decided that to get it off, I would have to cut the cable somewhere. I couldn't get a decent angle to get a hacksaw through the tube, so I decided to drop the entire mechanism that the tire hangs from. Not too bad - one bolt, then slide it forward a bit and knock the tab through the support. Yeah, looks good on paper. The assembly wouldn't slide, so I thought that if I loosen and lower the crank mechanism, it would be able to slide enough. Grab the air gun and the right size socket and off we go. The lower bolt came out no problem. The tire was in the way of the side bolt, so I grabbed the ratchet and went at it. Snap. The captive nut's captivity hardware decided to break. I'm sure it had nothing to do with rust...
Anyway, I got enough movement to knock the tab through the support and got to the cable with my wire cutters. The safety catch was rusted and wouldn't move, which is why it wouldn't lower anymore than 2 inches.
My next dilemma is how to get the old crank unit off since that is a captive nut. I think I'll try to grind it off or burn it off with a torch and put a new nut on the frame. Frickin' frackin' rust belt...
So goes the goings on of the home mechanic. All I know is that the replacement unit will not have a locking tab when it is installed.
HAHAHAHA!!!
Yeah, it dropped about 2 inches and hung there like an idiot. I cursed and swore and tried to figure out how to get the tire down as it also wouldn't go back up. YAY!! I had to get it off so it wasn't swinging around down there.
I finally decided that to get it off, I would have to cut the cable somewhere. I couldn't get a decent angle to get a hacksaw through the tube, so I decided to drop the entire mechanism that the tire hangs from. Not too bad - one bolt, then slide it forward a bit and knock the tab through the support. Yeah, looks good on paper. The assembly wouldn't slide, so I thought that if I loosen and lower the crank mechanism, it would be able to slide enough. Grab the air gun and the right size socket and off we go. The lower bolt came out no problem. The tire was in the way of the side bolt, so I grabbed the ratchet and went at it. Snap. The captive nut's captivity hardware decided to break. I'm sure it had nothing to do with rust...
Anyway, I got enough movement to knock the tab through the support and got to the cable with my wire cutters. The safety catch was rusted and wouldn't move, which is why it wouldn't lower anymore than 2 inches.
My next dilemma is how to get the old crank unit off since that is a captive nut. I think I'll try to grind it off or burn it off with a torch and put a new nut on the frame. Frickin' frackin' rust belt...
So goes the goings on of the home mechanic. All I know is that the replacement unit will not have a locking tab when it is installed.
If they wanted to... GM could have designed a Hybrid Electric Unit for these damned things that could be accessed via a Female Socketed Push-Button Activator with an Up-Down Selector Switch to plug-in at the Trailer Power Harness. Then...using the same 12 Volt High Endurance Wind-Shield Washer Motors or.... Electric Seat Motors, right off of the shelf fitted into simple Hypoid Gear Box and S/S Cable "T" Hook, a mechanism like this would have been easy to design and install.
I know what you're thinking... that it seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through for something that thankfully happens so rarely. But as one of around 150,000,000 "Baby Boomers" who neither relish using the Hand Crank-Cable Method to get the damned tire Down and Out and the Spare Loaded and Raised Back UP... Not having to crawl around up under there and "Jail Break" the Damned Thing because Road Salt has eaten it alive over time... seems like a Pretty Damned Good Idea to me!
What...? GM couldn't spend a few more $$$ and use "All 304 Stainless Steel Components" down there? Just imagine what a HUGE selling point such a device would bring to their "features" on these Trucks! My God... most of the time when we wind up getting that Inevitable Flat Tire, it happens at the WORST possible moment and under the most God-Awful of circumstances... so ANYTHING that would eliminate this nightmare entirely and forever...would be a HUGE improvement over what is down there now.
Big Props and Thanks here to @C-ya ...for Documenting and Imaging his Repair!
I know what you're thinking... that it seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through for something that thankfully happens so rarely. But as one of around 150,000,000 "Baby Boomers" who neither relish using the Hand Crank-Cable Method to get the damned tire Down and Out and the Spare Loaded and Raised Back UP... Not having to crawl around up under there and "Jail Break" the Damned Thing because Road Salt has eaten it alive over time... seems like a Pretty Damned Good Idea to me!
What...? GM couldn't spend a few more $$$ and use "All 304 Stainless Steel Components" down there? Just imagine what a HUGE selling point such a device would bring to their "features" on these Trucks! My God... most of the time when we wind up getting that Inevitable Flat Tire, it happens at the WORST possible moment and under the most God-Awful of circumstances... so ANYTHING that would eliminate this nightmare entirely and forever...would be a HUGE improvement over what is down there now.
Big Props and Thanks here to @C-ya ...for Documenting and Imaging his Repair!
Mooseman
Moderator
They don't really need a secondary latch because they use a big ass stainless steel cable that resists rusting. This was in response to rusting cables and falling spares in the 80's and the ensuing lawsuits. They just went overboard. I've had the spare upside down and the cable still looks like new. I check it every year and grease it up at the same time.
Derrick Rucker
Member
This is why I took my spare off a long time ago and just mounted it to my basket rack, that way I would never run into this issue. Also it's quicker if I had to throw on the spare. After I mounted it on the basket rack I completely deleted the under hatch mounting for the spare