Check those spare tires

[jgillott]

Not sure which area of the forum to post this so I figured I would throw it in other.

For those of you that live in the rust belt like I do, take a few minutes this week and check the spare tire cable assembly under your truck. Got a flat on the way home tonight and I just spent the better part of an hour trying to wrestle the spare tire out from under my 2010 on the side of the road in the dark. Cable was completely rusted in place. I haven't had it down in a while since I lift the entire truck when I rotate tires. So, my mistake for not paying attention to how bad it was under there.

Anyway it was frustraing to say the least. If you have not had the spare down in a while, check it so you don't have to go through what I just did.

 

[crispyboy]

Great advice.
Back over the summer I had the spare tire out from under my truck. I extended the cable out as far as it would go and then took some left over grease from a grease gun cartridge and slathered up the cable.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Great advice

 

[surfbeetle]

Just to add to this, my truck is a 1995. A couple of years ago, I took a good look at my spare only to realize that my spare was cracked all around the sidewall from being old. The tire had maybe 10 miles on it since I only have had one flat that I ended up using the spare. I decided that the tire really wasn't the safest tire to use anymore due to the cracks.

 

[JR]

Has the design of the winch changed from the 2nd gens?

My cable looks brand new still, although I do drop it at least once a year to check tire pressure and valve stem condition. I am about to drop it again next week before I take the truck in to a KROWN dealer to have my annual undercoating done. I drop the spare so that they can spray the whole underside of the bed and back side of the bumper without the tire being in the way.

 

[CRodi]

You're fortunate that yours rusted in place, and that you're doing something about it. There's a lot of pickups in the rust belt, with missing spare tires, that owners don't realize are missing until they get a flat tire. And those are the lucky ones. The unfortunate ones cause accidents, some serious enough causing serious injuries or even death.

 

[RAmy]

...or before it falls out pulling and enclosed trailer and puts a huge dent in the front corner then takes out a fender...

 

[rscurtis]

The last time I lowered the spare in my signature truck, I would say that the cable is stainless steel. It still looked like brand new and had the typical SS shine.