Replacing the spare tire cable/retaining mechanism

[Crunch]

Was on the road yesterday, soaking up that Texas heat when the tread separated on my drivers side front tire. When the tread came loose it apparently traveled under the truck and hit the spare tire, causing the cable to shear off and sending the spare tire into oblivion somewhere. When I got out of the truck my front tire was still inflated, albeit without tread so I drove down the road about a half mile and saw a country tire shop. Pulled in and they said they could immediately put my spare on. It wasn't until the mechanic got under the bed and told me that the spare wasn't there that I knew it was gone. Ended up buying a used tire, got to where I was going and looked for the spare when I passed the area where it happened. No such luck.

So now I am going to have to replace the spare tire/rim, and the cable retainer that holds it up. How difficult is this? On the one hand, I'm thinking that if I can find the hub retainer that actually contacts the rim I can clip the cable and just attach the new hub retainer to it. Second would be to replace the entire cable along with the hub retainer. Last would be to replace the entire mechanism. Any ideas on which way to go? I'm thinking a junkyard is going to have the parts I need.

BTW, I took a few other whacks in this incident, too. The whipping tread also busted up my wheel well liner, and broke the headlight's bottom attachment, closest to the radiator. So I got tagged pretty good on this: Tire, spare tire/rim, spare tire retainer, wheel well liner and headlight assembly. Interestingly, I was about to splurge on that $25 Walmart headlight polishing. But now I'm just going to hit up Geno's and replace both headlight assemblies and be done with it. The wheel well liners seem to be in abundance and fairly cheap, so the spare tire retainer might be the most difficult part. This could have been a lot worse than it was. Fortunately I was able to get to my destination, do the work and make it back without any problems. And the truck can be easily repaired. I noticed a black rubber scuff mark on the bottom of my fuel tank, so it could have been a real disaster if the tread had punctured the tank. I'm also surprised that the spare tire didn't cause any damage when it dropped. I was pulling a 16' flatbed trailer clocking in at !0,000lbs., and somehow the tire missed it, as well.

 

[Yo Hoot]

You are a lucky man. It's hard to believe that a gator can rip your spare tire out from under the truck... but I'm not doubting you. Crazy stuff happens. My K3LA train horn resides in that spot so I don't ever have a spare. Owned the 04 since new and never needed one thankfully. I run Toyo Open Country 10 ply tires. They are practically indestructible. I'm in Ben Wheeler TX. Lots of junk yards around. That may be the way to go for parts but check ebay also.

 

[Ozymandias]

Buy a new tire winch online, they are cheap and easy to replace. Just 2 bolts holding them from top, a ratchet does the job just fine.

SCITOO 924-538 Spare Tire Hoist Spare Winch Carrier Compatible for Dodge for Ram 1500 2002-2005, for Dodge for Ram 2500 2003-2012, for Dodge for Ram 3500 2003-2012 NO Amazon Affliate Links Allowed.d/9WJ0N2B

 

[seafish]

I added a ratchet strap for extra security to keep the spare in place just in case of this kind of failure.

Of course I check the integrity of the strap whenever I check the spare tire pressure.

 

[Regcabguy]

You are a lucky man. It's hard to believe that a gator can rip your spare tire out from under the truck... but I'm not doubting you. Crazy stuff happens. My K3LA train horn resides in that spot so I don't ever have a spare. Owned the 04 since new and never needed one thankfully. I run Toyo Open Country 10 ply tires. They are practically indestructible. I'm in Ben Wheeler TX. Lots of junk yards around. That may be the way to go for parts but check ebay also.

I love Toyos but I've had an MT go down on the freeway. A piece of metal pierced the carcass between the voids. That's the weak point. On my AT's I've had a couple of flats from screws.

 

[Regcabguy]

I added a ratchet strap for extra security to keep the spare in place just in case of this kind of failure.

Of course I check the integrity of the strap whenever I check the spare tire pressure.

I've done that since seeing the spare on my 24v hanging in the driveway after a two week Baja trip. The hoist itself failed. The cable was fine.

 

[bigceltic]

I added a ratchet strap for extra security to keep the spare in place just in case of this kind of failure.

Of course I check the integrity of the strap whenever I check the spare tire pressure.

I did the same after reading stories about the cable breaking and the tire damaging the truck and trailer (not to mention liability if it hits someone else!).

 

[CVR222NV]

Did you file an insurance claim? I had a tire (Toyo AT) separation on my driver's rear that took out not only the wheel well but the entire side of the bed back of the wheel well. I told the insurance company to just give me a check and used toward a flat bed.

 

[Crunch]

You are a lucky man. It's hard to believe that a gator can rip your spare tire out from under the truck...

It surprised me, too. The lady at the tire shop speculated that it was stolen, which I can't say for sure isn't the case. But the cable is sheared about as high as it can be, so I don't see how anyone could get a tool over the tire and up there to cut it. The individual cable wires are also splayed out, so to me that indicates that they were severed while under pressure.

Buy a new tire winch online, they are cheap and easy to replace. Just 2 bolts holding them from top, a ratchet does the job just fine.

Thanks. That sounds like the way to go so I won't be depending on a 20 year old cable in the future.

I added a ratchet strap for extra security to keep the spare in place just in case of this kind of failure.

I'm thinking I might do the same thing, though if a gator was able to snap the cable I don't think an additional ratchet strap would have saved it. I'm just glad the damage wasn't worse.

Did you file an insurance claim?

Nope. It's a 19 year old truck so I only have liability on it now. When I had full coverage I still had a $500 deductible, so I'm not sure how much they would have ended up paying out anyway. I already ordered the headlight assemblies from Geno's. Got two new tires for the front, so the "Multi Mile" generic tire I got from the tire shop is now gone. The spare tire winch, wheel liner and bad memory are all that's left now...

 

[Crunch]

Meant to post this pic a while back, but just got around to transferring it from my phone to my computer. In looking at it, you can see how frayed the cable is, with the fraying extending down into the housing. You may have to blow up the pic, but you an also see how the cable cut into the plastic around the hole where the cable passes through. A few people told me they thought the spare tire was stolen, but to me this picture is proof that there was some violent, high speed trauma perpetrated on the winch. The only culprit I can think of is the tread that separated from the tire. Had this happened when I wasn't pulling a trailer I would have seen the spare tire sliding out from under the truck. With the trailer it was probably off the road by the time I had a sight line, and I was watching the tread bouncing from my side view mirror and concentrating on safely pulling off the highway.

 

[Regcabguy]

Did you file an insurance claim? I had a tire (Toyo AT) separation on my driver's rear that took out not only the wheel well but the entire side of the bed back of the wheel well. I told the insurance company to just give me a check and used toward a flat bed.

I had a Bridgestone do that on my 98.5. $3300 damage in seconds. They were D rated and I was spooked they'd deny the claim. No problem. I put E's on it when I got it out of the shop.

 

[Crunch]

I had a Bridgestone do that on my 98.5. $3300 damage in seconds. They were D rated and I was spooked they'd deny the claim. No problem. I put E's on it when I got it out of the shop.

Man, that's a lot of damage! I guess I got off relatively easy. Tallying it up it looks like it's the blown tire, the spare tire/wheel, the driver side wheel well cover, the driver side headlight assembly and some minor bends to the fender. The fender was slightly bulged out and not really noticeable, but the bottom part of it by the door would make contact with the door when I opened it all the way. I was able to leverage the fender back in place in that spot, leaving a worn area where they rubbed. The headlight was probably the worst of it. Both were fogged up because of age, and before this incident I was planning on getting the $25 rubdown at Walmart. With the broken assembly that was out I opted to replace both headlight assemblies. Since the truck is almost 20 years old I went with the Depo brand from Geno's instead of the OEM Mopars. They work well, but they extend out farther than the OEM assemblies. Not sure why. They fit perfectly when I installed them, but the old lenses are almost flush with the fenders and these stick out about 3/4". Totaling it out I think this will cost me less than $800. The headlights were always a sore spot with me since I bought the truck because they did a poor job in terms of lighting distance. The bulk of the light hit the road about 3/4 of the way across intersections. So when I installed the Depo assemblies I went ahead and raised them a bit. Now they shine just past the far edge of intersections, and when the brights are on they shine a lot further. I'd like to raise them up some more, but I'm concerned that the brights will be right in the eyes of other drivers until I switch them off. My memory of those old fashioned round glass headlights were that they shined much, much further, but that could be faulty memory. I still might raise them up a few more degrees and just try to be more conscientious about dimming them back down when there is oncoming traffic.

When I think about it, losing the spare tire might have been God looking out for me and a blessing in disguise. The spare tire was the original that came with the truck. I had 30-40 miles to go to get to the destination and a good 5-6 hour drive to get back home. With a 20 year old tire on the front it may well have failed at any point on the trip before sanctuary. Chances are it wouldn't have happened near a tire store (and they would have all been closed by then, to boot), and the damage could also have been much worse. I might have been stranded somewhere bad after the sun went down with no spare, a messed up truck and/or trailer and no good options. Mysterious ways, me thinks. Mysterious ways, indeed!

 

[crispyboy]

Was there any damage to the underneath side of trailer in tow?
When I bought my used travel trailer it actually had a dent in the axle tube from where the previous owner had hit debris in the highway.
As a side note when I check the air pressure in the spare I always spray some Fluid Film into the winch for preservation of the cable and to make sure it operates when I need it. Whenever the truck gets new tires I put the best of the old tires on as a spare.

 

[Crunch]

None whatsoever. I did have a black scuff on my fuel tank from the tire tread rubber, but the trailer came out unscathed. Definitely could have been a lot worse.