Spare Tire Winch Failures!

[CharlesHoward]

Wow, How often / unreliable is another feature of my 05 Ram?
When I purchased it used, there was no spare tire, and just the broken cable dangling from the winch.
Procured a new winch (easy), a used wheel (new ones are $$$$) with some difficulty on E-Bay and a "free" tire from a fellow TDR member who upgraded his wheels/size.

On May 26 while towing my Fifth Wheel on the outskirts of downton Knoxville heading N on I-75 I heard a loud "Thud" (an unusual sound) and checking my mirrors for which trailer tire blew (assumption based on experience), I didn't see any tire problems but saw a horizontal tire skidding behind the RV off onto the miniscule shoulder. Not a place where I could pull off and I assumed it was the trailer spare since that flimsy winch has been used many times (most recently in March)... Fortunately no one was right behind me!

But on my next stop, the trailer spare was still in place, but ONCE again, all that was under my RAM was a broken cable! Its a fairly robust looking cable so it mystifies me why it would fail. Did not notice any looseness on the last Diff Oil drain/change early last year.

Whats up with that? Anyone else have that problem?

Now I get to go through the "redo" once again.

Suggestions beyond E-Bay for a another used DOT Wheel are appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[seafish]

Unfortunately as you just found out, it's defintely a good idea to also use ratchet strap to secure the spare tire to the truck in addition to the oem "winch". Try Craigslist in your area and near by areas for the spare..there usually are some around for a decent deal. Junkyard for the winch set-up??

 

[Regcabguy]

Yeah,I've done that after having the winch on my 2nd gen fail. Ratchet strap=fail safe.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

I use a chain looped around the frame crossmember, and a bolt connecting the two ends. If going into suspicious areas where tires get stolen, put a padlock on the ends also. Padlock shackles are brittle, so don't rely on it--use a bolt too. I never had the factory winch fail, but don't trust it.

 

[JLandry]

Charles,

Just curious... exactly where and how did the cable fail?

Did it just fray at some random place along it's length and break? Or did it fail where it was attached to the piece that holds the wheel on the spare tire?

Thanks,

John

 

[AH64ID]

Very interesting.

Considering I have a 124lbs of spare up there I might add a ratchet strap.

 

[Ozymandias]

...Me too

 

[Mingoglia]

Weird, I've only lost mine once only because some a-hole lowered it enough to snip the cable in the parking lot. That was my half ton dodge in '95. On my 2001 3500, I had the original spare still in the original position since the day I bought it. Never lowered it, and it never snapped. I've had that truck bouncing up and down at high speed offroad before too.

 

[Regcabguy]

Very interesting.

Considering I have a 124lbs of spare up there I might add a ratchet strap.

My failure was noticed by my wife in the driveway after a Baja run with about 100 miles of average roads down there.She said "your spare is dangling from the truck". It was close to draggin on the ground. I have the Mag Hytec also and the ratchet strap keeps the oversized spare toward the rear and out of range of the diff cover.

 

[Larry Willard]

Consider yourself lucky! A few years ago former TDR member and friend of mine lost the spare tire off his '01 Ram and it flipped up and rolled down the length of the trailer bending an axle, breaking the sewer line and smashing the fresh water tank. His cable didn't break the tire fell off the hanger. The truck just came out of the body shop and they apparently didn't install it correctly.
I have always had a cable around mine after losing one on a Ford in the 70's, and after that reinforced the need for additional restraints.
Larry

 

[mikeyb]

I didn't loose the spare but came really close. Luckily I was in town and heard a banging noise when taking off. Found the spare dangling and bouncing between the rear axle and receiver hitch. Used a ratchet strap to secure the tire until I could replace the winch. Even after installing a new winch I'm still using a strap for extra safety.

 

[mfurrh55]

Suggestions beyond E-Bay for a another used DOT Wheel are appreciated.

Thanks![/QUOTE]
Too bad your not close to n. texas, I have a couple of them

 

[CVR222NV]

http://www.originalwheels.com/dodge-wheels/trucks3500rims-2007.php

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I use a chain looped around the frame crossmember, and a bolt connecting the two ends. If going into suspicious areas where tires get stolen, put a padlock on the ends also. Padlock shackles are brittle, so don't rely on it--use a bolt too. I never had the factory winch fail, but don't trust it.

Yup - sturdy chain and lock around cross member, and locking gas caps - we've had spares and gas stolen in past years...

 

[CharlesHoward]

Picture of Cable break as requested

 

[Mingoglia]

Could some of these failures be corrosion related? My truck was an AZ truck so we don't have any rust/road salt to deal with. If I did have a failure I had a thick cable lock and lock under there so it woulda likely just started skimming the ground slightly. Would suck to have had it break completely and bend a trailer axle like was posted.

 

[Kry226]

Very interesting.

Considering I have a 124lbs of spare up there I might add a ratchet strap.

You too? Man, I've never even contemplated the winch failing and I've had 315s or 285/75-17s under there since 5k. It would be my luck that it would fail while I was towing my RV as well.





I think I just avoided a disaster. Thanks, TDR. Again.

 

[bighammer]

I think I'll just pull off my spare and leave it at home.

 

[Tuesdak]

Too bad your not close to n. texas, I have a couple of them

Find a box that formally had a new computer system in it and use Ebay shipping. (Private auction for a buck plus shipping...) It's around $50 to ship rims/wheels. It's way more expensive to ship from a UPS store. Remove the tire as they are dead weight...

 

[brods]

Just tried to lower the spare and the winch rod gave some fight at first, but now turns in both directions without doing a thing. Before I cut the stupid thing off are there any tricks to get the winch to move?