I put new brakes on my '93 4x4 pickup today. As part of the maintenance ritual, I thought I'd try lowering the spare to check it out, and make sure it could be lowered... Well, I mangled the extension piece trying to turn the mechanism, even after hosing it with penetrating oil.

Who's got a bright idea on getting the thing down? The chintzy factory tools aren't going to do the trick...

 

Hit it (literally) with a hammer a few times. That's what got mine working. Of course, this happened to me in a foot of snow two years ago.

Come to think of it, I should probably check mine out before the snow flies...

 

hey cardiac!

on my first gens i had to cut the chain as the mechanism was completely rusted up. on the 93 i had to disconnect the little box that you insert the long arm into and turn the rod with a wrench to lower the spare. i soaked it for a week in penetrating oil and its still stuck. im going with a rear tire carrier next year so its not a big deal, i just load the spare in the back when im wheeling for now.

lee

 

I just did this on my second first gen. Let the air out of the tire and jack it up with a board on a floor jack. Smash the flat tire into the bottom of the bed until you have enough slack to release the bracket. Drop the tire and then you have much better access to free up the mech.

 

I figured I may have to cut the chain, but then I'd have to spend more money replacing it. Bad enough I unexpectedly had to spend $120 on calipers Saturday... I like dajabr's idea, and even tried it to an extent. The truck was on a lift at the shop where I work, and I used a screw jack to lift the tire. Seemed like I was closer to pushing the truck off the lift than actually creating slack in that chain. I'll have to try deflating the tire...

 

I almost lifted the truck off the ground, but at least you don't have to cut the chain and drop the tire on your face. My first 4runner I spent the time to jam my arm in there with some WD40 and then pounding the hell out of the turn rod. An hour of that and it loosened enough to get it out. This time I didn't want to do that. I was thinking about replacing a cut link with one of those links that have an open screw gate on them, but I also found a refurbed and galvinized mechanism on ebay, just need to get the old one out...

 

Care to share what you spent? I wouldn't know what to even search for to run across something like that...

 

Here's the auction...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=7918813555

 

I just cut mine off. (I like cutting things off my 4Runner.... )

It was rusted soild. I tried everything in the world to get it off.. But in the end the SawsAll Broke out of its case again.

 

I too had to cut mine off. I found a clean used carrier off of Ebay, cleaned it with hot soapy water to get any and all salt out of it and packed it with grease! I mean I freaking filled it up with grease then I cranked it a few times around till the entire system was coated thoroughly with grease. The next time I take my spare down it will be a little messy but at lease it will come down! I was about 2 miles from home when I blew my tire, well got ran off the road and hit a or should I say the only drain pipe in the area! I drove home on the flat instead of getting it towed "I had the steel wheels on at the time" then cut the chain to get my spare out! Not cool not cool. I also killed the stock handle; I threw a pair of cheap vise grips in my tire tools bag to crank it down with next time!

 

That thing went for $30+??? It does look to be in great shape.

The spare winch (I like to call it a winch) is something often overlooked in PM schedules. A few squirts every 4-6 weeks and it'll always work fer ya.

I've installed custom crossmembers that replace the stock crossmembers as well as relocated my spares so I have 2 extra spare winches somewheres. Ones a cable and ones a chain. Any interest in em??? If so, I'll see if I can't dig em out, make sure they still work like when removed, and take some .

No, I'm not expecting 30+ dollaz fer em either. If some YotaTech'r can use em, I'll sell em for a reasonable price but other than that, I'll hang on to em and keep em with all the other junk in my "stock" pile.

 

SloPoke, I'm quite interested. Take a look at what you've got, and let me know if they're in usable condition. Are the cable and chain units interchangeable?

I suppose a guy could get rich if he came up with a better mechanism for hanging these spares. I had an '85 Nissan 4x2 prior to this truck. That thing was 60% rust, and the spare came right down. Maybe I need to look to Nissan for a replacement...

 

When I bought my first T100 the cable was frozen... the dealership was going to replace the spare for me because I could see a nail sticking out of it! So they went to remove the existing spare and broke the factory handle trying to do it... they finally just cut it out and bought a new one and installed it for me.

Before buying the T100 I have now I tested to make sure. Sure enough, it worked fine. But every other oil change I lower the spare to grease up the cable and mechanism. It's never even been slightly stick on me since doing that. I also spray a little rubber protectant on the tire to keep it from cracking from being under and exposed to all the road abuse. This way I know I can always count on the spare being handy and roadworthy...

 

After 12 yrs in snow and salt, mine is rusted solid too - go figure. At least I found this out before I needed the spare and had time to search here.

I will try the suggestions above - has anyone come up with any other solutions?