Today I lowered my spare tire not since I used the spare when I had a nail in one of my stock Americraps at 11,000 miles! Today I lowered the spare to check out it's condition & was like "Holy sand trap Batman!"....... There was a bunch of sand on the top of the spare caked in that I ended up washing & scrubbing the whole spare tire, & cable/hoist assembly! I will be doing this every spring for now on! Wow!...........Glad I cleaned that up & I keep a clean truck!........

 

Yep, tons of grime collects there. I usually keep my spare in the bed under the tonneau cover. Nice and clean.

 

Yeah, i just had to use mine not long ago, believe it or not, less grimy than my spare on my old 94 Ranger.

But it was nasty....

 

Had to use mine early this year, it was nice and nasty looking. Perfect for cramping my trucks style.

 

Pull it down every spring and rust proof/paint it. I have seen some that have turned to pile of rust.

 

Maintenance of your belongings is important.

 

spare? we got a spare? i have never had mine down. probably no air in it by now.

 

lower and rust proof once a year. the fuel pump driver module is above the spare. Had a few trucks come in the shop not starting- module rotted right through

 

I took mine down and cleaned it and flipped it over when I got my truck...Tons of crap up there.

 

Yeah I took mine off the truck yesterday and it was caked in clay. Thing gets dirty after being up there for years.

 

my spare tire is laying in a field junk pile somewhere.

 

well i still have my spare off my silver truck and the entire lift/lock assembly. I removed it when i did my frame modifications a week before the wreck and the insurance company didnt ask for it back.

back when the truck was a year old, i had a window break on the road infront of me on the highway, next time i lowered the spare there was a ton of glass chunks in the lip of the spare

 

I had to use my spare once on my old truck after it had gone untouched for years. It was a rusty mess. It was on the truck for a few days until I could get my flat fixed. In that short amount of time the wheel stuck to the truck. I had a heck of a time removing it.

I plan on maintaining mine every spring to make sure it is in decent shape. Very good idea!

 

How much does the spare weigh? Could I remove to lighten the truck up?

 

Not sure on weight, but yes you can remove it to lighten the rear. Not sure why you'd want to do that though. Being a truck, there aint much weight back there already. Lots of people add "bed bladders" so they actually have some traction at the strip/street.

On top of that, talk about running a gamble. No spare ? Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. But to each their own.


I keep my spare in the bed itself. Easier to get at, keep clean.