My spare tire mechanism has broken after only using 3 times. I read about issues that others had in the Lightening forum and wondered if any Screw owners have had the same issues. The cable on mine has frayed and will not come down enough for me to load my spare. Thankfully, I had the spare off the truck so now it's riding in the back but it takes up valuable space.
I haven't been able to find anything on the web about a recall on this. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

Hello rgillis -- First and foremost, welcome to f150online.com. Secondly, I'm sorry about the problems that you're having. I've been roaming these hallowed halls for a few years now and I'm not sure that I can remember many instances of folks posting about this issue. While that certainly doesn't mean it's not happening, it probably does mean that it's pretty infrequent.

As for recalls, again, I'm not sure I've seen much along those lines. You may check alldata.com to see if you can come up with a TSB or similar for that problem.

Best of luck with your situation! I hope you're still in warranty so that you can get someone else to foot the bill...

RP

 

welcome to the forum



there was a post a while back about someone loosing his spare on the highway but i haven't seen or heard of any other types of problems. i don't take my spare out to often myself, just when i have the vehicle oil sprayed in the fall. i usually make sure the cable is well greased before i crank it back up. i have my tire facing with the air valve down so i can keep an eye on the pressure so that it doesn't come loose.

good luck

 

The first time I used my Spare Tire I had the same problem. After taking the spare tire off I put the flat tire in the bed of the truck and just cranked up the cable till it was snug so it would not be bouncing around. So then at the tire shop they could not get the cable to come back down. Finally they had one guy get under there and pull (basically put all his weight) on the cable while another guy cranked. We hooked the spare tire on and then it was REALLY hard getting cranked back up. It's still under warranty and I was going to take it back but I forgot till now. thanks for reminding me. I will post to let you know what happened at the Ford place.

 

Thanks for the welcoming! Great site! I'm not as hard core as some members but its great to know I have a good resource to help find answers to my questions.

Unfortunately, I'm no longer under warranty so looks like I'll be eating this one. I'll let you know what the dealer quotes me for the part. I got a price from www.fordpartsnetwork.com for $61.99 plus freight. Ohters on this site have been quoted cheaper so we'll see.

 

I lost my spare tire on the highway last night! Scared the crap out ofmy wife. Thankfully, I was just turning into our driveway and no cars were behind us.

I have never touched the spare tire mechanism on my 2001 Suprcrew. (I have never had a flat in over 62,000 miles of suburban driving/use.)

The little nubbie on the end of the cable busted off. The cable and winch system is one unit and needs to be replaced.

This is (IMHO) a significant safety concern. Owners should inspect their spare tire cable winch systems periodically for safety reasons.

 

Although I don't have an issue with my cable the other day I dropped the spare tire down for my own routine inspection, and was suprised to see four indentations in the sidewall. I just purchased the truck from a dealer in October of 04 and they replaced all five tires with new Michelins. So within that short a period the sidewalls developed these indents. Any suggestions on what to use as a buffer and still allow for firm installation?
Thanks magoo

 

magoo, a piece of carpet will work, so will 1/8th plywood if you have a jigsaw to cut the donut.

All 97-03 spares will indent if not protected, posts about this many years ago.

 

I may be mistaken, but I believe Ford does in fact recommend this.

 

Hi gang. Been a while since I've been to the forum. Its interesting to see that others have experienced issues with their spare tie winch mechanism. The dealer wanted $90+ so I found it on-line for $72 including shipping (sorry, I forget what the site was).
My dads been a Ford guy all his life and said that you need to be careful need to try and tighten the cable too tight. Basically, as soon as you see the tire set into place stop cranking. Just make sure that the tire can't wabble around. After removing my old unit, I saw that the cable had frayed and was useless after that.
I agree that this is a serious problem. Does Ford actually have to wait until someone gets hurt or killed before they issue a recall for something like this?

Still happy with my choice in trucks! I guess none of them are perfect but being a product development engineer by trade, I get really upset over obvious sfety issues like this.

 

I think most of the trucks have gone to a cable type system so this might be something that affects Chevs and Dodges too.

 

Just about any vehicle made today that mounts the spare underneath the rear bed area, be it a truck, minivan, SUV, whatever, has this basic type of system. There are slight differences from manufacturer to manufacturer but they pretty much work, and fail, all the same way. I think I've seen maybe one or two systems that use a chain drive similar to the cable, but they are rare. Best thing to do is check them out once or twice a year to make sure the cable isnt getting too frayed from rust and scale.

 

My '85 Toyota pickup had a chain, thick chain like 5/16".
I had forgot all about that.
I just went out and crawled under my '98 Toyota I bought used,
a cable and rusty at that.

 

Just a quick follow-up to my post on the tire carrier issue.

I went to my Ford dealer to show them the issue and purchase a replacement part last night. The tire carrier winch/cable unit has been redesigned to include a metal cable guide tab near the rubber grommet on the winch unit. This helps reduce lateral cable slop should the spare tire not be fully tightened under the truck. The cable guide tab seems to be added to soften the blow that the cable takes against the sharp metal side of the winch housing when you come to a sudden stop. My rubber grommet on the winch unit was cut completely through by the cable's movement. (I have always had a strange pounding noise with this truck ever since I got it when doing an abrupt stop, but I always thought is was driveline or suspension noise as I transferred vehicle weight to the front tires during braking. It was actually the spare tire moving, then slapping the cable against the tire carrier winch!)

Also, the new cable stop is much bigger on the new unit. (The cable stop broke off my old cable.) The cable also has a spring which helps to keep pressure on the tire and probably reduces the likelihood of damage by overtightening.

Based on what I see, I would say the tire carrier winch and cable part has been 'redesigned' for improved performance and safety.

Hope this info helps!

 

Owning a repair garage I see quite a few spare tire hoists.

They all are kind of "Mickey Mouse". The company trucks that I service Ford/Chev have had issues with the hoist.

I've replaced several, both Ford/Chev.