Hi,
I was on interstate 101 in California when I felt a large bump from underneath my truck. I looked in my rear view mirror to see that my spare tire had fallen from underneath and shot behind my 1999 Ford F-150. Thank God no one was behind me as I was traveling around 70 mph. I stopped and looked underneath and saw that the cable had severed that holds the spare tire. I told our local Ford dealer about this, and they replaced the cable. As far as they could tell it looked like the cable had been worn down over time from the rim. Would you consider this something not out of the ordinary to happen? Thanks!

 

The only reason I can see that happening is if you didnt have the tire tightened all the way to the frame, which would let the tire woblle around and chafe away at the cable.

 

Welcome ! I'm glad I wasn't behind you. There have been several posts like this, but it isn't common. If you don't regularly check your spare tire pressure, the spare can loosen up since it was cranked up on a "full" tire.

Just a side note; the spare tire being smashed against the frame rails or rubbing as it loses air pressure can permanently damage the tire sidewall. Adding a piece of carpet or padding is a good idea.

 

I have heard of it happening before in the northen states from all the salt they put on the roads in the winter can cause the cable to rust and sometimes will break.

 

Bought my 2000 Eddie BaueR Expediton privately with 38K on it garaged Texas transplant car to NJ

Was only exposed to NJ roads/ salt/winter 2 years.

Felt that bump while pulling out of a parking space at my local Dunkin donuts... No damage to anyone thankfully.

The cable did not snap but it did detach from the part that attached to the spare holder. The cable had no signs of wear or failure... $75 part plus labor from Ford

I think they might have a possible defect here...

Just to be safe...Don't tailgate!
Especially Ford trucks

 

simple routine inspection would have saved you and other motorist of that

 

i think i'll take the spare down tomorrow, air it up and lube the stuff up under there. i have never had it down before. never thought about it.

 

Exact same thing happened to me,except I was fortunate to be in line at bank when mine came off,Replaced mine with one I finally found in salvage yard.Lots of 97 and up F-150' in yards,with the exception of the one I found,all of them had the cable hoist assy. missing.Was told by the yard employee thats one of the first items sold when they get a Ford truck in.This tells me that ford has a problem with the cable.New one at dealer(would have to order) was 81 bucks plus tax,got mine for $15.36 at salvage yard.

 

Same thing happened to me also. Going about 65-70 mph down the interstate, hit a small bump, I look back and there was my spare going the opposite direction. Just about took out a pickup following behind me. I looked up underneath my truck, looks like the cable snapped.

 

Yikes! I wonder when the last time PETROL checked his spare tire.

 

I was once the unfortunate SOB behind someone when this happened. I was going about 50 mph. The car in front of me swerved to miss the wheel...my truck was not as nimble.

I hit the wheel and tire with my right front wheel, and of course blew my tire, and destroyed my wheel. I kept my head, and let off the gas, and slowly crept to a flat spot on the side of the road.

New tire and new wheel cost me ~$200.00

I learned not to follow behind people so closely, no matter how slow we are going.

It sucked...BIG TIME!

 

Sorry to hear you were the person who had a projectile sent your way behind the other vehicle. My first reaction when my tire went sailing was Oh SH&*(&(,!!!! the tire is going to cause an accident. Luckily,the skilled driver behind me got out of the way and didn't have an impact. I called the Highway patrol after I lost my tire and let them know there may be a tire along the highway. I couldn't find it myself and its a little dangerous after the fact. IMO, though I think a better system could be set up to secure a spare tire instead of a cable system. It sounds like too many incidences have occured and maybe a redesign is needed.