Spare tire winch system
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
From: Twin Cities, MN
Spare tire winch system
An owner of a 02 F-150 FX4 and have been a happy F-150 owner for a while.
This past weekend, I noticed one of my exhaust pipes coming out the back was hanging lower than the other. Sure enough, Minnesota salt was able to rust through the bracket. Easy fix though....dropped the spare (took a good 10 minutes to drop it)...got to the needed bolt and fastened a piece of aluminum to hold the pipe.
Went to winch the spare back up and all I could get it to do was...well, nothing. Tried blowing it out and what not.....could finally get it to grab enough to pick up the slack in the cable....that's about it though. After about 30 minutes of frustration...the tire went into the bed....and I fastened up the cable until I can get it to a dealer or more time to look at it. (Would have winched it up...but the darn little "spring" on the key popped off too)
A friend of mine had a dealer rig it in a way where he didn't need to use the key. I am really not at all concerned about the spare getting stolen..and if someone really wants to go through the trouble of stealing it....so be it. (It's nothing more than a tire from my old "set" that I tossed on the spare....good enough to get me to where I can get a tire)
Anyone know how or what they do to rig this up?
Thanks in advance.
Steve
This past weekend, I noticed one of my exhaust pipes coming out the back was hanging lower than the other. Sure enough, Minnesota salt was able to rust through the bracket. Easy fix though....dropped the spare (took a good 10 minutes to drop it)...got to the needed bolt and fastened a piece of aluminum to hold the pipe.
Went to winch the spare back up and all I could get it to do was...well, nothing. Tried blowing it out and what not.....could finally get it to grab enough to pick up the slack in the cable....that's about it though. After about 30 minutes of frustration...the tire went into the bed....and I fastened up the cable until I can get it to a dealer or more time to look at it. (Would have winched it up...but the darn little "spring" on the key popped off too)
A friend of mine had a dealer rig it in a way where he didn't need to use the key. I am really not at all concerned about the spare getting stolen..and if someone really wants to go through the trouble of stealing it....so be it. (It's nothing more than a tire from my old "set" that I tossed on the spare....good enough to get me to where I can get a tire)
Anyone know how or what they do to rig this up?
Thanks in advance.
Steve
Senior Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,492
Likes: 0
From: Grand Rapids, MI USA
I had just had to replace mine, because I stripped out the place where the handle mates. I had to use a grinder to cut the spare off and bought a whole new assembly. About $65 on one of the online parts places.
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
From: Twin Cities, MN
Winch system headache all fixed!
Well, I finally got the chance to dig around the spare tire system last night. With the tire off, I popped the plastic "guide" tube off and removed the two bolts that hold the "winch" into place. Up and over....and down to the ground.
After taking a look at it for a minute, I took a flathead screwdriver, and stuck it right behind the side of the "mate" part of the security socket. Twisted it and slowly worked it off. The mate part is merely a insert into the winch system. With it removed, I noticed that really fine dust and dirt had filled in the cutout "key" part and with a little bit of water....turned into almost a cement. Lucky I got it down. Reversed the order....put it back up...attached the plastic guide tube.....and put the spare up! Tossed the "mate" in the glovebox with the socket key for when I go to trade it in.
I am really not to worried about anyone stealing my spare as all it is is the factory steel rim with a tire that is good for only a couple thousand miles at best....and if you are that worried...you could rig up a padlock or even put a dogbone lock through one of the lugnut holes.
Hope this helps some of you.
Later
Steve
After taking a look at it for a minute, I took a flathead screwdriver, and stuck it right behind the side of the "mate" part of the security socket. Twisted it and slowly worked it off. The mate part is merely a insert into the winch system. With it removed, I noticed that really fine dust and dirt had filled in the cutout "key" part and with a little bit of water....turned into almost a cement. Lucky I got it down. Reversed the order....put it back up...attached the plastic guide tube.....and put the spare up! Tossed the "mate" in the glovebox with the socket key for when I go to trade it in.
I am really not to worried about anyone stealing my spare as all it is is the factory steel rim with a tire that is good for only a couple thousand miles at best....and if you are that worried...you could rig up a padlock or even put a dogbone lock through one of the lugnut holes.
Hope this helps some of you.
Later
Steve