dodge spare tire holder

[beaconlight]

The cable on my 2003 Dodge 1500 went bad. I bought a new one and went to change it out yesterday. It was a bear. First they installed it with self tapping bolts with the heads on top of the mounting between the frame and the pick up bed in such way that you could not see them. i can't figure what size the heads are for a 9/16 was too large and a 1/2 was too small. Same for 14MM and 13MM. I did have a 17/32 odd ball socket that almost fit. I finally decided too grind the bolts off. You can imagine what it was like with a 10 inch grinder while under the truck on a creeper. Ok every thing was now ground flat and it was time for the Dremel to grind the bolts out of the frame. After chewing up a number of Dremel stones and then a punch both the bolts were out. At this point nuts bolts and lock washers were called for. It was a very frustrating afternoon, but we got er done. Oh the cable on the new hoist seems shorter than the old one so that it was slip the spare partially under the truck to hook it up. At least I now have the whole bed of the PU available and a spare with me.
Be good to your spare tire holder and it will be good to you.

[Yogie]

Job well done !
The one on my 05 Silverado left me stranded a while back when I had a flat tire. Yep the tire guy with 30 odd years of working with them was stuck, the tire could not, would not come down...
Seems Chevy's have a hook locking design built in that like to stick at times. Once I finally got it at the shop I took the tourch and cut the latch/hook off, we've had to do several since then. Still works fine with the locking mec. removed.

I remember many years back when Datsun mini trucks were the only ones that had the crank up cable/ chain design.
I always thought why don't we do that each time I climbed under a pickup to remove the spare tire.
That old design we had under pickups really sucked back then.

[beaconlight]

Yogie you are right. I had forgot what a bear the 79 C10 was to get at the the spare. I guess that was because with 158,000 miles before the California head split I never had a flat. Just remember crawling under to check the air in the tire. The old spare on a bracket between 2 long bolts trick.

[Rudi]

Bill:

On our 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan we had to grind off the donut cause the hold up cable was rusted in so bad we couldn't get it to move at all. I was lucky as the van was on the hoist at the time .... We effectively had no spare tire for a number of years... thank God we have CAA I still love me DGC and with 400,000 kms on it, it doesn't owe me a dime and it will be part of the stable for a few more years yet. A great vehicle by any standard and has served us well.

We now are the proud owners of a 2012 Honda Odyssey Touring. The spare tire is underneath the floor right behind the front seats. No more fighting with rusted bolts, locking levers, wires that don't wanna move And it is built in Canada just like my DGC was.

[cowboy]

Bill

On my 91 ford exploder the cable rusted through and broke off going down a gravel road. Boy those tires can bounce when they come out! Luckily there were no other cars on the road. I watched it in the rear view as it bounced down the road and into a 8' deep ditch.

Billy

[beaconlight]

Bill I was lucky that way. I drove away and saw it laying on the ground behind me. No one hurt that way.

[cowboy]

Bill

Glad you got it all fixed up. Sounds like the way things go for me. What should be a simple job turns into a project.

Billy

[Scrivet]

We now are the proud owners of a 2012 Honda Odyssey Touring. The spare tire is underneath the floor right behind the front seats.......

I'm not familiar is it accessed from inside or outside? I ask because the early (maybe still) Chrysler minivans with Stow-N-Go had them outside under and between the front seats. You cranked them down with the winch fitting directly below the inside rear view mirror. Always liked the thought of the lug wrench slipping and smacking through the windshield or up side the head of the front passenger. Once you got the "bundt cake pan" on the ground you had to take the jack handle and go fishing. Reach under and hook the pan, and then pull it out from under the van hopefully you had cranked out enough slack in the cable, otherwise it's back inside and crank some more. Once you get the spare out and changed the full size tire won't fit in the pan, so if you have the van loaded full of passengers and luggage it's "Here grandma, hold this tire on your lap until we get to the tire store!"

Seems Chevy's have a hook locking design built in that like to stick at times. Once I finally got it at the shop I took the tourch and cut the latch/hook off, we've had to do several since then. Still works fine with the locking mec. removed.

Some of the Silverado's may have had the same thing as I think it was the S10, or maybe the Colorado, maybe others that came with two "wheel chocks". They doubled as legs that hooked onto the jack. You then slid the jack under the spare tire and cranked up on it to put a little pressure on the spare. Then you took the jack handle and started cranking the winch down a little. Then you went back and took the jack out and then cranked the spare down the rest of the way down and out. I may have that slightly wrong as it's been about five years since I read those instructions but was blown away about having to jack up your spare to release the latch to get it out.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

At one time in this area there were a lot of spare tires mounted on front bumpers. Of course tire did not last as long back then as modern ones do. and bumpers were much sturdier.

[JackF]

If you ever had to change a tire in the snow or even in the rain and had to slide underneath to get the spare out I’ll guarantee you’ll find another location for a spare tire. I never had a spare tire retainer rust up yet, but my spare(s) was/were up behind the trailer hitch on my trucks and most of the time full of mud from being in the field. Now the spare tires are locked on the side of the inside of the cargo area.

[outdoors4evr]

I have a funny feeling that the day of spare tires are very limited.
More and more cars are being built with a can of fix-a-flat and run-flat tires.