Spare tire won't budge!

54234 Views 13 Replies 11 Participants Last post by glenn27, Aug 30, 2017

Jimmeh

Discussion Starter · Aug 12, 2011

So I went and had new tires put on my truck (well, newer then what I had) and figured since I have a spare wheel that matches the ones I got on now, I might as well have my brand new spare mounted on it (literally, the spare is the stock spare from the factory and is still brand new). When I took it to my favorite tire shop, 4 of us were working on it for about half an hour, and could not get the damn thing to budge. My tire guy told me to head down to the dealer and they would help me get it off (he said they most likely wouldn't charge me). When I got to the dealer, they said they wouldn't do it unless I paid them the hourly rate which is $98 an hour!

I found this thread: http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/sh...are-Tire-Removal&highlight=spare+tire+removal

I'll try the pinching method, but I think I will end up getting frustrated and resorting to the kicking method. The guy at the dealer said there is a bold that holds the mechanism assembly to the frame that I can remove, but I could not feel it. Anyway, I am going to do this tomorrow, but figured I would see if anybody had any other advice.

Also have a 1992 Ford Ranger with a lot of stuff done to it. Currently waiting for a bit of a rebuild.

"The only woman I'm pimping from now on is Sweet Lady Propane. And I'm tricking her out all over this town."

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jreagan

· #5 · Aug 12, 2011 (Edited)

Mine was rusted and easy to release once you know the trick.

1) Get two jacks (I used the OEM bottle jack and my floor jack) and a couple of 2x4s.
2) Support the spare tire near each side using the 2x4s so the hub is accessible
3) Lower the cable/latch until it stops. At this point, the secondary latch is keeping it from coming down further
4) From the passenger side (that was easiest for me), you can pull the latch mechanism over and liberally spray WD-40 all up in there
5) Go have a beverage to let the WD-40 do its job
6) Get a pair of channel locks and you'll want to squeeze only one side. You can't just squeeze both sides that that doesn't move the mechanism. You want to squeeze the side that is sticking out the LEAST. You are tempted to squeeze the larger side, but only engages the clip more (although doing that might help break up any rust holding it in place).
7) Keep trying a few times, move it around, up & down, etc. and it will release.
8) Crank the cable back up, get rid of your jacks, lower the tire down.
9) Take it all apart and lube well.

PM me if you have questions.

Here's a video that might help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhZ2LP7nfLU&list=FLPPTjw1LUGFM&index=13

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jreagan

· #7 · Aug 12, 2011 (Edited)

That was #9. After I took everything apart, I cleaned out the penetrating oil and applied a spray lubricant both on the secondary latch as well as up in the cable winding mechanism.

And I actually didn't use WD-40 brand, but another brand of rust penetrating oil (not that it matters much)

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jreagan

· #9 · Aug 15, 2011

Tinner said:
When they put the spare under the truck at the factory it isn't fully inflated and then they shoot some air in it. This keeps people from easily stealing them at the dealers. Just let a bunch of air out first and then crank it down and air it back to the desired pressure.

I don't see how letting air out of the spare would release the frozen secondary interlock. In my case, my spare ONLY had about 20lbs of air in it. That was one of the reasons I wanted to lower it to begin with! I wanted to check the tire for condition and to add more air. It didn't crank down. And that is how I got started on my learning of "how to release a frozen/stuck spare tire due to secondary interlock"

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