Anyone know the inner workings of the dadgum spare tire crank? I lowered the tire to make sure it was still inflated, the crank was very stiff the whole way down. I loaded the tire and got halfway up and it didn't want to go any further. Started back down and it came down JUST enough for me to get the metal peice out of the rim.

Anyone out there ever fix one of these?

 

Had the same problem. If I remember right the cable and jumped off the track inside the case. I ended up taking that whole box off. I think it was just a couple of bolts. I was lucky enough to have a friend that wanted to try and fix it. I think he just drilled out the rivits and replaced the cable. My other option was to find one at a junk yard. Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

Please tell me you didn't have to remove the whole bed....

 

No mine was a simple deal it was something like 4 bolts. Real easy

 

4 bolts to remove the spare tire crank? Sorry for sounding like a newbie, I haven't had time to crawl under and check it out myself yet.

 

I lost a spare tire on a GMC 10 years ago,the cable broke.I guess no one was behind me. Since then on all my trucks i lower the spare on every other oil change and lube the cable.

 

When my truck was new, this happened to me. I got a flat and when the road side assistance guy tried to get the spare off, the cable got all kinked. I don't know what the dealer did to fix it, but it was under warranty then. Good luck with yours, sorry I can't help.

 

replace it, thats my two cents. these cranks have given lots of people grief. i've had to use a torch to remove the spare because they don't work.

 

mind got stuck once. 2 bolts to get the winch out. 4 rivets to drill out to get the thing apart. 1 rasp to fix the jumped groove on the plastic pulley inside. 4 bolts to close it back up. 30-45 mins for the whole job. works great now.

 

I just replaced it last week, I found it very easy to remove and get out from the "X" crossmember. I thought about opening it up but my braided cable was pretty chewed up on the outside, so I could only imagine what it looked like on the inside. A trip to the salvage yard yeilded me a like new unit out of an '03 F150 for $35. Everything works great now. Thanks everyone for the replies!