My truck is an '02 Lariat Supercab. When I go over a speed bump, hit a dip in the pavement, pothole, enter a driveway, etc., I hear a rattle in the back end. I've determined that it is the spare tire. I can crawl under and hit it with my hand and it makes the same sound.

I've pulled out the rod and key and made sure it was cranked up as far as it would go, but it still rattles.

Has anybody else had this problem? Is there an adjustment on the cable that will allow it to cinch up the tire more?

I was thinking about putting a piece of foam on the top of the tire as a soft spacer to get a tighter fit.

Any thoughts?

 

Have you tried lowering the tire all the way to the ground and then cranking it back up? Seems odd that slack would get in the cable from just you driving around.
If it was me...I would use a piece of 2x4 between the spare and frame.

 

Is the tire actually loose or is the whole winch assembly loose? You might want to check the bolts or rivets or whatever is used to attach the assembly to the truck or that tire might go flying and hurt someone.

 

If its under inflated the rim can touch the frame, also is mounted correctly? The valve stem goes up!