I have been experiencing problems with my spare tire carrier. The "key" end of the support rod works itself around and the tire falls down. At first I thought someone had made an attempt to steal the tire but couldn't figure out how the carrier works. I put it back up, turned the rod to hold up the carrier only to have it drop. Is this common for vans and trucks with this type of carrier? I have since secured it with a cable and lock.

Tom
Rockville, MD

 

This is a common spare tire carrier on Ford trucks. I had to take mine off when i put a DMI bumper on my truck because the tire would be in the way of the bumper springs. We also had one of these on a F-250 and it came loose a few times so we took it off