One of my recent junkyard finds was a trailer hitch and when I went to install it, I couldn't because there was a very slight interference with the spare. So, I remove the lug wrench from the aft storage compartment and try to put it in the hole to lower the spare and it won't fit. There's a flattened part on the lug wrench shaft that has a square hole in it. That flattened part is bigger than the diameter of the hole in the sheet metal where the wrench is supposed to go into the spare tire winch.

I figure the previous owner lost the original and put in something else. So, I go down to the local junkyard (I mean "auto recycler"), find a '97 and pull the panel from where the lug wrench and jack are stored and I find the same lug wrench. I try it and it doesn't fit either. I find another Explorer of the same vintage and it too has the same lug wrench and it doesn't fit in the hole, either. I try that same lug wrench on '95s to '01s and the lug wrench won't fit in the hole for the spare tire winch.

Did Ford put the wrong lug wrench in the '95 - 01 (roughly) Explorers? I can't be the first one to have noticed this. I didn't try the lug wrenches on every possible Explorer in the yard so maybe there are some models/years where it fits. However, it would have been a bad surprise if I had gotten a flat and couldn't lower the spare because the wrong wrench was provided by Ford.

Has anyone else noticed this? Being a new owner of an old Explorer, this is new to me, but maybe it's old news.

 

I've had the original setup since 2000. Havent had a problem once I learned how it worked....I'm old school. I guess I'd sleep on it and give it a fresh look.

 

There's another shaft that goes through the hole in the body, then the square in the wrench becomes the handle that you use to spin the shaft. Have you checked your owner's manual? If you don't have one, you can download a PDF copy here.

-Rod

 

Since you didn't mention the year of your Explorer, I downloaded the 2000 model year manual to refresh my memory. Starting on page 199 of that manual you will find a table that explains where the "jack handle" can be found. Page 200 shows how to use it.

Jack handle

• (2 door models) behind rear seat under carpet in the cargo floor
• (4 door models) on the lower rear seat base

-Rod

 

The handle for the spare is under the back seat.

Sent from my C771 using IB AutoGroup

 

Doh! Got it now. Thanks for the reminder to always check the documentation. I should have known better. I just assumed (yes, I'm aware what that means) that it would be like my Aerostar and use the lug wrench for the spare tire winch. But, I can see that Ford made it a little more complicated on the Explorer. All the tools I need to change a tire are in one location in the Aerostar. It's an Easter egg hunt for the Explorer.