Spare tire question
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Junior User
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 68
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From: Land of Port, OR
Spare tire question
The locking mechanism for the spare tire mount under the bed on my '86 F250 is either rusted or has just bounced out of kilter. Either way, no amount of PB Blaster will get the key to turn. My choices are: A) take it to a locksmith and pay someone to fix it, or B) just drill out the lock.
My question is, what kind of damage would I be doing by drilling it out? Would this make the spare tire tire mount worthless? Would the locking mechanism hang down all the time? Or am I worrying about nothing? I just don't feel like paying a locksmith if I don't have to, I'm a cheap *******.
My question is, what kind of damage would I be doing by drilling it out? Would this make the spare tire tire mount worthless? Would the locking mechanism hang down all the time? Or am I worrying about nothing? I just don't feel like paying a locksmith if I don't have to, I'm a cheap *******.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 32,875
Likes: 48
From: Northeast, OK
I don't think I can answer that question w/o knowing what the locking mechanism is. So, can you post a pic?
However, if it is a lock on the standard Ford spare tire mount then you should be able to drill/cut the lock off and still use the mount. Dad had a standard pad lock on his when I got it and it wouldn't come off for love nor money. So I used the Dremel with a cut-off wheel to cut the shaft of the lock and the mount worked well afterward. And the cut-off wheel made short work of the shaft.
However, if it is a lock on the standard Ford spare tire mount then you should be able to drill/cut the lock off and still use the mount. Dad had a standard pad lock on his when I got it and it wouldn't come off for love nor money. So I used the Dremel with a cut-off wheel to cut the shaft of the lock and the mount worked well afterward. And the cut-off wheel made short work of the shaft.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 5,006
Likes: 72
From: Roseville, MN
I had a dealer installed (if not factory) lock on the spare of my '85 F-250 (it used the same oval-headed Ford style key as the door locks). It's completely unnecessary (in most neighborhoods). The carrier doesn't need it to work, and it's so dang hard to get the tire out anyway that no one's gonna steal it.
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