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First of all this is my first post, I just bought a 2003 F-350 crew with 5.4 2wd from a government auction with 51,000 miles. Nice truck but a few minor things I'm trying to clean up.
I go to lower the spare and it won't go down so a little research and I find out there is a lock and key (no key to be found in the truck). My question is where do I get a key or has anyone cut this mechanism out and hung the tire under the truck the old fashioned way? I don't need a winch to pull my spare up
Key didn't come with truck since I bought it used.
Since I didn't want to pay for a new key, I went to two dealerships to see if they could remove the key. Both places had a tool box kit full of keys, but, neither place was able to remove the lock.
Learned here on FTE to just remove the lock, because if thieves wanted to get to the tire, they would just cut the cable holding the tire up and then you'd still have the lock on there and no winch cable, so, this is what I did:
Took a flat piece of steel and just hammered the lock off from the driver's side wheel well.
First picture is steel stock up against the side of lock.
After I posted this I did a search and based on what I read I was able to get the lock off as follows:
I had some wood wedges that I drove in between the frame and spare tire on the driver's side. That gave me just enough room to get my hand inside, I could see the lock. I used a long flathead screwdriver to pry the lock out some then grabbed it with some needle nose vice grips and rocked it back and forth until it came out. After that I was able lower the tire with the long rod and tire iron.
So now my spare is not locked, oh well. Has anyone ever had their spare stolen? You've got to be hard up to steal a spare
Thanks again and I'll be back on here with more questions I'm sure. I like my new truck, I drove Fords for years and then GMC's from 07 until now. Both great trucks! This is my first Super Duty, the other Fords were standard cab F-150 work trucks.
So now my spare is not locked, oh well. Has anyone ever had their spare stolen? You've got to be hard up to steal a spare
If you're really worried about it, put a cable lock through the wheel and around the frame or the hitch. Your tire will be at least as secure as it was with the factory lock.
My spare tire has barely legal tread on it, so I'm not all that worried. But I could see some low-life getting himself a new set of tires by stealing four spares from newer trucks.
Wen't through this back in July when I bought my CC, LB. The key was gone as well- best advice I found on the web was to take a loooooonnnng extension and add a sacrificial cheapo 9/16" socket (I think if I remember correctly) and slide it down the tube and hammer it onto the lock- lock came right out.
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