12V 10A Source
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Normally no, but my first experience with the manual approach was enough to warrant a change. Long story but 45 minutes to lower my spare due to a damaged shaft was unacceptable. This mod was only $25 more than replacing the shaft.
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From: Warren, MI
Is that a prefab job and the gearbox designed for some other use? I assume that you have to manually stop the motor in both directions? In way was the OEM shaft damaged?
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Yes, I fabricated the job using a universal gear motor. You really only have to worry about going up as far as stopping the motor. Going down, the tire will lay flat long before your run out of travel. I plan on incorporating an end travel switch for going up.
The very end of the OEM shaft where you stick the tire iron into to crank it is supposed to be rectangular to mate with the end of the iron. Mine was rusted and rounded out rendering it useless. I had to wedge my hand in between the tire and the bumper with a pair of vice grips to turn the shaft. Because of the lack of space, I could barely get 1/4 turn before re-gripping. With each full 360° turn, the tire lowers just 1/2". That created enough frustration to get the gears turning so to speak.
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Really! I thought the Tribute, Mariner and Escape were pretty much the same. I definitely thought Ford should have taken the same space the tire fits underneath and make that an inside tub for the spare. Just more stuff to go wrong vs just pulling the tire out of the vehicle.
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Really! I thought the Tribute, Mariner and Escape were pretty much the same. I definitely thought Ford should have taken the same space the tire fits underneath and make that an inside tub for the spare. Just more stuff to go wrong vs just pulling the tire out of the vehicle.
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From: Burleson, Tx
Clever! We had the Tribute which had the spare inside under the floor, that's what had me confused.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2002
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From: Warren, MI
Yes, I fabricated the job using a universal gear motor. You really only have to worry about going up as far as stopping the motor. Going down, the tire will lay flat long before your run out of travel. I plan on incorporating an end travel switch for going up.
The very end of the OEM shaft where you stick the tire iron into to crank it is supposed to be rectangular to mate with the end of the iron. Mine was rusted and rounded out rendering it useless. I had to wedge my hand in between the tire and the bumper with a pair of vice grips to turn the shaft. Because of the lack of space, I could barely get 1/4 turn before re-gripping. With each full 360° turn, the tire lowers just 1/2". That created enough frustration to get the gears turning so to speak.
The very end of the OEM shaft where you stick the tire iron into to crank it is supposed to be rectangular to mate with the end of the iron. Mine was rusted and rounded out rendering it useless. I had to wedge my hand in between the tire and the bumper with a pair of vice grips to turn the shaft. Because of the lack of space, I could barely get 1/4 turn before re-gripping. With each full 360° turn, the tire lowers just 1/2". That created enough frustration to get the gears turning so to speak.
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