I have a 99 f150 4x4 offroad, i was backing up the other day and my spare tire just fell on the road. I looked and found that the cable had rotted through. I just bought the truck and haven't had a chance to go 4wheeling with it yet, but does anyone know of a way to protect the cable from rotting through again?

 

That's weird. I have a 98 with 108k and never had this problem. I'm very rough on my truck and even had the spare out two or three times. Never had any trouble with the cable and I haven't ever heard of anyone else having that happen. I'm sure a replacement of the cable should cure your problems for good.

AR

 

My father-in-law had the same problem with his 97 a few years back. He stopped at a stop sign and it fell off and he had no clue that it had and he lost the tire. My truck only has 58K on it, the cable shouldnt be rotting away like that.

 

Must be something getting twisted when the tire is raised into postion. Another possiblity is that the tire was not up all the way and the cable was allowed to rub something that it normally wouldn't. Where is it breaking at? Is the entire cable roted or just one area?

AR

 

it broke right at the end of hte cable. rgiht after that little ball that holds the bracket on the tire. The cable wasnt loose I made sure of that when I bought the truck a few month ago

 

Was it rusted? How clean was the break?

AR

 

yes it was alittle rusted but not all the way through. I think that it was the weight that broke it the rest of the way. I was just looking for a way to stop it from rusting away any further.

 

you might try spraying some type of rust proofer on it. I don't think that you are going to be able to protect it any other way.

 

I've had "2" or the tire carriers, go bad in a W E E K !!!!!!!!!!Auctually, they are called: "Spare Tire Carroerm", part # 2L3Z*1A131*AA (That's what is on both tickets).

The first one was on my 2001 XLT 4 X 4 Off Road, and the other one is on the 2002 4 X 4 King Ranch.

The problem was that the strands in the cables were "broken", and bound up inside the mechanism.

They had no reason for it, except "that it happens" !!!!

They say that if you don't have enough weight on the cable when you roll it up/down, there will be slack created, and will twist the cable, and get the "strands" in a bind, causing mal-function.

BUT, the tire was on going down, and on going up.

So, go figure.

 

Ok I'll give it a try. thanks for the input.

 

Hope mine never fails but if it does it is attached to the crossmember with a cable lock. because a friend had his stolen on his way home from the dealership, when he stopped for dinner.I learned from his misfortune. Yes, that's here in Central CA near Fresno-the cartheft capitol.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by frazier23727
[B]I have a 99 f150 4x4 offroad, i was backing up the other day and my spare tire just fell on the road. I looked and found that the cable had rotted through. I just bought the truck and haven't had a chance to go 4wheeling with it yet, but does anyone know of a way to protect the cable from rotting through again?

My wife was driving home yesterday in her 98 f150 when she felt a bump and looked in the rear view mirror and saw her spare bouncing around behind her at 40 mph. (Rush hour traffic) Yes, another car hit it! I looked up under where it goes and saw the cable had snapped, clean . No RUST there. I talked to a mechanic friend of mine who advised that he knows several people here who have had the same problem. Has anyone checked to see if there has been a recall on this? I'd say that this is a dangerous situation that needs to be addressed because I'd sure hate to have that Goodyear, Mich, or whatever sitting in my lap going down the road!

 

Same thing happened to my wife's '97 Explorer. Went to check the spare one day and Surprise!!! It was gone. No idea when or where it departed. The cable had a frayed end. It looked to me like vibration and movement damage, not corrosion.