I have a '92 F350 and I'm trying to get the spare mounted in the factory spot again. (it was tossed in the bed when I purchased the truck)

I ordered what is supposedly the correct 145mm bolt and retainer for this year and I've measured to ensure it is the right length, but when I tried to mount it comes up short on the wheel retainer. (by about an inch or so)

Trying to figure out what is going on.

Is it possible the wheel is not OEM? It seems to be about the same size as all the others. Was the factory spare significantly smaller or have a different offset on the rim itself? Anybody have a picture of everything on the carrier, but *NOT* bolted all the way up. ie... with the J-bolt removed so it is hanging down - in order to compare.

Thanks in advance

 

Single or dual? What size is the tire?

Stock rear fuel tank?

 

Tire is: 235/85R16 and I believe it has the stock rear fuel tank.

Here is what it looks like unbolted.

 

The dually wheel has a much deeper dish, so it will need a longer bolt.

 

Yuhhhhhh, uh, "dually" would have been a good thing to mention in the opening post.....

 

So... does anyone know what the part number or length is of this other-size bolt? I'm not seeing anything referenced in the service manual or online. It just shows the one I already have.

 

Couldn't you just turn the tire over? As it is in the photo it wouldn't lay flat against the tank even if the bolt was long enough. But if you turn it over the tire will go flat against the tank when raised and then the bolt might reach too. Worth a try.

 

This is how mine was.

 

Doesn't matter if the tire sits flat under the tank. In that case, the hub portion of the wheel would extend down the same distance. A dually truck obviously needs a longer bolt, and the OP probably never accounted for that in his/her part search.

 

I tried that. When it sits upside-down the wheel lays right along the bar and its hard to tell from that pic, but the retainer is cone-shaped, so when you put it through the center of the hub - it wouldn't hold the wheel tight against the support.

I can find no reference to a different size bolt in anything I've searched, as well as the factory service manuals - which I own. So not sure what to do at this point...

 

First I need to say that I've never dealt with a spare on a dually. So what I say is from experience with single wheel trucks.

The center bolt and retainer aren't needed. They can be helpful to hold the tire in place on the carrier as you lift the carrier up. But once the carrier is clamping the tire up it won't move without the center bolt.

Also there's nothing that magical about the center bolt. Take the retainer to a hardware store and figure out what thread it is, then buy a long carriage bolt, or even some threaded rod and a couple of nuts to hold it on the carrier.

That said, are you sure that the under-bed carrier works with a dually wheel? On a single wheel the tire sticks past the wheel on both sides, so you end up only contacting the tire on top and bottom. With a dually wheel it seems like you're going to contact the wheel (or the plastic retainer you're trying to get on). I can't picture how that would end up holding the tire very securely. Again, no experience with a dually here, just trying to picture how it might work and I can't.

 

Nope. Not sure at all... As mentioned in the OP, the tire was just thrown in the back when I bought the thing, so I've never actually seen it put together - nor do I have anyone else I know with this model year that I can peek under or ask.

I was hoping someone on here had a dually with this thing all mounted up that could take a picture or something and show me what is wrong - because as-it-is, its not going together.

 

@Azryael do you have a dually? does your plastic retainer look the same?