Rotate the spare tire hoist?

[jimh406]

As it turns out, my spare disappeared. Seriously. Hopefully, it went to the edge of the road harmlessly when the hoist cable broke. Maybe it was cut off by a thief ... less likely.

In any case, I’m replacing the hoist and of course, had to buy a new wheel. Luckily, I have two tires from when I changed my front to a different style. So, all I’ll need is to have the tire mounted on the new takeoff wheel.

When the takeoff hoist that I found on ebay arrives, the question is “should I attempt to rotate to allow access from the wheel well?” I’ll have to remove the bolts in any case and reinstall.

What would you do?

[SidecarFlip]

jimh425 wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:
What bothers me more than loosing a spare and wheel is on my truck, the rear fuel tank is right over the spare so if it came undone and got wedged between the road and the fuel tank, bad things could happen and quickly.

I keep mine chained to the Class 5 receiver hitch, just in case.

Diesel doesn't catch fire very easily and my spare isn't close to the tank, and my tank has a skid plate.

From what others have said it coming off is a rare event.

I have 2 tanks, one on the side with a skid plate, the other above the spare tire and no skid plate.

Warm diesel can ignite pretty easily. Either way, ignite or not, would be a heck of a mess.

[jimh406]

SidecarFlip wrote:
What bothers me more than loosing a spare and wheel is on my truck, the rear fuel tank is right over the spare so if it came undone and got wedged between the road and the fuel tank, bad things could happen and quickly.

I keep mine chained to the Class 5 receiver hitch, just in case.

Diesel doesn't catch fire very easily and my spare isn't close to the tank, and my tank has a skid plate.

From what others have said it coming off is a rare event.

[SidecarFlip]

What bothers me more than loosing a spare and wheel is on my truck, the rear fuel tank is right over the spare so if it came undone and got wedged between the road and the fuel tank, bad things could happen and quickly.

I keep mine chained to the Class 5 receiver hitch, just in case.

[covered_wagon]

LanceRKeys wrote:
I had mine break and the spare fall off while towing my fifth wheel. I went over some rough rail-road tracks and when I looked in the mirror I saw my tire bounce so high it went out of view. I pulled over and realized it was the spare for the truck. It ripped some thin metal off the bottom of the trailer that covered the tanks, but no other damage. I spent about an hour looking for the tire (thick wooded area) and never found it. No telling how far it bounced! Lesson learned! I check my cable when I change my oil now.

For a safety precaution both my trucks have a short chain hooked to the frame either side of the spare. (frames have holes and areas to easily hook a chain hook) Using a chain binder, I simply pull the two seperate chains together across the spare to make it tight. Next I add a hose clamp over the chain binder handle for added thief deterant and safety precaution.

I do not want to go thru life relying on something built like at ticking bomb potentially hurting or killing someone.

[SidecarFlip]

jimh425 wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:
Myself, I would have ordered a NEW hoist instead of a takeoff

The parts were from Ford Dealers. As you probably know, brand new parts are taken off brand new vehicles all of the time. There are great deals to be had. In this case, both the wheel and hoist are Ford parts off of 2018 vehicles. The hoist was cheaper shipped to my house than a new Dorman. The new wheel was cheaper than a used one by a lot. Again, shipped to my house.

There are other Ford dealers who frequently heavily discount parts that were ordered for people who changed their mind. The same goes for other brands. Those parts are for sale on eBay whether for Motorcycle or any other Vehicle.

If I lost my spare tire and wheel, I'd ****. Mine are forged aluminum. Last time I checked, just my rim was 200 bucks used.

[Ranger_Tim]

The cables are usually cut by thieves when in the big city. Lost two off of work trucks that way.

[stufarmer]

Checking my Spare Tire has a whole new meaning to now. I seriously would have never considered checking to see if it was tight.

[jimh406]

SidecarFlip wrote:
Myself, I would have ordered a NEW hoist instead of a takeoff

The parts were from Ford Dealers. As you probably know, brand new parts are taken off brand new vehicles all of the time. There are great deals to be had. In this case, both the wheel and hoist are Ford parts off of 2018 vehicles. The hoist was cheaper shipped to my house than a new Dorman. The new wheel was cheaper than a used one by a lot. Again, shipped to my house.

There are other Ford dealers who frequently heavily discount parts that were ordered for people who changed their mind. The same goes for other brands. Those parts are for sale on eBay whether for Motorcycle or any other Vehicle.

[LanceRKeys]

I had mine break and the spare fall off while towing my fifth wheel. I went over some rough rail-road tracks and when I looked in the mirror I saw my tire bounce so high it went out of view. I pulled over and realized it was the spare for the truck. It ripped some thin metal off the bottom of the trailer that covered the tanks, but no other damage. I spent about an hour looking for the tire (thick wooded area) and never found it. No telling how far it bounced! Lesson learned! I check my cable when I change my oil now.

[SidecarFlip]

jimh425 wrote:
As it turns out, my spare disappeared. Seriously. Hopefully, it went to the edge of the road harmlessly when the hoist cable broke. Maybe it was cut off by a thief ... less likely.

In any case, I’m replacing the hoist and of course, had to buy a new wheel. Luckily, I have two tires from when I changed my front to a different style. So, all I’ll need is to have the tire mounted on the new takeoff wheel.

When the takeoff hoist that I found on ebay arrives, the question is “should I attempt to rotate to allow access from the wheel well?” I’ll have to remove the bolts in any case and reinstall.

What would you do?

Hopefully it was a harmless fallout, I've seen what a lose spare can do to another vehicle when it impacts it, not pretty at all.

Myself, I would have ordered a NEW hoist instead of a takeoff from Flea-Bay. All your parts stores have them or can order one and I'd rotate it to the most convenient access position for your actuator rod. If the wheelwell is where you want it, go for it.

I believe a new Dorman brand hoist is around 80 bucks at Autozone.

[jimh406]

stufarmer wrote:
When you noticed your Spare missing, did you say .. darn it ? or, was it closer to .. son of a gun ?

It was more like where did that go.

Ductape wrote:
I think you mean rotate the mounting position of the hoist so the tire can be lowered with the camper on, yes? I see no reason why not.

That’s what I’m thinking.

[Ductape]

I think you mean rotate the mounting position of the hoist so the tire can be lowered with the camper on, yes? I see no reason why not.

[stufarmer]

When you noticed your Spare missing, did you say .. darn it ? or, was it closer to .. son of a gun ?

[F350_RR]

I also do a 5 tire rotation so I don’t end up with a dead tire. Thus the tire hoist gets exercised every 6 k mi. I also use a heavy duty tiedown strap looped thru the frame and wheel to secure the spare.