Ticked off with spare tire issue.

So, I got a flat on the way to work last week. I jacked the truck up, took the flat off, then tried to lower the spare. I felt like a moron because I couldn’t get the spare to lower. Said F-it, used the plug kit and Viair, and was on my way.
When I got home, I checked out why the spare wouldn’t lower. Turns out someone had taken a crowbar and beat the lips closed where the jack handle is supposed to slide in. Now there’s now way to lower the tire down!
Is trees any other way to remove the spare tire?

 

Did you get your taco used or can this be a covered by the warranty?

 

Bought it new.

 

This is the best pic I could get.

 

What tha?!

 

Did someone try to steal your spare ?

 

No. I’m pretty sure I know when this was done.
I had 4 new tires put on last October. The shop that put them on also has a wrecker service...
spare tire came down fine last summer.

 

So you’re sayin’ 1 + 1 = 2?

But it sux overall.

 

Holy hell...

 

How the heck do I get this tire down?

 

That sucks. Any chance you could use one of those bolt/nut removal sockets for rounded heads? Might need to be hammered on though....

 

Wow that sucks. Other than being able to turn the winch some other way or being able to unbolt the carrier I can't think of a way but I'm also not underneath a 3rd gen right now.

51900-35410 is the part number for a new carrier, it's all one piece.

 

Damn that sucks. Id think you'd need a pair of vice grips or channel locks to get it down. Once the spare is down the winch will turn by hand fairly easy so you can repair from there.

 

Yeah, the problem is that the mangled part is hard to get to with the spare in the raised position and the bed installed.

I suspect that the bed may need to be removed to replace the carrier, so if you are going to do that eventually might as well pull the bed now and attack it all from the top.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bed-removal.555983/#post-18129842

you can see the 4 bolts that hold the spare tire carrier to the X-brace.

 

I havent inspected the one on the Taco that close but I know the Land Rover and Fords both have space where you can get to the cable and cut it. Should be able to disassemble as normal after that.


Personally id claim vandalism and let my insurance pay a shop to do it.

 

Yeah, that looks like someone was trying to use the wrong tool and could not figure out the concept and tried to hammer it on and mangled it... I bet they did not try to use the jack extension from the jack tools in the truck...

 

Picture shows an aftermarket wheel, but the stock steelie is similar. Ignore the lock I have on there

1. Deflate the tire to give you some wiggle room.
2. Take it to a shop. Reach through the 106mm centerbore hole past the retainer plate and cut the chain with an acetylene torch.
3. Alternatively, cut the retainer plate with a cutoff wheel or plasma cutter.

Toyota switched from cable to a chain around 2011, after issuing recalls on several models over rusted cables.

 

Shows you how close ive looked at one. Lol.

 

That is a new one for the books.

 

For your amusement, the jack handle extension rods fit a 3/8" drive impact wrench, if you ever want to raise or lower your spare with zero fucks given