Spare tire winch stuck

2007 Tacoma, mine won't budge. Doesn't surprise me as I'm in a rust prone area. TPMS light is on, 4 mounted tires are correct pressure now. The spare mounted with the valve on other side, can't get the gauge completely on. Either way thought it would be good to try to lower it. I'd try to shoot the winch with WD40 or PB Blaster but I can't see it. Will look again later.

 

I still believe in 'Hit it with a hammer' - within reason. I hit the pole a couple times while it was inserted, then was able to get the tire down. Now that I see how the hook end goes in, I may not have had it in right with a few previous tries.

I sprayed the winch with WD40. For now I may store the spare in the bed as I don't want to push my luck. When I need to haul something, the spare will fit in the back if the access cab. I saw another post here where someone had a mount in the bed for the spare, up against the passenger side. Something to also consider. The main reason I did this was because the TPMS light is on, but all mounted tires are at the right pressure. Now that I can get to the spare, I see it's wicked low. Wouldn't doubt the spare's sensor isn't transmitting as it's 15 years old.

 

Dropped my spare today and it dont look like its been down since 09 One of the screws broke off the handle and then became sharp as hell but surprisingly enough it only took a couple jerks for it to lower smoothly. I highly doubt ill reuse this location but if so ill definitely be making a new handle that doesnt use the lug wrench on the end. PB Blaster did help it even more tho.

 

Which screw broke off? After putting air in the spare the yellow low tire light turned off, so I guess the battery is still good after 15 years. The spare is in the bed for now. If I do put the spare back under the truck, I'll have the valve side down so the valve is accessible without lowering it. But still, I'd probably lower/raise the spare just to give the system some use.

With the tire out and being able to see the winch - I'm thinking maybe I just didn't have the hook end inserted as it should be.

 

The little screws that hold the handle sections together. I really think the tire had never been down because the kit was unopened.

 

I kind of figured you meant those. I thought when tightening them, they could break. Lowering the tire is probably something I would not have thought if had it not been for the low tire warning light. I think your 2009 doesn't have the sensor on the spare, but it's still good you lowered it to make sure the system works.

 

Yep no sensor, the bottom side of the wheel was completely rusted but the tire itself is good. I’ve had to cut those things off many trucks in the past

 

Consider using something longer-lasting than WD-40. That stuff is at best a light oil, but also fairly volatile solvents. It'll help a little -- it can especially dissolve gunk -- but won't give anywhere near the durability of other protectants. My first choice? Fluid Film. Shoot the winch at the same time you shoot the frame.

 

I'll check out Fluid Film. A few seconds of maintenance such as lubrication can go a long way.

 

There are other products similar to FF, including other lanolin-based preventatives, like Woolwax. I'm a Fluid Film user, so that's my go-to. (Note that some people find the smell of FF to be revolting. Me? I notice it when applied, but it doesn't bother me, and I don't smell it a day later. YMMV.)

 

I've always used motorcycle chain lube on my Tacoma's tire carriers; even after I quit riding I've kept the can around for that purpose. Just liberally spray the whole mechanism down, inside and out. I do this twice a year- I crank it all the way down, inspect the tire for road damage, check the tire pressure, inspect the cable and hoist then crank it back up. Oh, and inspect the frame and tire carrier assembly; we don't have salt here but after a couple of people posted pictures of theirs spare tire carriers in bad shape I make sure to look at it too.

 

Good advice. Big time salt here unfortunately. Years ago when checking out a used Silverado I noticed there was no spare underneath, the structures to hold it in were about 1/3 missing due to rust.

 

On the subject of spare tire winch corrosion -- my first Gen 1 (a 2001, originally sold in Illinois), had a lot of rust (like so many) and the spare tire hoist recall in place for those trucks covered it and got a new one installed.

The carrier plate was the bad part -- the rest of it wasn't bad. Had the previous owners done some corrosion prevention on this I'm sure it would have been just fine.

 

Yes my carrier plate (now I know what it's called) is very much like the one in the photo. At the moment my spare is in the bed. It appears the Gen 1 may use the same rod with a hook shaped end to operate the winch. That's nice you were able to get it replaced with a recall.

 

I ended up putting the spare back under the truck, valve side down of course. I know WD40 isn't ideal, but while the spare was out I lubricated the winch. Now I'm thinking the winch may not have been stuck, I didn't have the hook seated correctly in the winch. It lowered and raised fine, but I did hit it with WD40 a few weeks ago while the tire was out. Not looking forward to ever having to lower the spare, even with a flashlight on the spare while it was wound up I couldn't see the connection to the winch. I guess the only way to do it is by feel.

 

The only problem with putting the valve side down is mud can collect on the wheel (depending on where and how you wheel of course. When I was in high school we might have used that area to store stuff we didn't want found as well, i.e. wrap your bottle of liquor in a towel and put it there ) and the valve is exposed to road debris. I'm not sure where I first saw it, but on some forum, years ago, someone had gotten one of those large truck extension hoses and attached that to his spare. Attach the hose and feed it through one of the holes in the wheel and you can check or fill it without moving the tire. This is an example- no experience with this brand, it just happened to be the very first one that popped up on a search (

2pcs 8.25" Flexible Extension Tire Valve Adaptor for Universal Cars Truck Motorcycle Bike

https://www.amazon.com/Bluecell-Fle...23858&sprefix=tire+valve+hose+,aps,114&sr=8-1).

I use WD40 on more stuff than I should, just because it's convenient, but something like motorcycle or bicycle chain oil will stay on a lot better, especially after getting wet a lot. Fluid Film would probably work well too but living in the south I've never messed with that product.

I've also seen where folks modified the mechanism so that instead of the retarded loop for the hook or worse, the indention thing that the hook kinda, sorta but not really fits into, you just used a socket on an extension which stayed in place a lot better, especially when the assembly was grimy. Honestly, Toyota could easily do a lot better on the spare hoist, the jack and the tools.

Free tip- take that ridiculous thumb screw thing out of the jack rods, take it into Lowe's/HD/whatever and buy a spare or two. Take them home and spray all of them with some obnoxiously bright colored paint. Put the original back in the rod then toss the spare(s) in the glove box, tool box or somewhere you can find them when you accidentally drop the one on the rod in the tall grass on the side of the road and can't find it. While you're at it, find the largest hydraulic bottle jack that will fit in the stock location (I want to say I found an 8 ton) and put that OEM piece of crap in the back of the garage in a box (keep the tool set so you can raise and lower your spare). Grab a deep socket impact socket that fits your lug nuts and a breaker bar while you're there since the factory lug wrench is soft and very poorly fitting.

 

All really good tips, and clever hiding liquor there! I was good at sneaking those bottles into concerts until I got caught at a Fleetwood Mac concert in 1975. Anyway, yes ideally the valve would be up. I don't typically go in mud, although with another truck I have while loading firewood, got stuck in mud and had to put it into 4WD.

I was going to buy one of those valve extension things (never saw them as inexpensive as the ones you posted) but then figured I better see if I can get the spare out of this 15 year old truck, because it was never done. I've heard good things about fluid film.

As for those small nuts, to attach the poles, yes I almost lost one today. I think I will do exactly like you said and get buy a few spares from the local hardware store. I've heard of them breaking too.

Good name for that design! I was thinking the same thing, even a large flat screw driver type setup would have been better than that. And yea that factory bottle jack looks small! That lug wrench worked fine for lowering the spare, but wondered how could work well with the tire lugs?

Thanks for the tips. I may also buy a can of Fix-A-Flat, I've had it in most of my other vehicles. Hopefully it would work well enough to get where I was going and back.