Idea....could this work?

I had this idea tonight. Have you ever found it difficult to fish the spare tire rod through the little 1"x1.5" hole (yes, I measured the bugger...let's call it the "bung hole") above the license plate to get it into the round screw thingee so you can crank the wheel down? Personally, I think it's an incredibly stupid design....not easy in the dark with a flashlight in one hand. I am sure Mr. Japanese Life Man Engineer snickered when he designed it. So....why can't the rod be attached to the thingee more or less permanently and extended just far enough out of the bung hole so an enlightened AMERICAN owner could more easily attach THE FRICKIN CRANK TO GET THE FICKIN WHEEL DOWN IN LESS THAN 1 FRICKIN HOUR!!!!!! SOMETIMES I JUST WISH THERE WERE 200 FRICKIN MILLION SAMURAI FRICKIN NIPS ON IWO!!!! Sorry...I did not mean to slight the fine Japanese ethnic engineer people. burp. Yes I did. No I didn't.

 

agreed, i tried and couldnt even get mine out, since i didnt need it with the new spare tire and bed mount id figured hell i can drop some weight i dont need the stock one anymore, yea well its still in there, and not by choice.

 

I 'm thinking....why not just graft a long socket extension onto the crank bar so it just sticks out the bung hole, then you could just crank the sucker with your socket wrench.....or something. I'm going to take the tire removal junk out and look at it more carefully to see where this thought of mine might go. Then I'm gonna photograph the FRICKIN THING and MAIL IT TO TOYOTA's ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT. I'm still looking for a rectangular end cap or grommet through which the rod could stick out so it won't bang around and make noise.

 

im thinking with as many spare tires have been stolen i wouldnt want to make it any easier to get the spare out than i need to.

 

^^Ditto^^

 

What I do is grab a flashlight, point it in there as I'm sticking the rod in there. This helps me see exactly where the hook goes and haven't had any problems bringing it down like that.

Hope this helps!

 

I've got to agree with bass mechanic. Maybe those pesky toyota engineers with thinking the same thing

 

its not that hard, try getting the spare off a '98 dodge caravan

 

They've done it that way since my first toyota truck in 87. Try it when the mechanism is frozen or rusted solid.
Learned to take it down every so often for some wd40 so I guess all that practice helped.

 

I've only removed my spare once. That was top take it down to flip it over so that the valve was easier to get to. It didn't really seem all that hard to do to me.

 

What about taking a small piece of PVC pipe and mounting it so the rod is guided through it, and lines up exactly? Could be done with some steel strap and epoxy.

 

words to live by right there!
they ought to include that in the maintenance plan/ Schedule.

 

Now we're talking good shit Jeff baby!!!! Excellent idea....I am still incubating this one. Regarding fears of theft - I have my tire cabled to the frame with a lock. If that won't stop a thief, expecting him to have a crank rod with him is even less likely.

 

That my friend is an excellent idea.

 

Yes and no. Dodge has two holes. One for the shaft to fit and another one to peer through to line them up. Far far more handy. Then you can put the shaft in with a flashlight in the same hand and have an unobstructed view of the connector.

PS - It took me 30 minutes (Word to God) of fiddling to get my spare down a week ago when I got a flat. And I've changed flats before so it's not that I'm not capable.

 

I got a story for you guys about the toyota spare tire cranes. This story is about my old '95 t-100 xcab (awesome truck). So valentines day 2005, my sister had to get out to her college a few towns over 15 miles from my house. It was a bad night freezing rain, sleet, and my parents told her not to go, but if she had to, take the truck not her honda. She leaves. 30 min later we get the crying hysterical sister calling, "Dad! I spun around in the truck going over a hill, I hit the curb I think I broke the truck! Sob sob sob". So my dad asks if shes ok, she says yes, asks her if she got the truck off the road she says yes. He says Ok me and Joey are on our way. We hop in his durango with my 3ton floor jack. We are driving and all over the road cause his truck has bald tires and was getting new ones the next day. He is pissed. "God#%^t I told her no to go!" We get out there and see the truck squatting to the left/rear. We get out, inspect, she hit the curb so hard she broke the off tire bead. We ask her "did you have it in 4x4?" Julie "No". If she had been in 4x4 the truck wouldnt have fishtaled. And yes she did know how to put it in 4x4. So we jack it up, get the tools and start to lower the spare, which by the way hasnt been lowered in 10 years. Im twistin, twistn, wow not moving. Finally the crank moves, but the tire isnt. I look the crank,the square part is totally rounded! I got so pissed I fire it into the woods!. I talk it over with my dad. We decide the only way is to cut the cable. Thank god he had a sharp pair of linesman plires. I get under the truck (keep in mind im soaked now and getting splashed with slush form passing cars) and contort my arm up to cut the cable. It works and the fu^%$ng spare falls from 2 feet onto me. We get the truck put together and drive home. At least no one got hurt and we laughed about it later.
P.S.
Replacing the crane is a bicth too since they put that on first then bolt the bed on top! oh yeah that was fun.

 

idk i have no problem puting my rod in the hole. an i can do it day or night. my rod has its own eye.

 

Ouch. this is what I am trying to prevent, improve on. I am thinking about welding a nice long socket extension onto the part with the hook. Basically, I want to upgrade the cheap crank setup with something nicer and make it easier to access. I will probably be spraying white lithium grease on the wire lift device to keep it from rusting.

 

No. Never had a problem with this.

Seems like good design given what it is.