Spare wheel chain

So ive been having my trd off road a little over a month now and I love almost every bit of it. She hasn't put a foot wrong and hasn't missed a beat. The one bit Im not fond of is the chain that just hangs down when the spare wheel is stowed. My 06 had a spool of cable neatly tucked above the wheel. I don't know why the hell they switched to the dangling chain. Is everyone else chain just hanging like this?

 

I would flip the assembly over so you can easily access the valve stem

If you figure out the chain is as it's 'supposed' to be, just zip tie it to one of the holes in the wheel to keep it visually out of sight from behind the truck.

 

Is the chain just a limiter or ?

 

I'm with Bill... zip tie the bastard to the frame.....My only thing to add to that was to remove the tire first...

I hate the spare being down there in the salt spray and shit all winter.... the rim will rust like crap and I can't put it on the truck if I have a flat...and just try to get that out if you have a flat on soft ground/mud and have to get it out... Wearing a suit and having to change a tire.... No thanx..

I don't use my bed much, so that is where it lives...chained and locked under a hard and locked tonneau....

I zip-tied that dumb ass chain to the frame forever....

 

I just tuck the chain up on the rim.

 

That's what I did. I used a small black zip tie to keep it up and from rattling.

 

I liked many things on my 2006 better the my 2016. Kind of like they went backwards on a few things.

 

I mentioned in another thread 2 weeks ago I was going to zip tie my chain the frame or to the spare. Damn sharks tore into me good. One said then you have to crawl under there and cut the zip tie before lowering your spare. I got tired of there attacks and added them to my ignore list.

Most people I know carry a knife and it is no big deal to touch the sharp blade to a plastic zip tie. Some people...

 

My 2015 has the chain. They went back to chains over cable due to rust failure from what I've heard here. Tiny bungees would work well to keep it up and easily un kept.

 

I used light weight ties. They will snap with the weight of the tire. Of not like you stated just cut it with my knife.

 

This is what I was thinking...........

 

Got ya, I have some small thin ties also. Good idea.

 

I agree with JD, maybe its a Canadian thing. I put my spare in the box for the winter and zip tied the chain to the frame so it wouldn't rattle. Ontario roads are brutal for sand and salt, and that spare takes a beating. Also, grease the heck out of the lowering mechanism so it won't seize up. I stow the spare there in the summer when I need the space in the box. its a lot easier to power wash the salt out of there without a spare tire in the way.

 

The rust failures were from the metal plate the actually holds the tire up, not the cable. My old 2003 had the plate fail and my spare fell out in the middle of an intersection.

Does the chain act as a backup to the lowering cable if it breaks? Or is the chain actually replacing the cable on 2015's and 16's? I haven't actually looked at mine yet.

 

The cable wires and the swaged fitting will rust as well. I found mine was beginning to rust after 4 winters so I sprayed some rust paint on it.



Toyota could've used a sleeved cable (like on bike locks) and a stainless fitting, but the chain was probably cheaper.

 

Hey.. Looks like I'm not the only crazy Canuck...EH...??

 

Surprisingly the spare wheel itself has no rust on it. If only Toyota used the same surface treatment on the frame...

 

Hopefully they took care of the rust issue from the previous generation Time and northern winters will tell. Fortunately for my frame, im in the deep south

 

^I hope so, too. A drawback of ultra-high-strength steel is increased susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking.

 

What is the chain for? If it helps raise it up, why is it dangling now?