improved the spare tire winch and fixed the cabin blower

2004 Tacoma. In order to repair two rear-light wires squirrels chewed through, I needed to lower the spare tire. Well! The slot the jack handle mates with was nearly impossible to find; I finally got it mated by crawling under the truck and holding it in place.

I decided the winch needed a "funnel" to guide the end hook into place, so I designed one and 3D-printed it. I glued it in place with Amazing Goop viscous adhesive. See the attached photo. I've also uploaded the .stl file if you want to print your own.

The cabin blower for heating and AC made various noises, and was terribly out of balance at high speed, so I removed the motor panel to see what was wrong. The impeller had at least 15 broken acorn shells and a dead baby squirrel. Maybe that's why it's called a "squirrel cage" blower! I removed the debris, and now the blower runs smooth as silk.

--- Mike

 

How did you not notice the smell of a dead animal in your rig?

 

I ditched the laurel and hardy ideal....never even touched the oem one behind the seat.....

this rod stays in much better than some stupid hoop......crazy

half your flats happen in the rain......do you wanna be playing 'stick the hoop' in the rain.....

 

I carry a China freight Al. 1.5 ton floor jack in my tool box.

 

No smell at all. i suspect the squirrel was in there dead long before we bought the truck in 2021.
--- Mike

 

if i was a decent fabricator type i always said id weld a pipe to that stupid thing, and like a half inch drive u-joint or something to just connect a ratchet to.