Cheap spare theft deterrent. Do it now!

I just don't think it's likely someone is going to steal the spare. Takes way too much time. Plus adding an extra cable to it isn't going to make any difference, they probably are already going to cut the chain, not that hard to cut a cable too.

If thieves are determined to do something, they are going to do it. That's life.

Check out some of the threads here where people have had their trucks stolen in parking lots with cameras. It's incredible how people can steal a car and evade cameras pointed right at them.

Most of these people are pros at what they do. It's hard for us to throw something at them they can't get past in half a second. Even kill switches don't stop people.

I think it's more important that people do 5 tire rotations and make sure they are using the spare raising/lowering regularly, making sure their spare is functioning properly and doesn't have leaks, and making sure it's there every 5,000 miles.

Love to hear stories when guys need to use their spare for the first time in 8 years and they can't get it down because it's so corroded. OR they get the spare on there and it has a leak.

 

You can tack weld the cats in place so they're much less likely to be stolen, or go the skid plate route. Either way, cat converter thieves (like most) are looking for a quick grab and will likely move onto the next vehicle if they see yours covered by a 80lb steel plate or tack welded in place.

 

The original design of the Toyota's used a chain hoist for the spare tire. I'm not sure at the exact time period they changed it to a cable I'd guess vert late 1990s or early 2000s. There were issues with the cables corroding and the end piece pulling off and dropping the spare. They then changed back to the old reliable chain that we have now.

 

Thanks for the write up. Dang its gotta be bad when someone steals your spare tire. Guess we've got it good around here. I've never had anything taken out of or off of my truck in almost 20 years. Gotta say though all this talk about tail gate and spare tire theft has got me paranoid.