It's that time of the year again, lube your spare tire carrier

Or do this…295/70/17 problems

 

Didn’t think of that at the time. Got around that, but the real pain was trying to line up the fitting on the end of the rod with that whatever you call thing that lowers the spare.

 

Does the manual say to lift off of the frame or something? Idk how a lift would affect lifting off the rear axle? But sometimes I’m dumb and miss stuff haha.

 

I lift off my bumper with a farm jack

 

Actually it was the bigger tires.

 

Frame in front, axle in rear.

 

I need to get familiar with the spare tire system as well, as a first time truck/Tacoma owner.

Thanks for the reminder.

 

I never thought to check mine. Thanks

 

This is the way.

 

I've been using an oil can for everything lately, to include my creaky springs. I need to do the spare tire, good suggestion

 

This man represents my truck’s frame right now.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sIgYkMV3j9Q

 

I did.


We do lots of snow when up in Tahoe…
Keeps everything tidy and shielded from de overs on the road…

 

This /\

 

Good reminder to check the tire pressure, but the rest is taken care of by my yearly rustproofing.

 

Kind of a short story here, but I am no Stephen King.

Re the tire pressure, I don’t go anywhere without my 2 portable Viair compressors in my truck toolbox.

My truck is 2016 TRD OR. First year I have it, I am offroad trying to get to a very remote high mountain lake. Last day of a 3 day solo trip. Basically on an ATV trail for about 10 miles up it at this point. Trail is truck width with a high embankment on one side, and a 300 foot drop the other side and all sharp large boulders. I wanted to go as I had been there 22 years earlier in my 86 F150. Barely made it up that trip but the fishing was unbelievable so I had to go see with the Taco. The trail had really deteriorated over those 22 years.

Well, I clear my way up a few spots using my chainsaw. About 90% of the way there and finally on level ground, a massive windfall blocks all access. Shit, and barely a turnaround and it is a deep mudhole.

I get stuck but manage to work my way out with a lot of noise from bottoming out on unseen rocks in the mud.

I get halfway down the mountain, 4-lo 1st gear all the way, and then thump thump thump while on a very steep rocky section.

Shit, I am on the rim and another tire has a huge bulge in the side of it. Me with one spare and too steep to change a tire.

I keep going down on the rim another 200 yards or so to a spot that is almost level, but has a small creek crossing the trail and a big ant mound on the side with the blown tire. Stopping over that as I don’t want the truck to be fully parked in the creek.

So, I am out shovelling the anthill down to get it more level, thousands of ants and all over me too. The creek flowing under the middle of the truck. I am chucking shovel fulls of them into the bush. It is also swarming with mosquitos, and I mean bad. I am thickly coated in bug spray and still getting bit a lot and it is 90F.

I cant use my Viair on it as it has a huge puncture in the sidewall.

So I get out the jack and my 2x10 piece for my jack support and for the first time put the Taco jack together.

My Taco is a used truck, and I can’t find the key piece that fits into the opposite end where you crank it. I search every nook and cranny in the storage under the seats and finally find it. Lucky that as I am 40 miles offroad and far far from any cellphone coverage.

At this point, some guy comes walking up the hill, dressed like an Aussie with the shorts and hat and walking stick and small backpack. He says hey you needa hand, and I say sure and he helps with dragging the spare out from underneath, no easy feat as I am also high centered at this spot. Shovelling under the truck to get enough spaceto pull the tire out.

So I get the tire changed. Turns out he is up there looking for morel mushrooms, and there is a bunch growing right next to that creek.

He has parked his RAM 4x4 at the bottom of the mountain, says no way he would take his truck up the trail I just drove up and back down.

He meanwhile has about 20 mosquitos sitting on him biting his arms and face. He does not even swat them away. I offer him a spare can of bug spray and a spare can of bear spray. Nope, he does not want either.
I head back down slowly trying to not blow my other tire with the sidewall bulge. He keeps walking up the trail looking for more mushrooms.

I make it down to cellphone range, and phone every tire dealer within 100 miles to find 1 or 2 used tires, one to replace the bulged tire.

No one has them in 265 70 16.

One dealer, a Kal Tire in Kamloops BC has a set of 4 new KO2s in my size, but it is about 2pm and I am 1.5 hours away on highway driving and I cannot drive up to speed with that bulge. I tell him sold, I will be there.So I limp along and make it there just before 4pm.

Guy has 5 cars up on the hoist, and 4 more customers waiting. He has already driven across town to his warehouse to get those 4 KO2s.

He tells the 4 customers waiting that I am in a jam,and he needs to get my tires onto the truck before end of day.

He saved my ass, I put up a great review on their website.

So, yup I am checking my spare setup under the truck too. Has been 3 years and 10,000 more offorad miles since that trip, and a lot of mud, salt and sand from winters here.

BTW, I carry 2 spares on every trip now, and my 2 Viair portable compressors. I am solo remote at least 30 trips per year on really bad roads. I never see other guys as the spots I go throughout BC are remote.

On my second set of KO2s now, no flats or punctures. The blown tires were those crappy stock 4 ply Kevlar Wranglers, useless tires. Never should have gone up that trail on those tires, but I had recently bought the truck and no spare cash to replace 4 tires that still had 80% tread on them.

On my 3 previous 4x4 trucks in the last 35 years, I only used E rating 10 ply tires due to being offroad so much.

Yeah, you don’t want your first flat with your Taco to be like my first one. Practice taking it down, make sure it all works.

 

Wow, and good advise.