Rusted spare tire mechanism

I was prepping to do an undercarriage wash yesterday on my 'new to me' 2020 SR5. When I tried to lower the spare it wouldn't budge until I really put some oomph into it.

After I got the spare off and to the side I crawled under and discovered the lowering mechanism was heavily rusted.
After spraying liberally with Corrosion-X and then applying machine oil it seems good as new.

One more thing to add to my spring and fall check list I guess.

tom

 

Yes these spare tire setups are always prone to rust, up in the Northeast here I bet 99% of any truck brand don’t think about it until they have a flat. Same thing happened with my 2004 Colorado. Do yourself a favor, every summer take the spare down, check tire for pressure and rot. Clean and spray tire rim and mechanism with wool wax or other type of rust preventive.
Good luck.

 

Yep. Added to my 'things to do' list. I'm a firm believer in 'an ounce of prevention'...

 

FWIW, I lower my spare tire when I do my annual early fall frame oiling.

Having the spare out of the way gives me better access to the frame, plus I get to oil the mechanism.

The other “trick” is to make sure the tire inflating valve is pointed down when you raise the spare. This way to can more easily check that it is at the proper pressure.

 

Yup. It's called "Maintenance." You could add 'Lube the hinges on the gas filler door.' Perhaps the door & hood hinges as well.

 

I don't live anywhere near a "salt state", but I still need to excercise that spare tire mechanism occasionally. Thanks for the reminder OP.

 

Same here. And wash the undercarriage before oiling without the spare in place. And here is another trick to make checking and filling the spare tire. Keeps the stem up and run the tube down through the rim. Worth the $7 especially once you are in your 60's, just saying...

Tire Valve Extensions, 8.25 Inch Flexible Schrader Tire Valve Stem Extension with 90 Degree Extension

 

Starting a list. I actually like doing preventive maintenance.

 

Lowering the spare once a year is also a good reminder of how to do it. I add an extra 10 pounds to the spare so if it loses some over time, there will still be enough.

I used to own a 1970 VW that used the air pressure in the spare to run the windshield washer but you had to overfill it because it had a cutout at normal running pressure so you didn't deflate your spare by washing your windows.

 

I try to check mine with every tire rotation/oil change. That usually works out to somewhere between 2-3x annually.

 

more reason to do a yearly spray on undercoating, they soaked the heck out of mine, along with everything else underside.

Also, I do drop mine occasionally when it is on the lift, and spray further.