I tried to get my spare tire down to fill it with air and it would not budge. So I took it to the dealer and they wanted $475.00 to replace the carrier. So I don't really want to fork over that kind of money. So has anybody replaced there's? Guess I am going to need to cut the cable to get the tire off just access the carrier. Could not really tell but I guess it is just held up with some bolts.

What I did is used a couple 3/8's inch drive extensions...drilled out the plastic bumper hole a tiny bit so the joints of the extensions fit well. This way you have a solid hunk of metal to torque it (the hollow crap toyota provides sucks). The square end of the extension fits perfect! Then i hooked a big 1/2 inch breaker bar with an adapter and tried tightening it about a 1/2 turn and it broke loose from there i loosened it up. This was after a day or so of PB blaster spraying. But, Mine works great and I just keep those extensions with the jack for when i'll need them next time (probably on the side of the road). Hope that helps. Good luck!

BTW I have an 03 so it's seen the weather a while...

If you're just wanting to air it up for now get a chuck that's long and double ended. If that makes sense.....I can take a pic of mine if I sounded ret@rded which I usually do. Anyway I can air mine up with the spare still mounted.

So I was able to get the spare tire down using a breaker bar but as you can see I am still going to need to replace the carrier. Has anybody replaced it? I just don't see how it possible to get these bolts out from the top side.

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Sounds like a good excuse to get a rear bumper with a tire carrier to me.