I’ve found several old posts on this topic, all 10+ years old with broken links or sometimes different details/answers (apparently outdated), so apologies if this has been answered a few times.


I’ve thought about this in the past and am thinking I really need to replace the spare tire carrier assembly. The spare tire doesn’t hold air so it’s pretty pointless.

I was able to lower the cable half way and somehow get the tire off. The cable is frayed and now wont even go back up.


Anyone know what part number I’m looking for? Also, does the kit come with everything I need? Some of the links seemed to have everything included in the picture/diagram but seemed to suggest I needed another part plus the bolts. Here: 2005 Toyota 4RUNNER Spare. Tire. Carrier. W/o Kinetic susp - 5190060280 | Toyota Parts Overstock, Lakeland FL

Mine got stuck halfway down, wouldn't go up. I recall using most of a can of Liquid Wrench on it and rocking the crank back and forth. Eventually it broke free and I got it all the way down. I lubed the mechanism with more lithium. I kept raising and lowering until it was working properly. My cable was in good shape so no need to replace it.

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Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately the wire is fraying a bit too.

Even worse, it’s a 2006 with 2006 levels of rust underneath. Nothing terrible and mechanic says it’s fine, but sure makes me nervous thinking about unbolting and bolting a new spare carrier up there. (Which is why your fix is so tempting).


Hoping someone can confirm the parts I need with all the knowledge on this board. I thought about doing this years ago but never got around to it. Really should be able to access the spare though.

theirs i believe 6 bolts that you have to remove to get it off, once you remove the shield the covers it. mine were rusted so i ended up just drilling through the holes and using different nuts, washers, and bolts to hold it in place. the newer carriers are actually a chain. pretty easy install once you deal with the rusted bolts.

I can confirm that 51900-60280 is the correct part number for the spare tire carrier for the 4th gen. It is just what you see in the pics, no other covers or shields are included, not even the 6 bolts (?). My 4Runner is a 2004.

Like daprotege5 wrote, the new carriers have a chain instead of a cable. There are new ones with the chain on eBay for a lot less than the Toyota Parts Overstock place in your link.

If you’re interested, I have a used one with the cable (and the six bolts!) that I bought on eBay from rust-free SoCal that I don’t think I’ll ever use. (My 33” spare is on my roof, and I still haven’t removed my old rusty carrier yet (Chicago area rust). $100 shipped? (Shipping would cost me ~$20). If you’re not interested, no problem. $100 looks like the going rate for these on eBay, even the used ones. The new ones with the chain are only about $20 more.

There are quite a few threads here on the Gen4 spare tire carrier. I'm lucky with my '04 in that I don't go off road or drive it in the snow. Here is one link for the hundreds of posts. To find them, search on "spare tire". At the bottom of this one it shows a few others, but there are quite a few.

Spare Tire Cable/Winch replacement

I couldn’t figure out how to attach files to a PM, so here are 3 pics of my used spare tire carrier:

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