If the cable is old and is all rusted up it could have easily broken off, my dad says it has happened to some of the trucks in his fleet for work. i mean over time it could have happened just a thought. i kinda think it would be a little more difficult than need be to remove the tire from under the vehicle and then like cart it off without anybody noticing, i am no expert or anything though, just my 2 cents, ive heard of spares coming off on the highway and stuff because of bumps and not being properly secured.

Well this happen to me about a month ago and I am about to put everything back together again. But it looks like Winch Lock is no longer in Business anymore. I need to buy something to lock my spare because apperently there are some Fing ass holes who like steal. This happened to my truck at the train station.

P.S. After reading the thread it seems that this Happens in Chicago very often. I also live in Chicago and this happen to at Western and Grand.

what about these guys...haven't called them, but their website is up...

Motive Home Page

I bought the heaviest Kryptonite chain bicycle lock, which has a cover for the chain and some kind of high security lock, and ran it through the wheel and over the frame. If a crook gets through that, then so it goes...

this thread has got me worried now since i will be buying a 4runner in the next 6 months or so.anyway,, if I remove the spare tire and just store it in my garage, will that warning light still turn on ???

I know some of you will think my idea is retarded ,but FYI, the spare tire on my 1998 tacoma got stolen in 1998 also and i never replaced it. However, I bought one of those cheap small cigarette light-powered tire inflators and put it in the backseat of my tacoma.

this cheap inflator has saved me many many times giving me enough time to go to the tire shop. the one or two times where the deflated tire hole was too big , I just called a tow truck.

so now its 2013, and I still drive around without a spare tire true story.
note though that my tacoma has no spare tire warning light.

So the company that makes that WinchLock rod looks to have gone belly up. Does anyone have a link to a similar product?

EDIT: BTW, I too had my spare stolen in Chicago...

not to resurrect this thread from the grave, but some questions for you folks.

My spare was stolen a few years ago on my 2008 4runner sr5 (all that's left is a dangling cut steel cable), and I've lived with a constant TPMS alert on the dash since.

I'm finally getting around to replacing my tires and I thought I'd take a crack at replacing the spare at the same time. My goal is to do it "right" and get rid of the TPMS alert once and for all...hopefully I can pick up all of the parts on ebay but could use some help with what I need. From what I can tell, I'll need to get:

1. spare tire carrier (like this one).

2. a 17" wheel to match my existing OEM wheels (like this one)

3. a TMPS sensor (like this one)

4. spare tire

Is there anything else I'm missing? Can I use any wheel? Again, goal here is to a) have a spare, and b) get rid of the TPMS light. I'm okay with getting a non-matching wheel if that's possible.