Damn, I knew it was possible somehow as I mentioned in a post in the past. Even without opening the rear hatch to turn the pulley mechanism, I had a feeling that the spare can be stolen from underneath. I'm definitely getting a locking mechanism or a cable lock of some sort. krosno3, sorry to hear the bad news, that sucks

i never checked but does the spare tire have the same aluminum rim on it that the rest of the wheels do?

Yes. It's a full-size tire just like all the others. That's why when I replace the Dunlops with Revos, I did all 5. From now on, 5-tire rotations....assuming no one steals the spare!

This should work and it's only 40$.... It is too late for me but I will get this lock for sure when I replace my spare......I recommend this for all of You because You never know when and where someone will try to steal your spare tire...

thanks that's great news. ive been driving around with a gashed up rim and was thinking i had to buy a new one.

It would appear that the cable was cut through the hub center. How to do it? Hacksaw blade, dyke cutter and a tremendous grip, portable dremel type tool with cut off wheel. I would think that if you ripped the valve stem off the wheel, deflation would let you push the tire up a bit. Perhaps enough to simply un hook it....

Probably not as hard as you think, but to time consuming for most dirt bags...

DanC

Does Toyota sell a spare tire lock?



I think we need a group buy....

Keep an eye on the other 4Runners that you park next to, guys who steal spares especially ones as hard as underneith the truck know what their doing, and have to specalize in it, the rim/tire both where probably sold for 50 bucks to someone who had a damaged wheel, maybe they will come back maybe they won't.

I know of several people who had spares stolen and somehow they do it, it's hard but can be done.

If you park in high crime areas, just bad areas thats the risk you take, I use to know guys who would get you anything you want for your car, real cheap they had kids do it, I had a cousin who had a TL, they stole the HID 3 times he went to sell it and they stole the HID again, everytime was 4000 in damage, it's to bad they never get caught in the act.

I've looked at the spare and my tools that could cut it down won't fit and I could not get leverage so who ever did it must of figured it out, I'd ask the other people if they ever lost a spare, it's to bad you did not dust the underneith for fingerprints, maybe the person who did it is on record

This is also a good idea to retain the spare if there is a failure in the winch/mechanism (ie. future rust, etc...)
Future mod addition coming up (maybe just us a good quality high strength cable lock will also work.)

You are not going to believe but there is more to this story....
So today I went back to work and I decided to go few minutes earlier to look for those pieces that hold spare. I thought that I might save at least few $$$ if I find them.. I went to the place I parked on Thursday and I found all those pieces. So I picked all of them and I have some pics to show You how they look like. But wait..There is more.... Around 10 am I talked to my boss and told him about my missing spare and he said that it

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Also I stopped today in one small show that sells used tires and asked for rim to 4R..They had it of course. They asked 150$ for it with a used tire....With brand new tire 250$. However since it had some scratches and they couldn

I in sad way, I hope you find your original wheel and buy it.

Thanks..... I don't think I'll be that lucky. But who knows.....there is always hope.......