Spare Tire Cable/Winch replacement

[SteveAndStaci]

Well, we just had new tires installed on my wife's 2008 4Runner. Since one of the rims is showing some pretty ugly corrosion, I asked them to swap out the spare and put the corroded rim underneath.

Anyway, the tire shop just called. They somehow broke the cable on the spare tire lowering mechanism. I can't wait to see what it looks like. I don't understand how it just breaks, unless they weren't lowering it properly (I am envisioning a couple guy prying the wheel off the winch plate). Of course they claim the cable was already "messed up" when they got it.

Anyway, they say its going to be about $125 for a new cable and about $100 to install. Has anyone had to replace the spare tire cable before? Any idea where I can find the part and how to install it? I can't find any how-tos by searching.

 

[jow]

Replacing a 2008 4runner spare tire winch cable. Check the link below. There might be directions with the replacements. Attached is a pic of my 07 T4R’s Spare Tire Hoist. Glance under there, it could easily be a simple job.

Good Luck!

Spare Tire Hoist - Dorman (924-525)

 

[04_4runner]

replace with the chain version

The cable on mine was all frayed. When I went to remove the spare, the mechanism bound up and when I torqued on it the few strands left broke. I put it off for a while and then had my Toyota dealer replace it when it was in for other service. They used the mechanism from a 5th gen with the chain, no more cable. A quick call to a Toyota dealer parts department should get the relevant numbers and costs.

 

[MSRP.]

Do you guys think deflating the tire enough and 2 jacks will depress the tire enough for the plate to get enough wiggle room to drop the spare?

My winch is rusted 10 ways through Sunday..

 

[gomoboo]

Do you guys think deflating the tire enough and 2 jacks will depress the tire enough for the plate to get enough wiggle room to drop the spare?

My winch is rusted 10 ways through Sunday..

That is how I removed my spare. Let the air out, and do some creative prying. There is a tang that goes into one of the lug holes. I cut that tang off, so I could move the tire around easier.

 

[TechWrench]

Do you guys think deflating the tire enough and 2 jacks will depress the tire enough for the plate to get enough wiggle room to drop the spare?

My winch is rusted 10 ways through Sunday..

If the cable is rusted in place, it is useless to try to save it. I know, because I have replaced two of them on two different vehicles. The easiest way I have found to get the spare removed, when the cable mechanism is frozen, is to cut the cable. I was able to reach the cable with a portable, battery operated reciprocating saw with a 6" metal cutting blade. Just be careful, because the tire/wheel assy., is heavy. The cable cuts fairly easily. Once the tire is out of the way, you have to remove 6 bolts that come from the top down, that hold the lift assy., to the cross member. There isn't a lot of room to get at them, and, in my case, they were badly rusted. So, I wound up cutting them with an air chisel. Once the old one is down, install the new one, with new bolts. As I understand it, Toyota no longer sells the cable style lift, the old part number is superseded to the newer chain style, which is what I got when I changed the last one about a year and a half ago.

The hardest part is removing the old one. Once off, it only takes about 15 min to install the new one.

 

[Wallace]

I replaced mine today. After breaking the 2 outermost bolts loose from above, I slotted them with a dremel and backed them out with a screwdriver. The other 4 were quite a bit easier to get to once the sheet metal guide was removed. I pre-slotted the outer bolts for the new one which made installation much easier too.

 

[shahsmerdis]

Life is so freaking funny. I Just was about to make a thread reminding people in the salt belt to lube there spare tire. and I Saw this.

Actually I have no spare tire, Some how it disappeared. the hold down pin seems to still be there, but not actually sure how complete it is. Ill check again in the morning

summery: Spare tire disappeared . we put more air in a a week or two ago.

 

[iBison]

When mine went bad I got a nice one from the southwest on car-part for about $40 shipped. Was frayed bad.

 

[Gavin S.]

I've been trying to get my rusted out one off for two days. I've drilled out all 6 bolts and it still won't budge. It's like its welded on the crossmember.

 

[Berty_K]

I replaced mine today. After breaking the 2 outermost bolts loose from above, I slotted them with a dremel and backed them out with a screwdriver. The other 4 were quite a bit easier to get to once the sheet metal guide was removed. I pre-slotted the outer bolts for the new one which made installation much easier too.

:bump2:

Bumping an old(ish) thread. I've been trying to get this (insert profanity here) spare tire hoist loose for the past week.

I can't get the outermost bolts to break loose! I soaked the bolts with liquidwrench and smacked the thing with a 12 mm, 6 point wrench. Still no dice. I'm at the point where I'm considering drilling the bolts out.

Can anyone give me some pointers? I live in chicago so the bolts are pretty rusted.

Dealer is asking $330 for parts and labor :wtf:

 

[TechWrench]

:bump2:

Bumping an old(ish) thread. I've been trying to get this (insert profanity here) spare tire hoist loose for the past week.

I can't get the outermost bolts to break loose! I soaked the bolts with liquidwrench and smacked the thing with a 12 mm, 6 point wrench. Still no dice. I'm at the point where I'm considering drilling the bolts out.

Can anyone give me some pointers? I live in chicago so the bolts are pretty rusted.

Dealer is asking $330 for parts and labor :wtf:

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the easiest way to remove those rusted bolts is to chisel them off, and install the new lift assy., with new bolts.

 

[Berty_K]

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the easiest way to remove those rusted bolts is to chisel them off, and install the new lift assy., with new bolts.

Did you have to drill the bolts out once you chiseled them? I'll likely use an angle grinder.

 

[iBison]

I bought one on car-part.com from the west that was virtually rust free for 45. Not that big a deal to change.

 

[TechWrench]

Did you have to drill the bolts out once you chiseled them? I'll likely use an angle grinder.

If I remember correctly, the bolts thread in from the top of the supporting cross member, and into the base plate of the winch assy., which has threaded holes for the bolts. If you cut the bolts with a chisel, between the base plate and the support cross member, there is no need to drill anything out. If you cut the shaft of the bolt, where it protrudes from the threaded hole in the base plate, then you would still need to drill the last bit of the bolt out to release the base plate. Since I was replacing the entire lift assy., I wasn't worried about how much damage I did to the plate, so I just cut it away using an air chisel. Once the old one is down, you can install the new one with the same type of bolts that the old one used, so they match the threads in the new base plate, or as I did, just replace the bolts with slightly smaller, in diameter, and use nuts to secure them. This way, if I ever have to remove it again, I don't have to cut the bolts again.

 

[TowMeOut]

I dropped the spare over the weekend to make it easier to change my rear diff oil. I was just thinking what a horrible design that is with the fastener coming down through the cross member.

I hosed the cable down with some spray lithium grease before I winched the tire back up. Surprisingly there wasn't any noticeable corrosion but hopefully this will slow down any future problems.

 

[Jake Whiskey]

replace cable mechanism with chain mechanism & perils of oversized tires

The cable on mine was all frayed. When I went to remove the spare, the mechanism bound up and when I torqued on it the few strands left broke. I put it off for a while and then had my Toyota dealer replace it when it was in for other service. They used the mechanism from a 5th gen with the chain, no more cable. A quick call to a Toyota dealer parts department should get the relevant numbers and costs.

A little about my predicament and then a question about your repair.

I took my 05 4R in to have the tires rotated and the tech said that the mechanism was broken and the cable frayed so the could not reattach the spare under the truck. I had heard other techs mention something about the tire hoist mechanism in the past so I told him to throw it in the back and I would sort it out. I got home and crawled under there for a while and figured a few things out.

First of all that tech is a quitter.

Second, my oversized tires (LT265/70R17/112/109) are wider than stock and when the rim is cranked all the way up the sidewall of the fatter tire presses up on the cranking mechanism causing it to stray from alignment. This makes it really hard to get the crank in the receiver in the first place... and today damn near impossible to get it back out.

Next time I have a hour to burn I will DEFLATE the spare tire to take pressure off the crank receiver, lower the tire and place a block of wood or something in-between the top of the crank receiver mechanism and the underside of the truck to keep the assembly in alignment.

I saw in the quoted post your Toyota dealer replaced the cable mechanism with a chain mechanism instead of a cable.... any more info on that? Straight across bolt up or modification needed?

 

[KruzSR5]

Same bolt pattern. I recall 6 I think. Hopefully your bolts ware not rusted out like mine were as they were tough to get a ratchet on and remove.

 

[tellurunner]

A little about my predicament and then a question about your repair.

I took my 05 4R in to have the tires rotated and the tech said that the mechanism was broken and the cable frayed so the could not reattach the spare under the truck. I had heard other techs mention something about the tire hoist mechanism in the past so I told him to throw it in the back and I would sort it out. I got home and crawled under there for a while and figured a few things out.

First of all that tech is a quitter.

Second, my oversized tires (LT265/70R17/112/109) are wider than stock and when the rim is cranked all the way up the sidewall of the fatter tire presses up on the cranking mechanism causing it to stray from alignment. This makes it really hard to get the crank in the receiver in the first place... and today damn near impossible to get it back out.

Next time I have a hour to burn I will DEFLATE the spare tire to take pressure off the crank receiver, lower the tire and place a block of wood or something in-between the top of the crank receiver mechanism and the underside of the truck to keep the assembly in alignment.

I saw in the quoted post your Toyota dealer replaced the cable mechanism with a chain mechanism instead of a cable.... any more info on that? Straight across bolt up or modification needed?

I have an extra one in good shape that I'll sell you for cheap. Located in Denver as well. I just took it off because I have a swing out

 

[Flash Runner]

So I recently had to use my spare for the first time. The experience was a PIMA!! I'm not gonna go into the details though of the whole thing. Bottom line is I was able to lower my spare about half way, and had to wrestle it out from the assembly. Once I got the spare on, I went back to raise the assembly, and no dice. I look under and the cable is frayed and terribly off tract. The assembly exterior cover broke off with a slight pull. Now I have an assembly thats stuck hanging down.

I'm pretty sure I'm just going to the replace the whole thing, and like others have mentioned there's an updated Chain Version of the assembly. The link is to the partznet site for the 5th gen (2011 to be exact)... can someone confirm that I have the right part and it's a straight forward swap, no modification? Also do I need just part 8 by itself, or part 8 AND 9 to replace it.