Spare Tire Winch

[smokey7722]

The other day my tire sensor went off and its about so I went and checked/filled all four tires (most were a bit low). For some reason I ALWAYS forget that the spare is there and after another day or two of rechecking the 4, I finally remember that. I went to drop the spare to fill it however I couldn't get the winch to release. The tools Toyota wants us to use from the spare kit - once inserted into the hole, I could not for the life of me get a good secure connection - every time I attempted to turn to release and lower the tire, the makeshift wrench would just pop out of the socket.

I haven't dropped my spare is probably at least 2 years and and 60,000 miles or so. My initial thought was that the winch was completely seized and of course now that I am out of warranty, I'm going to have to replace it. I was able to get a little better view though which is leading me to believe it may not be seized entirely and it could just be the rust on the head itself. I had an optical camera that I was able to insert into the hole and push all the way in to get a good view - photo attached.

Anyone have any experience with this? Should I just suck it up and run it into my local shop and ask him to remove the bumper / try to clean it up and see if its still usable? I do work myself usually but I tend to try to stick with either what I know or what I have docs for and I don't have any docs on removing the rear bumper.

 

[PlanetAlaska-]

Looks like you just discovered an antique contraption dating back to the Bronze Age. Neat camera device you have for the pic.

Joking aside, it seems as if some rust inside the square hole prevents you from pushing the rod totally in.

 

[smokey7722]

Looks like you just discovered an antique contraption dating back to the Bronze Age. Neat camera device you have for the pic.

Joking aside, it seems as if some rust inside the square hole prevents you from pushing the rod totally in.

Yup thats what I figured was the problem however I haven't been able to decide how to clean it. Since I can't get anything in there AND be able to see what I am doing at the same time. I tried putting a smaller socket extension in there and moving it around a bit and some rust did come off however nothing that helped at all. I'm thinking i'd need to remove the bumper to help with access/viewing however I don't know how much that would really help. If I could just get the tire off, I could remove the entire assembly and clean it while its removed.

Oh and the camera - its a older model Ridgid SeaSnake Micro (http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/SeeSnake-micro). Got it on sale for $150 (and had a bunch of home depot gift cards so ultimately free). Great little camera

 

[PlanetAlaska-]

What if you take a hammer and pound the rod in? Might get stuck trying to pull it back out though...

Otherwise, if you need to remove the spare, you might have to cut the retaining cable (the one that holds your spare), just like thiefs do. Then replace with a new cable. This might be a cheap alternative.

 

[smokey7722]

What if you take a hammer and pound the rod in? Might get stuck trying to pull it back out though...

Otherwise, if you need to remove the spare, you might have to cut the retaining cable (the one that holds your spare), just like thiefs do. Then replace with a new cable. This might be a cheap alternative.

I had thought of pounding it in but was hoping that was a bit extreme (given that doing that could be the end of it anyway). IF there is better access if I remove the bumper then I'd like to try that first. Was hoping someone on here had removed a 4th gen rear bumper before.

 

[kao]

I think slight pounding of rod is the better way than removing of rear bumper. Just slight.

As you never use a spare there are risk of seizing of retaining cable too. Mine seized. Spare can be dropped by halves only.

 

[TechWrench]

I had thought of pounding it in but was hoping that was a bit extreme (given that doing that could be the end of it anyway). IF there is better access if I remove the bumper then I'd like to try that first. Was hoping someone on here had removed a 4th gen rear bumper before.

Removing the rear bumper cover is a lot of work, for little gain, in this instance. I had to replace my spare tire lift a year ago, when the cable became too corroded to work any more. As I recall, there is a shield that protects the socket that the tool fits into, and restricts access to it. There are six bolts with nuts that hold the winch to the mounting crossmember, and they are not easy to get to, and are most likely rusted pretty bad. I had to cut four of the six bolts off with a chisel on mine to remove the old one. I would try hosing it down with PB Blaster or some other type of rust treatment, and then try tapping the tool into the socket to gain more grip. You can use a vise grip on the tool to remove it later. If that doesn't work, then I am afraid your only choice is to remove the winch and replace it.

 

[smokey7722]

Removing the rear bumper cover is a lot of work, for little gain, in this instance. I had to replace my spare tire lift a year ago, when the cable became too corroded to work any more. As I recall, there is a shield that protects the socket that the tool fits into, and restricts access to it. There are six bolts with nuts that hold the winch to the mounting crossmember, and they are not easy to get to, and are most likely rusted pretty bad. I had to cut four of the six bolts off with a chisel on mine to remove the old one. I would try hosing it down with PB Blaster or some other type of rust treatment, and then try tapping the tool into the socket to gain more grip. You can use a vise grip on the tool to remove it later. If that doesn't work, then I am afraid your only choice is to remove the winch and replace it.

Thanks for the feedback, that definitely helps! I'll try that as I was considering just replacing the winch anyway (it looks like its 94 bucks on partznet?) just to be safe as it is definitely quite a bit rusted (and thats just from what I can see). Figured for the 100 bucks it would be a worthy investment to replace.

 

[TechWrench]

Thanks for the feedback, that definitely helps! I'll try that as I was considering just replacing the winch anyway (it looks like its 94 bucks on partznet?) just to be safe as it is definitely quite a bit rusted (and thats just from what I can see). Figured for the 100 bucks it would be a worthy investment to replace.

Just remember that you won't be able to remove the old winch until you remove the spare, so if you can't get the winch to lower you will have to cut the cable to get spare out of the way. Also, the crossmember the winch is mounted to is welded to the frame rails, so you will have to remove the hard to get to bolts to remove it.

 

[smokey7722]

Just remember that you won't be able to remove the old winch until you remove the spare, so if you can't get the winch to lower you will have to cut the cable to get spare out of the way. Also, the crossmember the winch is mounted to is welded to the frame rails, so you will have to remove the hard to get to bolts to remove it.

Yea I was going to get the spare off, then assess the damage. If its really rusted then I'd replace - if its not bad and a quick cleaning / lube makes it all good then I'll leave it.

so you will have to remove the hard to get to bolts to remove it.

Remove the hard?

 

[TechWrench]

Remove the hard?

What I meant was that the bolts/nuts that mount the winch to the crossmember (top side) are hard to reach and get a wrench/socket on.

 

[jow]

Looking at the Pic, a heavy duty flat blade screwdriver should adapt to the slot. If the screwdriver is not long enough, get creative. Even slightly grinding the present handle’s sq end should work past the lump of rust. A sq screw extractor might work if you can get some socket extensions to work reversed. I have a feeling that you will get past this if the lump of rust is the only problem. Good Lock! jow

 

[Kmvreter]

... every time I attempted to turn to release and lower the tire, the makeshift wrench would just pop out of the socket.

I believe the connection is the same size as a 3/8" socket set (maybe some others can verify this?) If it is, then try taking a longer extension and use that as the first one in the fitting. Then use some other dowel (or extensions) and tap it into the fitting (hardened tool versus cheap OEM crank tool.) Use force if necessary. Lastly, if it is seated, then you will have a better tool to attempt to turn the winch using more extensions and a breaker bar. If it doesn't move or you break the winch this way then you are replacing it anyways.