Yea, my 2005 4runner sport's spare wheel is good and stick. I've looked at some threads. Im going to try the shooting pb blaster through straws trick and 3/8 ratchet extensions to try and get some torque. Any other tricks people have used? Should i just go to the dealer for a replacement or is there a better way to get one. How different are the 3rd gen and 5th gen winches?
Spare wheel winch/carrier...
- Thread starter dvto2
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Deflate the tire. See if you can get it to go up a little to help with the lube?
I whacked the supporting bracket to the tire insert a bit and then cut the cable with a reciprocating saw pretty easily. However, the bolts holding the winch are above the bracket, hard to get fo, and rounded off. I can not really get to them with my angle grinder because the bracket is on the way (it curves). Any suggestions on how to get the winch off?
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So i finally got the old winch off and it was an ordeal. As i mentioned, i cut the cable with a reciprocating saw. Then, i cut the two bolts i could see with a dremel, and drilled them out. After i picked up the new part, i realised i had six bolts to drill out but could only see two. I smashed the plastic housing in the winch and found the other four bolts. I also did some surgery on the housing with my angle grinder to get better access to the bolts. Cutting the ends of these bolts wasn't as easy aed the first, so the ends were more uneven, which meant that drilling them out was a pain. I didn't do that great a job, and there were bits of partial bolt left because my holes were off center. Drilling was a pain and i went through a few bits and it took a long time. I ended up enlarging the holes but that didn't help much, so i finally just chisled out the partial bolts, which finally knocked the part loose. My advice would be to change these bolts every 100k, as they are a bear to cut out.
2016 4Runner SR5
Senior Member
Replace it with a 5th gen winch. Chain rather than cable and it's a direct swap. With that said, you should drop it once or twice a year and lube it up to avoid rust and make sure it's free in the event you need to use it.
