Chevy Spare Tire Hoist... What the...

[Northdrifter08]

So... I got a flat...luckily in my own driveway.. Thought to myself "how lucky is this?" at least I'm not out in the middle of nowhere... Turned out this was very lucky... I went to drop my spare and it went down a couple inches and that was it.. It froze up... It would go down and it would go up... All it did was make a clicking sound as I turned the bar... Well a couple hours latter, after struggling and fighting the hoist I finally threw the towel in and got my Sawzall out... Had to cut to metal cross piece and cable... I got the hoist off of the truck and I could get it to let out cable..

Well here I am a gain... I thought I would stop by a junk yard and buy one and save a couple dollars... WRONG... I got this one back to my garage and found out that it was already locked up... So it seams this is a common problem with Chevys... How could a guy get out of a jam if your in the middle of nowhere and you got a flat... Forget it if you have a chevy...

This leads me to my queston..... Does anyone have a solution to fixing the hoist problem?

[Kettle]

I have had this problem a few times, I have owned 4 k1500 or c1500 since I was 16, the older trucks I would just cut them off right away and throw the spare in the box, with my newer truck I lower it and raise it every oil change. If you are at the point of cutting it down it is too late, If you get another chev sometime as soon as you get it drop it, lube it and do it often. Sorry to hear about the troubles.

Kettle

[jmd1]

not to be a smart arse but how about mounting it in the bed and getting rid of the hoist. i had a flat on my chrysler mini van at 4 am on I10 south of phoenix. Dark and on a slight curve dragging the spare out from the middle of the vehicle, on the road side. Scared to death, I seriously thought about just throwing it in the back on a blanket and not deal with raising and lowering.

[Ryan_V]

Chevy has a "safety" on the spare. You have to put the jack under it and lift up on it to get it to release, then crank it down. check your owners manual for instructions. Dumbest thing I've ever seen.

[K_Josh87]

dont feel bad, ford does some dumb things in this dept as well... I foundo n mine there is a plug you can take out to remove the "key" they have to raise and lower it (actually down in where you stick the tire iron, not the plastic plug on the truck.... best thing I ever learned about mine! WHAT A PAIN OTHERWISE

[SpecialK]

I just went through something similar but on my 06 Trailblazer, the cable the was flattened and over tightened by whoever owned it before me. I pulled on the tire to get it to move then cranked down a little more then pulled down... repeat. Not the most fun I have ever had. When I put the spare tire back up I didn't over tighten it thats for sure.

[harvey lee]

Had trouble with mine on a trip. Ended up at a Chevy shop and they finally cut it off and I putr my new spare in the box.

The Chevy shop said unless you drop it and oil it all the time, you might as well use the box as it will get you sooner or later.

I have no worries anymore as mine was cut off.

[harvey lee]

Chevy has a "safety" on the spare. You have to put the jack under it and lift up on it to get it to release, then crank it down. check your owners manual for instructions. Dumbest thing I've ever seen.

Chevy shop service man said they can and will still hang up on a guy unless it is dropped and oiled all the time.

I said, Chevy should design a new one but I suppose it keeps people coming to the shop to get the tire off if they leave it that way.

[Walleyehooker]

They are a maintainence item here in MN where you have salt on the roads.Drop it and lube it a couple times a year and you should be OK. Let it go long enough an it will rust off and loose your spare. Not uncommon for the spare to be flat to over time so it pays to check it from time to time.

[Northdrifter08]

Thanks for the support... I was about to flip out on Saturday... The only reason I ask about the hoist is I need all the room I can get in my box...

Recently I took the family camping and found out that losing just the little bit of room was quite the inconvience when it came to packing... That was for my wife and I, and then our 18 mth old twins... thought we were moving the whole house to a new location...

Again.. Thanks... Thinking I may just leave the spare in the box and not go through this...especially when some of my trips take me far away from a garage or help...

[BoxMN]

This reminds me - I have said I was going to do this, drop and lube cable.... for like 13 years.... gulp.... I think I am hosed... It has never been down in that amount of time, bit the spare does have air... wish I would have done this years ago.

[Macgyver55]

Never too late/soon.....Its still better to try it now than on the side of the road somewhere!

[BoxMN]

Never too late/soon.....Its still better to try it now than on the side of the road somewhere!

Good point, and doing it in shaded garage with a creeper, fridge nearby and fan blowing on me