Spare Tire Retaining Bolts

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

Yes, my old friend Archimedes!  I saw him recently in the new Indiana Jones movie.

I too.
This guy was a real genius!
But he didn't figured there's not always enough room for such a lever.
Especially when we have installed a hitch...



I'm analyzing the situation. I see two solutions:
1- Cut the Archimede tube.
2- Flip the support blade end to end, installing the "drop end" pointing to the front of the truck.

Solution 2 isn't really sexy, since the access to the spare will be more painful.

So I'll go to the tube cutting and will use the jack to drop or install the spare (sorry Archimede).

EDIT :
Well, Archimede tube is also conflicting in solution 2.
So let's go cut it!

[BigBrother-84]

85lebaront2 wrote

The large plastic cone shaped retainer for the wheel, is "universal" once you figure it out. On 15 and 16" single wheel rims, the point goes down through the center hole over the long carriage bolt (1/2 - 13 if i remember) and is tightened to secure the wheel to the carrier bar. On a dually rim, the dish in the wheel goes down and the cone goes large end down as the scalloped base just fits in the center of the rim.

Bill, you are right.  I played around with the plastic cone, and installed it pointing down.

• Big Brother's wheels face is "recessed", so always far from the support blade, even if I flip the tire upside down.
• If installed pointing up, the bolt is too short.  I tried with a longer bolt, but was finally not satisfied how the cone was maintaining the steel wheel.
• Cone pointing down with the shorter bolt does the job for Big bro's setup.

[81-F150-Explorer]

My truck does not use the plastic retainer. Mine uses a metal U shaped retainer with a large washer.

Number 1474 and 1424 in the bottom picture.  Perhaps that would help attach the tire to the stowage arm better?

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

But even with that added help I find it very difficult anymore.  It never was easy, but it is getting increasingly more difficult.  

Ok, installation completed.

Gary, you're right, it's a real mess...

For the friends whose truck isn't setup this way ans who would try to fit their spare tire under the bed, here's what I did:

First, I bought as much as possible new stuff (LMC).  They had in stock the support blade, the plastic cone plus its bolt, and the nut clips:


Since I couldn't find a "J" eyed bolt, went to my local salvage yard and was lucky enough to find a good shaped one.  Wasn't easy to release its rusted nut, but with heat, WD-40 and a lot of patience, I had success.
Here it is, with the stuff I spray on every steel part I want to lube and protect against rust.


The straight bolt can't be found anywhere.  So, since 1/2-13 threaded bolt fits in LMC's M14x2.0 nut clips, I bought a 10" bolt at my local hardware store.  To enable the "ball joint" effect, I preferred to use a 3/4" Nylon Nut instead of a flat washer:





At its upper end, I installed two blocking nuts.  The upper one is "locked" in the clip's jaw, so the straight bolt cannot unscrew accidentally:



The "J" eyed bolt end fitted as if new (with Archimede tube cut away):



Putting the spare at its place was difficult... a lot.
I used Big Brother's jack (which sits normally in its bag, behind the rear seat):


Finally, the spare is installed at its place.
Big Brother's bed is free for the first time since he's in the familly!
And let's pray to not have a blowout.

[Gary Lewis]

Well done, Jeff!  That looks like a very solid solution.  

But I'll hope with you that you don't have to use the spare.