Remove Jimmy Spare Tire

whb52ford

I put the tire tool into the back of the bumper and turn it, but the part the tire tool goes into is rounded so nothing happens. Any idea how else to get the spare tire down?

bgcarl

I've never done this on my Jimmy, but i remember once this happened on an old Ford out in the woods when we had a flat. We used a hacksaw blade to cut the piece off from the center of the spare wheel that holds it up. Not much help, cuz then you'll need to replace the cable afterwards, or put a new piece on. But on the plus side, i'm sure you alway's wanted your spare on your roof anyway!

stever

I think I'd first try to get some Vise-Grip pliers on the bolt and screw the cable down that way. Your lowering gizmo could be rusty and frozen I suppose.

I had a cable break one time and got a replacement gizmo at the auto salvage yard.

whb52ford

What you have to do is take off the back bumper. The rubber on the top will lift up with a putty knife. Then you can get to the bolts. Now you have room to grab onto the metal rod to lower the tire. I just used vice grips to lower it. What I did was take off that flimsy metal that the tire iron is to go into and replaced it with a coupler. Not sure exactly what its called, but if you have two pieces of threaded rod, the coupler is what you use to connect them. What I did was drill a hole in the one end, slipped it over the rod, and used the same pin. Now I use a socket to lower the tire. Will never have that problem again.

stever

Sounds like more major surgery than I would have guessed. I'm picturing a coupler like this. I guess I should go check the gizmo on my minivan - it's nice to be able to get to the spare when you need it.

Thanks for the update.