02 Sport - Difficulty accessing winch to lower spare

[danny8280]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to drop the spare since I will be working on the body mount bushings and a few other things in the vicinity. I noticed the access hole does not line up all the way to the winch to be able to engage and lower the spare. What can I do regarding that? I'm trying to avoid cutting the bracket that holds the spare up. I haven't tried removing the bumper yet to see if i can gain any easier access.

Thanks

 

[swshawaii]

Did the failed rear body mounts cause the misalignment? Would lifting the frame with a floor jack help?

 

[J_C]

I noticed on mine (non-sport) that I needed to tilt the bar a little downwards (or I might have just been looking at it ****-eyed) to get it aligned. I would just keep at it, you'll know it's in the right spot if it either works or gets stuck because it's rusted too much to turn.

 

[danny8280]

All the mounts except for the front two under the radiator have disintegrated. I wouldn't doubt it, along with the fact the leafs look like they have flattened a bit. I'll give that a shot this weekend.

 

[danny8280]

[MENTION=3276]JC[/MENTION]: I tried that. It's at a far enough angle that the bar won't get back towards the winch. It only gets half way and I can see the scraping on the bar itself that tells me it only goes in so far. I'm going to try what swshawaii recommended of lifting the frame with a jack to see if it I can get it to come back into alignment. It seems like the upper guard that is between the spare itself and the truck body is what's in the way.

 

[koda2000]

going from memory, so I could be wrong, but isn't the hole under the lift-gate that the jack rod goes through just a black piece of plastic? can you loosen/remove the piece or elongate the hole? I seem to remember seeing screws on that piece. the spare tire winch has a trumpet-like piece that the rod goes into, the rod has a spoon-like end with a kind-of hook on it. once it's inserted all the way in engages the winch.

 

[swshawaii]

^Ditto that. Why didn't Ford use a standard 3/8" square drive or similar. :scratch:
Guess that would have made too much sense. Tip also breaks easily.

 

[J_C]

going from memory, so I could be wrong, but isn't the hole under the lift-gate that the jack rod goes through just a black piece of plastic? can you loosen/remove the piece or elongate the hole? I seem to remember seeing screws on that piece. the spare tire winch has a trumpet-like piece that the rod goes into, the rod has a spoon-like end with a kind-of hook on it. once it's inserted all the way in engages the winch.

There is a colored plastic trim piece with a couple (either screws or pop rivets) fasteners but it's just decoration. Behind it is metal with a nickel sized hole stamped out.