HELP with spare tire hitch!!!

[headrush]

This thing is making me so mad .. I had a flat the other day, and after patching it a couple days later I proceeded to put my spare tire back on the hidden hitch. Well I cranked, and cranked, and cranked some more, and nothing. It will only go up or down to a certain point (never all the way) and sounds like it's catching on something.

So I went to a friend of mine's tire place, and they said there's either a knot in the cable or the cable itself is just shot. So I'm thinking of taking out the whole assembly myself and if their is actually a knot I'll fix it. If their isn't, I'm screwed and will just have to get a whole new assembly at a junkyard. This is going to be a pain in the butt, I can already tell. I was just wondering if someone else had a similar problem and if so if there are any shortcuts or easier ways of going about doing this that you know of?

Thanks.

 

[Gonzo]

I was at the Ford dealer about a year ago for the firestone tire recall, and they had a hard time getting the spare tire cable to lower (there was no spare). They offered to replace it for free, but found out that it needs the weight of the spare to help it along, so it worked fine, but only when there is weight attatched. My point is, go to a dealer and see if you can get them to replace it for free.

 

[RFR2212]

i never found mine to be very hard to raise or lower, when i had a tire up there... Although it's smart to do it every so often to keep it moving freely, and best to coat the cable with a light layer of marine grease
Pete