spare tire issue

[explorer03andres]

hello everyone.

so i have a 03 explorer & i recently needed to change my tire & it turns out that the spare tire doesnt want to come down. i turned the lug that is in the trunk but i couldnt get it to come down. i took it to a shop & they couldnt do anything for me. does anyone have any suggestions on how i can get it down?

 

[FR-425]

Yea that's a pain, but there is a way!

Remove the carpet retainer trim at the rear hatch.

Pull up the carpet.

In the center of the deck there is a rubber hole cover.

Pull it out and you can get at the top of the tire winch.

Use a 3/8 drive extension in the top of winch and crank it counter clockwise.

Nice. However the worm gear in the winch is striped so it needs to be replaced.

But now that the tire is out of the way it CAN be replaced. or repaired. Dealers sell rebuild kits. Cheaper for sure than the whole winch.

OR you can cut the cable but then you would no longer have the option to repair except for back woods engineering techniques.

 

[1Aauto]

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