spare tire issues

[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?

 

[Mr Dubya]

This is just a shot, but put some downward tension on the tire with some kind of lever, while another person tries to rotate the lug pulley. It might not work, but sometimes a little tension lets the threads catch and work their way out.


-Dubya

 

[JarheadK5]

What Mr Dubya said.

If/when you do finally get it down, spool it all the way out and take the tire off the cable. Use a clean rag dampened with brake cleaner to clean the outer diameter of the cable, and the cable end fitting where it goes into the bracket that holds the spare. Apply a light coating of white lithium grease to the cable and the end fitting, then reel the cable all the way back in (a cordless drill with the appropriate-sized deep socket [I forget what size...] makes this task much faster) with the spare tire on it. Spool it back out, and if the fresh grease is dirty, repeat the clean-grease-cable in-cable out process again, until the cable comes out clean. Do this annually, and you won't have issues anymore.