Spare Tire mounting....rant

[WOW]

Has anyone tried to lower their spare tire recently? It's simple, right, just remove the lock from the bumper, insert the jack handle shaft through the hole into the guide shaft and rotate the handle to lower the tire. That is what the owners manual says anyway. Well, maybe not that easy after all. Thank God I wasn't trying to do this for the first time on a muddy trail in a rain storm somewhere. Maybe my experience can help someone avoid that fate and provide some more detail on the access to your spare tire.

It was time to replace my tires, so to save a little money, I only bought three new tires and I decided to use the spare at one corner and replace the spare with my best old tire. The picture in the manual shows the jack handle going straight into the bumper through the opening. That is where the trouble starts. After using a flashlight to look through the hole and finally lying on my creeper for about five minutes while reaching my hand and arm around and above the spare tire out of sight, I finally found the guide shaft that Ford was talking about in the manual. The handle needs to go in at about a 20 degree angle to the left, and up at about 10 degrees. The guide shaft is about a foot from the hole in the bumper.

Now it seems the only time I post on here is to rant about the poor engineering from Ford on our trucks. Don't get me wrong, I love my Raptor, however Ford has obviously forgotten how to engineer proper systems and do quality control. Or maybe they just don't care. People always tell me, don't sweat the small stuff, but the small stuff is the difference between a happy customer and a really frustrated customer. Oh, and would it really be that hard for Ford to make a retainer for the wheel that was padded and fit on the front side of the wheel? Thus enabling the tire to hang face down and provide access to the air valve and keeping 52000 miles of dirt from collecting on the face of the tire and rim.

Rant over. Pictures included.

 

[smurfslayer]

Has anyone tried to lower their spare tire recently?

Yes.

It's simple, right, just remove the lock from the bumper, insert the jack handle shaft through the hole into the guide shaft and rotate the handle to lower the tire. That is what the owners manual says anyway.

It wasn’t horrible.

Maybe my experience can help someone avoid that fate and provide some more detail on the access to your spare tire.

The best kind of FRF post !

That is where the trouble starts. After using a flashlight to look through the hole and finally lying on my creeper for about five minutes while reaching my hand and arm around and above the spare tire out of sight, I finally found the guide shaft that Ford was talking about in the manual.

so... you gave your Raptor a reach around?

The handle needs to go in at about a 20 degree angle to the left, and up at about 10 degrees. The guide shaft is about a foot from the hole in the bumper.

Cue @Oldfart for what is sure to be scintillating commentary

would it really be that hard for Ford to make a retainer for the wheel that was padded and fit on the front side of the wheel?

well... it’s truck, having dirty tires and wheels offers street, or rather off road cred.


Ok, yeah it was a chore the first time, but nothing quick trip to youtube / internet search engine can’t handle. Good on you for posting up some helpful pics!

 

[WOW]

LOL "reach around". Somehow I knew my post might get that treatment.

 

[JohnyPython]

It's a bit tough getting in the hole.

I agree that the wheel should be flipped around so that all the ***** sits on the wheel face. That reminds me, I gotta take mine down and check the pressure and give it a good wash.

 

[Oldfart]

I see you have a few problems here. The first is you don't seem to believe in lube. Judging by the rust on your one ball that I can see, I'm guessing you are the kind of guy that just likes to jam it in the hole. Kind of a , "Look out, here I come" approach. I would suggest both lube and some patience. If you are within a foot of the hole, just throw some talcum powder around the area and wherever it sticks, try to jam that thing in there. Pro tip for the future.

 

[CoronaRaptor]

I do this every year, just to clean and spray fluid film on everything up there. Seriously, keep that cable lubricated and your lock cylinder (spray some wd40 in there) as it will rust. Not fun when you want to take that off to get at the spare and its fuckingggg seized.

 

[goblues38]

Has anyone tried to lower their spare tire recently? It's simple, right, just remove the lock from the bumper, insert the jack handle shaft through the hole into the guide shaft and rotate the handle to lower the tire. That is what the owners manual says anyway. Well, maybe not that easy after all. Thank God I wasn't trying to do this for the first time on a muddy trail in a rain storm somewhere. Maybe my experience can help someone avoid that fate and provide some more detail on the access to your spare tire.

It was time to replace my tires, so to save a little money, I only bought three new tires and I decided to use the spare at one corner and replace the spare with my best old tire. The picture in the manual shows the jack handle going straight into the bumper through the opening. That is where the trouble starts. After using a flashlight to look through the hole and finally lying on my creeper for about five minutes while reaching my hand and arm around and above the spare tire out of sight, I finally found the guide shaft that Ford was talking about in the manual. The handle needs to go in at about a 20 degree angle to the left, and up at about 10 degrees. The guide shaft is about a foot from the hole in the bumper.

Now it seems the only time I post on here is to rant about the poor engineering from Ford on our trucks. Don't get me wrong, I love my Raptor, however Ford has obviously forgotten how to engineer proper systems and do quality control. Or maybe they just don't care. People always tell me, don't sweat the small stuff, but the small stuff is the difference between a happy customer and a really frustrated customer. Oh, and would it really be that hard for Ford to make a retainer for the wheel that was padded and fit on the front side of the wheel? Thus enabling the tire to hang face down and provide access to the air valve and keeping 52000 miles of dirt from collecting on the face of the tire and rim.

Rant over. Pictures included.

View attachment 164810

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Please turn in your "man card"...

yeah....not gonna lie...it is a pain in the ass. Some times I am able to get lucky, other times I throw a fit and have to get a flash light to find the little white cone. Just part of owning a truck I guess.

 

[RonPorter]

mine is a cinch.

 

[Frank N]

If you were getting rock chips on the face you would be pissed off at Ford for not mounting at the other way to protect the wheel...

 

[jimmyjamm]

you could quite whining and keep your spare in the bed....but then you are ignoring how they hid the tire underneath, of an offroad truck! Don't like it, do something different...oh, and the difference is in the small details, my wife's Audi Q7 that cost as much as Raptor has a blow up spare that you have to massage the tire as it inflates (with the Audi included small compresser) so that it doesn't pop off the rim, and it takes 30+ minutes to inflate so you can drive it after you have changed the tire...so spares aren't meant to be self replacing, you have to get your ****** dirty a bit and just get after it.