Stupid ? - How do I get the spare tire down?

[ChiefJosh]

I just bought my MJ and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the spare down. :nuts: I know all of you know the answer to this question except me so please enlighten me. Thanks-

[jage]

There is a hole in the rear bumper, you stick the jack handle in the hole and twist down a cable on a drum to lower the tire. You may have rust issues from never having used it. There are some discussions on the site if you do a search on here you'll get a better idea what I'm talking about.

 

Also, I've never pulled down the spare on any of my MJs and I'm not actually looking at one as I write this so it may not be totally accurate, I'm picturing my F250... but the idea is the same- long skinny tool, rear entry, crank away.

[87manche]

counter clockwise get's it down.

I had to get under mine and use some vise grips on the tube that goes to the winch, it was rusted badly. Once you get it down spray some pentrating oil up in there and grease the cable.

I also take mine down everytime I do an oil change, cause nothings worse than having to crawl under there on the side of the road to get the spare down.

Also, mine may have been tampered with, but it had a cotter pin that joined the tube to the winch, it was rusted and broke when I applied a lot of torque. Something to check, I replaced mine with a small screw and nut.

[ChiefJosh]

Okay, cool, I see what you're talking about. I see the hole, the shaft and the cotter pin thing. I don't have the OE jack and jack handle, but I do have the one that came with my 98 XJ, the foldable long handled bent piece of 5/16 steel. Will that work?

[ChiefJosh]

Nevermind- I got it! :cheers: Surprisingly, it wasn't stuck at all, it just dropped right down. I did take the opportunity to lube everything up. Thanks for the help-

[Oizarod115]

Nevermind- I got it! :cheers: Surprisingly, it wasn't stuck at all, it just dropped right down. I did take the opportunity to lube everything up. Thanks for the help-

:cry: :oops: :cry: :headpop: :redX:

 

thats the thing we cut off when i blew a tire offroad. :oops: wish we'd have known how it worked at the time.

[sinnaevd]

how much weight dod you think one of those things can handle? i have a spare 31 under mine, but i dunno if it will snap when i hit a bump or not lol

[87manche]

my 31 was never an issue, it was under there for a year, I even dragged to tire on some rocks during an impromtu offroad trip.