[keeponvaning]

I went to remove my spare tire today and discovered it was locked up in the up position! It will move a very slight bit up but not at all in down no matter how much muscle i use on it (I am going in he correct direction, BTW).

I tried to take it apart as it seems to be held together with screws but there are also 3 rivets that seen to do all the word of holding it together and I'm not ready to grind them off yet.

Off to the dealer in the morning to see if it's covered under the warrantee (30k miles on it). If not, I have no intentions of throwing good money after bad on it and I'll just cut it off somehow and put it on the door. There doesn't seem to be any easy way to get it down in an emergency and I'm glad I discovered it before I got stuck on the road.

Has anyone else had this problem and, if so, how did you solve it???

 

[Kip-on-truckin]

Changed a tire a couple of weeks back. The winch mechanism seems to give a click or notch when it's fully torqued. The wrench handle feels like a torque wrench that hit it's preset, and you feel a click and little slip. So maybe this feeling is actually a locking/seating feature. If you give it a good tug CCW, it comes apart and winches normally. So basically what I'm saying is: force it.

 

[climbing coastie]

I know someone that had the same problem. The dealer removed the winch and found that it had parts missing on the inside of it.

 

[keeponvaning]

I've used it several times in the past so I think all the parts are there.

 

[jimmbomb]

Let the air out of the tire first. It won't be so heavy then maybe un-bind the winch? Maybe?

 

[keeponvaning]

Good idea! I'm not sure that air weighs too much but it may loosen the tire from the mount a bit.

Thanks!

 

[Kip-on-truckin]

That is a good idea. In order to get the spare tire out without a functioning winch, it might be possible to remove ALL the air from the tire, push it up hard against the bottom of the van, and get the clamp/hook/thingy that holds the tire to the winch end off. That seems more humane than cutting the cable if you desperately needed that tire.

 

[keeponvaning]

Let the air out of the tire first. It won't be so heavy then maybe un-bind the winch? Maybe?

You da man Jimmbomb! I let all the air out and thenI was able to crank it up a hair. It wouldn't go down at all but after cranking it in both directions several times, it finally went down. It's a shitty setup for sure.

 

[jimmbomb]

See.. the spare was 65 pounds of air lighter and un-binding became easier.
Good job!

 

[keeponvaning]

Jeez in never looked at it quite like that

 

[yennes]

So where is this crank thing, did I cover it up when I put my floor in?

 

[keeponvaning]

No, it's on the right rear beside the spare not inside. It's a small black plastic box with two cables going in and out of it. You use the short rod in the jack box and the tire bar to raise and lower it.

 

[eric1514]

A spare with no air in it isn't very useful.

 

[keeponvaning]

That's why you should always carry a small compressor with you!

 

[Kip-on-truckin]

Compressor yes, air in a can yes, but Fix-a-Flat NO! As I understand it, fix-a-flat will clog the TPMS sensor and ruin it, and if you want that function you'll be buying another one.

From my experience, I have never, not ever, not even once, got Fix-a-flat to fix a tire or work even a little bit. Not even on a super slow leak. Zero success. YMMV.

 

[eric1514]

By fix-a-flat do you mean the system FCA provides on Promasters without a spare tire. I would think that if you kill the sensor using a factory supplied tire sealant, FCA will have to replace it. Or I could be naïve.

 

[autogateman]

No hes talking about that crap in a can you buy at the gas station

 

[Kip-on-truckin]

From what I understand, the TMPS is built into the valve stem. It IS the valve stem basically. So as you are blowing fix-a-flat into the tire, it clogs up the sensor and prevents it from reading tire pressure. Fix-a-flat is basically a mist of glue that permeates the inside of the tire, then cures into something resembling a hard substance. But if FCA supplies it, you'd think it'd be safe to use. Dunno. Seems to me that there's a lot of ways a tire can go flat that a can of anything isn't going to fix. Like a drywall screw, or a tear on the sidewall, or anything other than a tiny slow leak. Is there anything you can possibly put in a can that can fix a hole made by a nail or drywall screw? Couldn't say, but I bet the caveats and out-clauses in the manual for the can are fairly broad.

 

[eric1514]

The instructions say to leave the screw/nail in the tire.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

I don't think putting the can'O sealant into the tire will harm the TPMS sensor as it seems to be a sealed unit attached to the stem and the stem has a hole drilled to allow air/fluid to enter the tire without going into or through the sensor. See the attached photo of a FCA TPMS (perhaps Promaster but I am not sure.)