If any of you with gm trucks have not removed your spare, you may be in for a surprise.
My spare would lower only about 4 inches and the cable would drop but the tire would not drop down. Gm has a hook on a lever as a secondary retainer to the cable hoist. The hook does not always release and you will have to remove the license plate and either use a really long screwdriver and a hammer to release the tire or buy gm's release tool. Add some rust and it ain't coming down when you need it.
I modified mine so that you can always get the tire down. I notched the retainer ring, so it still will retain the hook on the cable, but you can spin the tire and the hook will clear the notch for the tire to drop. When you load the spare, just index the hook on the cable with some white paint on the tread and make sure it does not line up with the notch when the hoist is tight. That way the tire is still held in if the cable fails.
My spare would lower only about 4 inches and the cable would drop but the tire would not drop down. Gm has a hook on a lever as a secondary retainer to the cable hoist. The hook does not always release and you will have to remove the license plate and either use a really long screwdriver and a hammer to release the tire or buy gm's release tool. Add some rust and it ain't coming down when you need it.
I modified mine so that you can always get the tire down. I notched the retainer ring, so it still will retain the hook on the cable, but you can spin the tire and the hook will clear the notch for the tire to drop. When you load the spare, just index the hook on the cable with some white paint on the tread and make sure it does not line up with the notch when the hoist is tight. That way the tire is still held in if the cable fails.
Last edited: