I had to cut the steel cable on the spare tire holder for my 2000
Sienna. The damn thing has been acting up and I finally got sick
enough of it to take it out. The problem is it was unreliable in
operation; it would begin to come down then bind up halfway down. From
that point it was a crapshoot of whether it would go up or down.

The dealer wants $140 for a replacement and the junkyards are not much
better. Considering how mine has gone bad for no reason I am hesitant
to get one from a vehicle that's been sitting in a field somewhere.
There are plenty of complaints on the Internet related to this item.

I have been unsuccessful in finding one online anywhere. Does anyone
have a parts store they deal with that may have one?

On Fri, 16 May 2008 16:30:59 +0000 (UTC), "badgolferman"
<REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:

>I had to cut the steel cable on the spare tire holder for my 2000
>Sienna. The damn thing has been acting up and I finally got sick
>enough of it to take it out. The problem is it was unreliable in
>operation; it would begin to come down then bind up halfway down. From
>that point it was a crapshoot of whether it would go up or down.
>
>The dealer wants $140 for a replacement and the junkyards are not much
>better. Considering how mine has gone bad for no reason I am hesitant
>to get one from a vehicle that's been sitting in a field somewhere.
>There are plenty of complaints on the Internet related to this item.
>
>I have been unsuccessful in finding one online anywhere. Does anyone
>have a parts store they deal with that may have one?

You might be able to rebuild yours. You can get aircraft cable in
stainless steel, which will eliminate that part rusting. The swaging
tool to apply the ball crimps at the ends is commonly available,
though the raw ball crimps themselves might be a problem - check with
aircraft parts suppliers.

And the rest can be disassembled (cut the rivets) cleaned up,
bead-blasted, hot-dip galvanized (or painted with zinc-rich 'Cold
Galvanize' paint) and reassembled with galvanized bolts instead of
rivets and the new stainless cable. Then you pack the inner gear
workings with white grease.

Although I would also rig up a loop of aircraft cable between the
frame rails, with thimble eyes on the ends, and a turnbuckle across
the front of the spare as a 'Safety Strap' just in case your repair
job has a hidden flaw. It's the combination of shock load of hitting
bumps and the large mass of the tire that will break the winch, not
the lowering and raising process.

Or give up on the winch and weld up a tray mount for the spare tire
with square tubing and strap stock. The back half (toward axle) can
be hinged with brackets up to the frame rails on each side, and the
'front' corners (toward back bumper) hung from two chunks of 1/2"
threaded rod with big wingnuts. Use the jack to hold the tire up in
position as you tighten or loosen the wingnuts. And once it's all
aligned, drill 1/8" holes through the threaded rod for mouse keys
(spring cotter) so the wingnuts can't back off from vibration.

And if this all sounds like Greek: Print it out and find someone at
a welding shop to do it for you - it ain't brain surgery, just good
old fashioned Battlefield Expedient Engineering. Who knows, they
might come up with an even better idea.

Because you /really/ don't want to tempt Murphy (of Murphy's Law) by
driving without a spare.

--<< Bruce >>--

badgolferman wrote:
> I had to cut the steel cable on the spare tire holder for my 2000
> Sienna. The damn thing has been acting up and I finally got sick
> enough of it to take it out. The problem is it was unreliable in
> operation; it would begin to come down then bind up halfway down. From
> that point it was a crapshoot of whether it would go up or down.
>
> The dealer wants $140 for a replacement and the junkyards are not much
> better. Considering how mine has gone bad for no reason I am hesitant
> to get one from a vehicle that's been sitting in a field somewhere.
> There are plenty of complaints on the Internet related to this item.
>
> I have been unsuccessful in finding one online anywhere. Does anyone
> have a parts store they deal with that may have one?
You might be able to fit another make to it if it is bolted on. Try a
Ford or GM. Easily got in scrap yards, probably much cheaper and at
least that part is relatively reliable. Just a thought.