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Spare Tire Winch/carrier

26K views 19 replies 16 participants last post by  Brian K 
#1 ·
Hey guys I had a problem the other day getting my spare tire down. It seemed like it would only catch once in a while while I was spinning the bar to lower it. I figured the winch is broken, so I'm going to replace it. Only problem is, I can't find anywhere that sells them. I've got an 02 Trailblazer, and if anyone can point me in the right direction or help at all it would be much appreciated =)
 
#2 ·
MANY people have the same problem as you.....poor design on GM's part. If you can get it to lower some, you might be able to get in there and spray rust buster and get it to move. There is also a secondary latch that causes problems too....I think it's mentioned in your owners manual.

If you decide to buy a new hoist, I think the part # is 15724900

Here's a thread discussing this:

http://forums.trailvoy.com/showthread.php?t=30521&highlight=spare+tire+winch
 
#4 · (Edited)
Yeah, it's a relatively easy swap out, once you have the spare removed. One 5/8 bolt holds the fixture the tire rides over, while the winch, which is to the right, near the muffler/resonator, is held on (to the frame) by two identical 5/8 bolts. Takes 10 minutes or so to remove.

The problem is that GM skimped and had the winch housing made of plastic- not even particularly heavy plastic- and ANY tangling of the cable will bust the housing. Replacement cost for the assembly, which is the winch and support spindle, connected by a cable guide tube, is around $100- 125. Unless your bolts are badly rusted, you shouldn't need to replace those, or the heat shield.

Problem is, the new one will be the same piece of junk the old one was. :mad:
 
#8 ·
Replaced spare tire winch

I had to replace my winch assembly today after purchasing new tires. The tire dealer wanted to check the spare and managed to destroy the winch in the process. Had to cut the tire retainer in half with my disk grinder to get the tire off. The secondary latch was a solid block of rust. Better to find out about this in May than in January at night along US2 in upper Michigan. Coated everything with nickel based anti-seize so this won't happen again.
 
#10 ·
Just replaced my spare tire hoist. Mine, like everybody else's had the secondary latch that was a complete ball of rust. I ended up cutting the wire to get my spare tire off. The only issue I had with getting the old hoist off was that each of the clips used by the mounting bolts had rusted and broke. All the bolt would do was spin. I had them torched off and then put the new hoist in with new hardware. Very easy job overall! I bought mine from Gmpartsdirect . Com part number 2591164. I got it shipped to me for $115.
 
#11 ·
I had the same problem. It was a fairly easy fix though. The hardest part was cutting the cable to get the spare out of the way. I try to remember to let the spare down and uncoil the cable and clean it a couple times a year now. I don't like to use grease on the cable because the grease acts as a dust catcher.
 
#12 · (Edited)
The plastic housing on my winch assembly shattered, so I was searching here for advice and part numbers.

The GM number 25911640 appears to still be valid, but be aware that there is an aftermarket replacement also.

Dorman used to be a fine company, now they primarily sell Made-In-China junk. Ordinarily I'd avoid a Dorman product (or at least buy with scepticism) but since the "Genuine GM" item is also a high-failure piece of crap which is probably also made in China, I figured "why not".

Consider Dorman # 924-509. Some variation of this part number will probably get you a Dorman-sourced part at NAPA, CarQuest, O'Reileys, etc.

I just ordered mine from Amazon. Less than $100, shipped to my door.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GHT9G6W/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Seems to fit all Trailblazer/Envoy/Rainier/Saab/Isuzu 2002--2009. Verify for yourself:
http://www.dormanproducts.com/itemdetail.aspx?ProductID=66636&SEName=924-509

"Limited lifetime warranty".
 
#16 ·
Just took my spare off today to see if it would drop. Of course it didn't but some You-tube videos sure helped me get it down. I used a screw driver to push the little clip back in and release it from the holder. Also took my angle grinder with a wire wheel and cleaned lots of rust off the wheel and the holder. Painted with epoxy paint and packed the holder clip with lots of grease. Hopefully if I ever need to lower it again, the grease will have kept the rust out. Funny enough, the spare had full pressure after 10 years of hanging there. At least the tire is good and no weather cracks either.
What a PITA from GM!
 
#17 ·
You can bypass the faulting safety latch by flipping the spare tire over

This bypasses a safety feature but there seems to be many spares tires held up by a similar mechanism that didn't have a safety catch and this beats hacking it up to bypass the latch that some have done...
 
#18 ·
While flipping the tire over and not engaging the PITA safety latch seems like an obvious solution, I also wonder about the chances of the cable rusting and dropping the tire while travelling down a highway or perhaps the cable spool undoing and the poor SOB following that sees a tire coming at him. My cable seemed to be in good shape, however, and probably wouldn't rust through anytime soon - at least not while I own the vehicle.
I always wondered why GM didn't just form the bottom differently and put the spare inside the vehicle and avoid the hoist and latch system and allow the spare to stay clean and rust free. My wheel looked like a teenager with bad acne. Took lots wire wheel action to clean it up.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I live is Calif so I fortunately don't have the rust issues 8^)

I would think you could use a hold down strap or something equivalent as a safety strap that could be cut loose if the spare was needed and the strap latch was rusted up.

From what I have seen it take to get them loose when rusted up, I can't imagine fighting the spare down on the side of the road when needed.
 
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