Spare tire maintenance is a good thing!

[Badge767]

I was tinkering in the garage this afternoon and decided to run through a spare tire removal/installation cycle to familiarize myself with the process (while NOT on the side of a dark rainy highway!).

Besides, I wanted a final verification on whether I have TPMS or not on my '05 Z71 (that's a whole other thread though!) by driving around with the spare on for a while, to see if I got an error.

The spare removal is pretty straight-forward, but I did learn some valuable things in the process:

1. Check the air in your spare regularly! (Mine was flat!) I actually checked and added air to the spare when I first bought my Avy a few months ago, but apparently that was the first time in a WHILE that air had been added, because after adding the air, the valve must not have been seating properly and all the air bled out. This was easily fixed with a new valve insert in the stem.

2. Using the correct end of the tire removal shaft-thingy makes a difference. Insert the OPEN end first into the access port for the cable release.

3. Stuff under trucks rusts. The cable looked pretty good, but the "second latch" was fairly rusted. A quick hit with a wire brush and some lithium grease freed it right up. (I also gave the cable itself a good soaking with WD-40, just for good measure!)

4. My Avy was manufactured in Feb. '05, and apparently does NOT have TPMS, as there was no error on the DIC while driving on the spare. This is actually preferable to me, because it means I won't have to buy more sensors for my new 20" wheels! 


So do yourself a favor, and if you haven't crawled under your baby in a while to check your spare out, do it now!! 

[ohiobellboy]

Good advice and a nicely written post.   Unfortunately my  spare rides in the bed.

[jma152]

Visually have checked mine but I will definalty look at the other things you mentioned. Thanks for this post may have gotten a flat and being very  had my spare been stuck or flat. One question on my 98 silverado the cable system was greased is this not true for the av, is this another cost cutter for gm.

[Badge767]

Visually have checked mine but I will definalty look at the other things you mentioned. Thanks for this post may have gotten a flat and being very  had my spare been stuck or flat. One question on my 98 silverado the cable system was greased is this not true for the av, is this another cost cutter for gm.

I can't speak regarding the Silverado, but I did notice that the cable take-up system under my Avy appears to be a pretty-well sealed unit.

The cable was rust-free, so it must be well protected while retracted onto the spool. The WD-40 treatment was really just to make me feel better about it.

[jma152]

Ok thanks for the info I'll look at mine this weekend.

[TIETANIC]

My dad never used his on his 1986 Toyota Pickup, then got a flat once a few years back.  The truck had to be towed and the dealer said it was so rusted in place that it would cost more to blow torch it out than it would to get another spare and keep it in the bed.

So now I take mine off once a year, get all the crud out of the rim and make sure everything goes back together nice.  It also gives you the added benefit of knowing how it works if you need to do it by the side of the road.

It took me a good 20 minutes alone to realize that the center caps on the 17" wheels don't just "pop off".

[Badge767]

It took me a good 20 minutes alone to realize that the center caps on the 17" wheels don't just "pop off".

Oh, I don't know...a long enough pry bar and enough force and I bet they'd pop off!!  

[tatange]

I wanted to check my spare, and use it for a tire rotation as well.  Just got my 03 in November, and love it.

Anyways, it had never been down, and I found out that the spring on the bottom of the holder was broken, so the release mechanism won't release.  It's better to learn this in my driveway than on a dark rainy road,

Also, the wheel was full of rocks, dirt, and rust.  On first look, I was worried about thew condition of the wheel, as it looked like it was rusted pretty bad.  I cleaned it up to get a better look, and found it was mostly surface rust.  A couple coats of tremclad, and it looks almost new.

[FLIPnAV]

2. Using the correct end of the tire removal shaft-thingy makes a difference. Insert the OPEN end first into the access port for the cable release.

   good call on which end to use.  got a flat friday the 13th and me and my brother spent a couple hours that cold and snowy night tryin to get the tire down.  had to come back the next morning only to be dumbfounded by how easily it came down realizing that using the open end (which makes total sense) was the key.  anyone know how the secondary lock thing works?  wasn't sure if jacking it up first helped any or not.  btw, also have an '05 without TPMS.

[Badge767]

  good call on which end to use.  got a flat friday the 13th and me and my brother spent a couple hours that cold and snowy night tryin to get the tire down.  had to come back the next morning only to be dumbfounded by how easily it came down realizing that using the open end (which makes total sense) was the key.  anyone know how the secondary lock thing works?  wasn't sure if jacking it up first helped any or not.  btw, also have an '05 without TPMS.

Yeah, if you look at the design, the secondary latch is sort of like a single-barb arrow, with the broadhead on a spring (if that makes sense).

When there's no upward force on the latching device, the inner "hook" part protrudes from the casing, and catches the bracket that houses the cable; thus preventing the spare from suddenly falling (in the event of a cable failure I suppose).

When you put pressure on the spare from underneath with the jack, it forces a pin (which is contained within that big spring on the bottom side of the rim, at the end of the cable) up into the latch, which releases the barb.

That's sort of a lengthy explaination, but it's difficult to describe that mechanism with words alone! 

Does that make sense?
 

[Ian Dozier]

Excellent info have.

[bamabucket]

I regularly check the air pressure in my tires and include the spare, but have never lowered it.  Making a dry run in your driveway is a very good suggestion that I'll be following.  I'll also have my wife participate in this dress rehearsal in case she has a flat when I'm not with her.  It certainly is better than reading about in the owner's manual before trying to do it at night in the rain on the side of the road, which would probably be when I would have to do it.  I'm old enough to remember the days when we had bias-ply tires, more frequent flats, and bumper jacks that made changing a flat on the sloped shoulder of a two-lane road a real challenge.  I'm thankful for the better tires and jacking systems we have today. 

[02 Z71]

This is all great information. The spare tire is something that is normally overlooked by many people as a part of regular maintenance. I also drop my spare tire at least once a year to check the tire pressure and the operation of the spare tire winch. I have had a few friends that have ended up stranded out it the middle of no where because their spare tire was flat.

I found out the hard way that you do not want to put a stock aluminum wheel as a spare tire if you live in the "salt belt". I purchased a extra stock 17" wheel and tire from another member to use as my spare tire rather than the 16" steel wheel that was provided as a stock spare. After 2 winters here is the salt belt the aluminum wheel was extremely corroded. I got run off of the road by a reckless driver and ended up hitting a rock with my right front tire which ended up damaging the rim and sidewall of the tire. Luckily the tire did not blow at that time and I was able to limp home. The next morning I dropped the spare tire to replace the damaged rim and tire only to find out that the aluminum wheel had corroded very badly.

[bamabucket]

I just realized that my spare may be mounted upside down.  I haven't had to lower it to check air pressure as some of you mentioned in this thread because the valve stem is accessable from under the vehicle.  I just lay on the driveway and reach under the spare to check the air pressure.  It makes it easy to check the pressure and I assumed it was supposed to be that way.  It must have been installed that way at the factory or the dealer had a flat and put it the spare back that way.  Could that cause a problem with the lowering procedure?  I guess I'll find out when I do the dry run.

[Flint4x4]

I'd think an aluminum wheel would corrode less than the stock steel spare. I've had an aluminum spare that sorta matches my AR Teflon wheels for 5 years. It is time to check it again if it gets a but warmer and alot less wet out. Maybe my aluminum spare has fared better in salt because I painted it black ?

[Badge767]

I just realized that my spare may be mounted upside down.  I haven't had to lower it to check air pressure as some of you mentioned in this thread because the valve stem is accessable from under the vehicle.  I just lay on the driveway and reach under the spare to check the air pressure.  It makes it easy to check the pressure and I assumed it was supposed to be that way.  It must have been installed that way at the factory or the dealer had a flat and put it the spare back that way.  Could that cause a problem with the lowering procedure?  I guess I'll find out when I do the dry run.

I mounted my spare stem-down (as it was when I bought the Avy).

I can't recall off the top of my head if that's the way the manual illustrates it, but the latching mechanism on mine seems to work just fine with the wheel oriented in this fashion.

I just assumed stem-down was the intended mount for ease of checking spare tire pressure.

[TIETANIC]

Mine came from the factory stem down and towards the back.

I must say they do have quite the swank setup for the tools though- mine even came with knitted gloves!  I always have trouble getting those tire chocks back on though with the hook.. I had to look at the diagram on here to get it back together right.

[bamabucket]

Thanks for the replies.  Stem down seemed logical to me for ease of checking the pressure without lowering the spare.  I'm probably way too compulsive about things like this.  It is raining very hard here as I write this so I hope today this isn't the day for my first practice. 

[Orin_Walker]

I picked up my 04 Avy last week and this is one of the first things I did. I hear too many horror stories of the tire having to be cut off or people losing their tire on the highway.

One question though, exactly how do you disengage the secondary latch? I know the manual says to stick the jack under it and jack it up, but wouldn't this pinch and wreck the cable? Is there something I'm missing here?

Anyways, when I realized my secondary latch was engaged, I crawled under and gave the tire a good shove and it just about came down on my head. Thank god for quick reflexes....

[Strobin'01]

Thanks for the info.  Will be checking the condition of the cables and such under the AV.  I am riding on my spare right now.  Got a nail in my tire yesterday, and have to get it fixed today.  Had my niece with me and all I heard yesterday was "your truck is ugly".  Nice 20" chrome rim in back and ugly black spare on the front. 

[TIETANIC]

One question though, exactly how do you disengage the secondary latch? I know the manual says to stick the jack under it and jack it up, but wouldn't this pinch and wreck the cable? Is there something I'm missing here?

The manual shows how to put the chocks under the jack and then jack it up to disengage the secondary latch.  This is the fancy (and without getting too dirty) way of saying just get under the truck and lift the spare up to take the pressure off the latch.  (Of course don't get under the truck while it is is ON the jack..)

[Trini]

Thank you for this post!  I am very avid on keeping up with my truck but I never maintain my spare After reading this I went to check it and sure enough it was flat.  You saved me a tow bill or the very least a big hassle.

 

[Shanes 02 Avalanche]

I also learned this lesson. I was getting ready to drive 1600 miles to my moms. I aired up all the tires and for some reason i decided to check te spare. It was down to 10Lbs. I was thinking well that would have done me no good. So I aired it up. The funny thing is I have a Brand new Geolander for a spare. it has been under the truck for 3 years and I never thought to check it. I checked the wifes also and she has a full size now in her Honda and iw at about 15lbs. I guess I should cheeck them more often.

[jtdchevy]

I try to drop mine down every six months. i spray lube the cable and check the tire. so far so good.  I have a friend that has a 2003 EXT. never took it down had a flat the other day tried to take it down its frozen wont move.  let all the air out of it thinking that would help.  it didn't  found out the rim had rust welded  itself to the bottom of the truck.

[Zakk]

Good advice and a nicely written post.   Unfortunately my  spare rides in the bed.

Same here, the place that put my dual exhaust on said they couldn't run it around the spare tire underneath, because of the skid plates. 

This is a good thread, I wish I had checked on my spare tire before I got stranded on the side of the road at one of my fishing spots from a flat tire. My spare tire release was broken, I was stupid not to check it out when I got the truck. Anyway, it definitely is a good idea to make sure you have what you need to put a spare on if you get a flat. Being stranded on the side of the road is no fun!

[coldwater-echelon]

Great advice, be sure to check the spare tire for you trailers too.  I just had a flat on my boat trailer and put my spare to good use.

[MooseAlanche]

Good advice and a nicely written post.   Unfortunately my  spare rides in the bed.

Mine is  around my waist 

[AVortec]

When I installed my duals, I took out the spare. It was good to familiarize myself with the operation of removing/installing the thing. It's a cool design on the crank part etc. While it was sitting in the driveway, I added a little air, applied some tire black dressing and even waxed the black wheel  Hey, all that and no one will see it. Actually it's more for protection from the winter coming up.

[Timmaaay4]

so my father in law and myself both tried to get our spares down today on my 06 z66 avy, and his 05 Yukon. on both trucks the cable would drop  and the tire would drop 3-5 ins. but we could not get the secondary lock off is the any other tricks to get it to come off? followed the instructions on the manual but no luck.


any help would be great.

Thanks

[Shanes 02 Avalanche]

I did not know they had a second lock. Mine just drops down to the ground. Check to see if your cables are getting caught or something. Either that or they changed the design from the 2002's.

[Flint4x4]

My '04 sling works about the same as my '02 did or my old Chevy S10, I've heard people mention a secondary catch/lock. I've also heard the spare wheel installed upside down on the sling won't release/gets caught, same thing ?

Outside of wheel goes towards the ground

[Morley]

Wish I scrolled upon this thread when I joined!!!

Last summer I thought that I should take down my spare and check it's pressure, just to make sure. Never got around to it. I've had the Avy for over a year now and never had the spare down.

Dec.22nd, I was heading to the airport to pick up a family member for Christmas. One the way, I decided to call my wife so she could call her cousin's mother, letting them know I may be late getting to the airport. You follow?

I bought a pair of scissors for $85.00 .  Nice scissors too. All steel, just like your teacher would have had. 6 inches in length. The only problem I had with said scissors is when I picked them up. The $85.00 was for roadside assistance from a local tire shop. The scissors entered my tire while crossing a set of train tracks, and sunk in right to the handles. No way could I get my spare off.

I spent a couple days going to my brother in law's shop, hoisting the Avy and soaking everything with a rust buster. Nothing! By the end of day two I had run out of options and took the angle grinder he had sitting on one of the workbenches.

My wife says that I am more redneck than ever now as my spare is strapped to my roof rack, a scissor length behind my "jacking"/roof lights.

~Morley

[Flint4x4]

Last summer I thought that I should take down my spare and check it's pressure, just to make sure. Never got around to it.

I didn't get to mine again this fall either,

hope I don't lose a game of rock, paper, scissors   

[Fleetwood_Captain]

I can 2ND the motion for checking your air pressue in your spare tire.

I had an experience once with my 92' Fleetwood.  It was after getting my first and only blowout on the highway.  After visually checking my spare in the trunk and thinking it had enough air because it looked and felt full, I threw it on the hub and lowered the jack and was shocked to find that it was practically airless.

The thing i'd like to know about spares is how to prevent the eventual dry-rot problem.  Normally after 10-15 years riding underneath a truck, a spare tire can start to look pretty grisley.

[Flint4x4]

The thing i'd like to know about spares is how to prevent the eventual dry-rot problem.  Normally after 10-15 years riding underneath a truck, a spare tire can start to look pretty grisley.

10-15 years is way too long, nothing much you can do to prevent rubber from breaking down. Maintain air pressure, maybe take it off and spray it with Armor All once in a while will slow down the deteriorization. I have a 1994 S10 Chevy with under 50,000 miles, I hate to think what the original spare tire would look like today. (somebody stole my spare so it got replaced once). Wife drives my old '94 S10 Chevy since I got an Avalanche in 2001, all 5 tires are about due for replacement although they have like 97% of the tread left   

Inspect/(replace if it looks questionable) the spare tire when you buy new tires. Tire stores will practically give you an off-brand tire of similar tread for your spare when you drop the $$$$ for 4 tires if you ask.

[MooseAlanche]

I guess the ideal thing would be to have the spare tire and rim match the rest of the tires and rims on the vehicle and include it in the rotation schedule. This would  be more costly though.

[Vaeagleav]

I guess the ideal thing would be to have the spare tire and rim match the rest of the tires and rims on the vehicle and include it in the rotation schedule. This would  be more costly though.

That rotation might work on an older AV but the new ones have tire pressure monitors and having five sensors may throw things off, as it is now with 4 sensors they have to be reset when you rotate the tires in order to function properly.

[MooseAlanche]

That rotation might work on an older AV but the new ones have tire pressure monitors and having five sensors may throw things off, as it is now with 4 sensors they have to be reset when you rotate the tires in order to function properly.

If the spare tire had the Air Pressure Monitor sensor could it be programmed into the computer? This would alert you if the spare is going low  just a thought.

[Shanes 02 Avalanche]

I just got my 5Th rim, so now I have a matching set. Now I need to buy a matching tire for the 5Th one. Then when I rotate my tires i rotate the spare with it. My friend does this with his Landcruiser. This way all 5 tires are worn the same and he knows the spare tire works.

[Flint4x4]

just the reminder here works if anyone reads it and checks thier spare   

[Senor Plata]

Nice sunny 55 degree day in the NW so I lowered mine and checked it out.  Looks like the original tire.  Lots of tread, used at least once since there were rocks embedded in the treads.  I checked the pressure and it was about 5 psi low so I pumped it up to what the door tag recommended.  It definitely is more difficult to align the tire holder on pulling it back up when parked on an incline.

[JVZL1]

Thanks for this thread .
I dropped the spare and WD it all.
Some thing is not right the spare tire side
walls have worn places from the bed of the AVY  .
Has any one else experienced this.
I'm going back to check the manual and see what
tire size it should be and match it against what is there.
So beware.
JV

[Badge767]

Spring is finally getting here...time to do the "Spring Spare Tire Check" routine!

[marzahld]

I checked mine 2 weeks ago and it was inflated to a whopping 17 PSI!  ;-)    Guess I need to check it more often...