Hey Scotty,
My 1999 Ford Ranger still has its factory donut under the bed and the mechanism still lowers it to the ground. The donut doesn't look like it's ever been driven on, and it's not dry rotted that I can see. I'm not sure if it holds air, as I've never checked it. It looks like it is rusted to the backet that retains it on the cable.
Would it be a good idea to replace the spare? I was at the junkyard the other day and I noticed that they had a few rims tossed around that match the wheels on my truck. I thought about replacing the donut rim with one of the junkyard rims, and making it a full size spare by buying a matching tire and having it mounted. I have never needed the donut, but it would probably be a good idea to make sure mine is functional.
How would I go about breaking the bracket free of the wheel? The tire spins on the cable, so it will probably just spin if I smack it with a hammer.
I think it is a good idea.
Full size spare is a great idea
If you can find a junkyard one that is newer than go ahead.
Good pics! Check this out, this will show you what should happen (you may have to do some tapping on the backside of the hanger to get it to come out:
https://youtu.be/COxbwHpEd9Y?t=263
I may be misunderstanding the setup, but if its just rusted to the bracket and you are able to lower it down, try tapping the rim with a hammer, going around the circumference of the rim. It should come loose if everything securing it is taken off. Maybe pics would help 🙂
Or, you could just leave it there. If you get a full sized spare (very good idea) it isn't going to fit under there anyway. You could secure it in the bed or just leave it loose back there, thats what I always did in my old trucks...the beds werent slick so it pretty much stayed in place. If it slides around then yeah secure it.
I did a little research and some measuring. The spare tire well in my Ranger will just barely accommodate the 245/75 R16 Kelly-Springfield all-terrain tires that I have on the four normal wheels on my truck. I took some pictures of the temporary tire that is under there. How do you get this thing off of the cable? I thought the retainer on the end threads on and off, but it's fixed to the end of the cable. Do you extend the cable a bit further, angle that retainer edge-wise, then pull it out of the hub? That's pretty much the only way I can see this working.
I found the tire's date of manufacture, 049, the last week of January, 1999. I found that this tire is a piece of unfortunate Ford and Firestone history. It's a Firestone Radial ATX 235/75 R15, the model which was partly responsible for the numerous tire-related accidents that the 1990s Explorers were known for.
pop the retainer out, and then turn is sideways to pass through the hole.
I got my full size spare put together, and I came across an issue I wasn't fully expecting. The spare tire well in the frame is just a bit too small to take the P245/75 R16 tire that I bought. I came up with my plan following another '99 Ranger owner's discussion in a Ranger forums that he got such a tire to fit in his.
I've been able to lift the new wheel up into the well so it's essentially flush with the bottom of the frame. Besides the obvious situation of the hoist cable snapping from the additional weight, or the mount bracket failing, are there any other potential issues with the spare not quite going up into the well? The tire is about 2" away from the last bend of the tailpipe, and the housing/ mount under the bed is in decent shape as far as rust. The tire doesn't move around when I try to shake it. If this is an unsafe arrangement, I plan on putting a cover over the tire and stowing it in the bed.
post a pic
Here's the current position of the tire. it doesn't rotate or swing around. There are a pair of contoured, spike-like extensions at the 2-10 o'clock positions of the spare tire well. they're likely guides for the small tire. If they weren't there, the tire would probably just fit right in. Should I grind them out, or is it fine/ unsafe as is?
The tailpipe positioning doesn't appear to be any cause for concern. I sat at the recycling center for 30 minutes stop and go today to responsibly dispose of the old wheel and tire, and The tire hardly felt warm after those conditions.
t