Spare Tire Storage Issue

I've been meaning to ask this question for some time now. I pulled my OEM spare and noted that it was rubbing against the fuel tank, which I don't think can be a good thing. As I recall, I don't believe anything is missing in regards to the spare tire assembly. Would there be another part that goes under there to prevent this abrasion?


Also learned something today! When one tries to install their new 31" spare tire as pictured on the left, it does not quite work when you have exhaust as shown in picture on the right. Please note special tool underneath! I knew there was a good reason to re-do my exhaust...

 

been there! done that!
no there is nothing missing. that's just the way it is. I too am considering whether to even put a spare on my custom truck. new gas tank, nice and shiny with new paint, it just feels wrong not having a spare

Thanks Mat! I've got to figure something out for this!

Machspeed wrote

Thanks Mat! I've got to figure something out for this!

John, what about placing a nice clean floor smooth mat [inexpensive] between the top of the spare and the gas tank?

If everything is tight the tire should not move.
Dave  ----

I am working on adding the under-tank spare tire carrier to Rocky, so I've been collecting the various details on it. One comes to mind here:



Ford is explicit in the Owner's Manual that the spare tire must be attached tightly to the point of noting that if the spare loses tire pressure over time, it could cause problems. I can't find it, but I'm fairly sure they note this in the factory service manual as well. I believe they intended the spare to be held tightly enough in the carrier that it wouldn't rub.

That said I could easily see how a pad of 1/8" neoprene above the spare could be a good add-on. I mean, nobody's ever going to see it, but it would help take up any gaps (and I'm a big fan of neoprene lol)

 I have never had an issue with these other than not wanting to scuff a show finish.
I have these on all of my trucks. they are a pain to deal with. and even more so in the rain, snow, or almost any weather. let's be honest. I see so many loose hangers on trucks going down the road. the last two f150s through here this week both were that way.
i have thought about adding a 1x2 square tubing to the tank straps to hold the spare a little off the tank that could also have a glued strip if rubber, poly, neoprene etc . one thought is to cut two strips from a 2'x2' floor mat and glue that on the channels. it would compress as you tighten and hold well while staging the tire off the tank.  

Mat, I will agree with you. I have been lucky in the 18 years I will have owned Darth this April. One on the road flat, actually a blowout of the left outside dual at 75 mph going around Salisbury MD returning from my son's house in Falling Waters WV. My nice solid running board rear mount saved the dually fender from carnage and I was able to pull far enough off on the right side that I was clear of the right travel lane.

Since Darth has a deep V5 receiver integrated into the bumper the first item was to get the spare off. I used the jack to raise the right rear enough that I could get the spare tire carrier down and the wheel and tire off.

This wasn't fun between the weight and size so I decided some improvements were in order, more on that later. With the tire off, I reconnected the tire carrier, lowered the jack and set about getting the blown tire off. Using my large cross wrench, after removing the wheel nut covers, I broke all 8 of the 9/16-18 nuts loose, then jacked up the left end of the axle under the area between the spring U-bolts. With it raised enough, I removed the nuts and wrestled the wheel off and rolled it out of the way, then rolled the spare over and coaxed it over the studs. Started all the nuts without the fake chrome wheel trim and snugged them, lowered the truck and tightened them as well as I could without a long breaker bar.

In the interest of expediency, I simply stuck the bad tire behind the load I had in Darth and left it there, stowed the jack and handle.

Now, I found as I was getting the tire off the carrier that the large plastic "universal" retainer Ford used on these is a royal pain to get aligned on the dually wheel as it mounts bowl down onto the carrier bar and wants to go everywhere you don't want it to as you attempt to capture it. Retainer:

I decided that since the retainer has a small convoluted lip for the dually rims, I would take the carrier bar off, attach the wheel to it and put a pair of bolts and nuts as guide pins for the wheel.




This makes wrestling with the tire a bit easier, particularly when trying to keep it centered while raising the carrier bar back up.

one point for everyone to keep in mind. not all receiver hitches give good clearance for the socket the jack handle fits into. don't just have a hitch installed or install one without checking this point. i caught it when installing one 25 years ago and realized how easily it could be to not catch it. that hitch was being put on and it blocked the area, so another brand was chosen instead. i don't know the brand as it was a long time ago

1986F150Six wrote

John, what about placing a nice clean floor smooth mat [inexpensive] between the top of the spare and the gas tank?

Living in the rust belt I wouldn't want anything that could trap any more gunk.  Sure, it can get along the edge where the tire meets the tank, but I think adding a mat would allow a lot more stuff to accumulate

85lebaront2 wrote

....  Now, I found as I was getting the tire off the carrier that the large plastic "universal" retainer Ford used on these is a royal pain to get aligned on the dually wheel....

I think those a royal pain no matter what.  I don't use it anymore.  It's a little trickier to balance the tire on the bar when lifting it up, but I only ever do that in the driveway using a floor jack, so that's not that bad.

Good point, except Darth's was on the truck when I bought him in April 1994.