99 Grand Caravan spare tire

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by dan_prokosch, Feb 12, 2005.

  1. dan_prokosch

    dan_prokosch Guest

    Went to change a flat tire on my wife's 99 Grand Caravan yesterday,
    only to find that the spare wouldn't lower more than 6". the cable
    itself came out of the spindle (3 feet of it...), but I couldn't get
    the spare to drop. I tried spinning the spare and the spindle, but
    nothing I did could get it to drop. Any hints or tricks to this?
    thanks...
     
    dan_prokosch, Feb 12, 2005
    #1
  2. Yeah thats a bitch, same ting happened on my 2000 GC. It took a while to
    figure out, dealer will tell you that it has to be cut down. What happens is
    there is a safety lock mechanism on the winch. It locks the wheel up so that
    if the cable rusts and breaks the tire won't fall out from underneath. It is
    held up by a plastic rod which looks like large bolt. Go to the dealer and
    have the parts guy show you ALL the views of the winch assembly, you can get
    the spare down by spending a few hours underneath, prying and twisting at
    the lock mechanism. Then clean up the road dirt and lube the heck out of the
    cable and mechanism, preferably with a dry lube so it does not attract dirt
    easily. I wish I could explain it better, but I did this last winter and
    can't explain the exact procedure I used and its not in any manual or
    Caravan book I saw. I was not willing to pay the 150$ the dealer wanted for
    the part.

    P.S.
    Did you follow the procedure in the owners manual to drop the tire or did
    you just start cranking. If you don't do it right you will never get the
    tire down after cleaning up the lock mechanism anyhow. It is very specific
    on how to do it and after cleaning mine worked fine.

    regards
     
    Michael Bowden, Feb 12, 2005
    #2
  3. dan_prokosch

    jdoe Guest

    Had the same thing on my 99 T&C. Jack the rear of the vehicle up. Wind the
    spare "up". Now put your jack under the spare to support it's weight. Than
    "unwind it" now look up through the spare to the winch assy. You'll see a a
    latch. at the back (toward rear of car). reach in with a long screw driver
    and release it (move it towards rear of car). If you've uunwound the winch
    prior to this point you should be able to move the plastic holder downwards.
    Once you've done this you can now allow the tire to come down. Once the tire
    is down and off the cable remove the jack assy. 5 or 6 bolts. Odds are
    you'll see a piece of "wire" hanging or may have fallen out. You'll also
    seea spring clip (again either laying on ground or look at the assy. itself.
    It clips on the underside so when you unwind the unit it should pull the
    aforementioned latch to release the tire. If you fiddle enough you should be
    able to get it back into place. It is definitely rube goldberg. You could
    just attacha wire to the latch and keep it over the tire so you can release
    it manually or live dangerously and disable it all together. Or buy a new
    winch.
    Larry
     
    jdoe, Feb 13, 2005
    #3
  4. Another good reason to drive sedans over vans/SUVs...just lift the (clean)
    spare out of the trunk well.

    I do have a 1997 Caravan and hadn't noticed this partucular problem when
    I've needed to change a flat. Just generally cumbersome and a VERY dirty
    job since the spare tire is under the vehicle collecting all that road
    grime!
     
    James C. Reeves, Feb 13, 2005
    #4
  5. dan_prokosch

    mic canic Guest

    cut the cable and by a new wench
     
    mic canic, Feb 17, 2005
    #5
  6. dan_prokosch

    John Keith Guest

    Did you follow the procedure in the owners manual to drop the tire or did
    Seeing this discussion made me wonder about my wife's 2000 GC so last
    night I got the owners manual out and it says nothing about a latch,
    just the nut to lower the cable. Obviously I've never had to access
    the spare but I guess on the next warm day I better give it a try to
    find out what the real story is.


    John Keith
     
    John Keith, Feb 17, 2005
    #6
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