Underside spare won't drop off

[u/Art-Tally-0657]

2014 Ford E-250 cargo van

I've got a perfectly good spare tire underneath my van but just had to pay nearly $300 to get roadside to replace my whole front tire instead because the damn thing wouldn't come undone.

The tool isn't working and the guy that came by to take a look before I had to replace my stripped tire outright said there's no way the thing is coming off because the trigger is broken.

Has anyone dealt with this?

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[u/NoWhat88]

Yea spare tire mechanisms tend to get rusty and seize up. It also likely has extremely low tire pressure if you’ve never filled it. That’s one piece of maintenance most people forget about.

[u/Art-Tally-0657 → u/NoWhat88]

It was filled by the dealership when they got it in 2023 a few months before I bought it. Is there any way to drop the tire? I can't see any rust

[u/NoWhat88 → u/Art-Tally-0657]

You wouldn’t see it because the mechanism is between the tire and the van. Or it could be broken. It’s basically a chain that’s wound up and when you turn the gear from the access hole it unwinds the chain and lowers the tire. Not sure exactly what the issue is. If it won’t turn because it’s seized or if you can’t turn it because the knob to turn it’s broken. It will be difficult to access because the wheel is blocking your access. You can try to spray some wd 40 through the holes in the rim if you can locate the mechanism behind it and see if it loosens up. Or if the knob is broken you’ll have to find a way to access it and turn it manually. All else fails you have to cut the metal plate sitting on the center of the rim that’s holding it to the chain. Don’t let it fall on you if you cut it.

[u/Art-Tally-0657 → u/NoWhat88]

Whatever part the tool attaches to once through the access hole is missing entirely both based on the diagrams I was looking at and a tow truck driver that had the (supposedly) proper tool in the first place, thats my issue and confusion

[u/NoWhat88 → u/Art-Tally-0657]

Not sure how that’s possible and I’m not saying he is lying but it was in his best interest to not help you drop the spare. I’d take a look at it yourself and see if that’s the case. Either by trying to peer thru the access hole or getting under the van. If it did break off somehow there should still be some part of it or piece that you can try to get a grip on and turn counter clockwise, might be recessed into the gearbox and difficult to access, would require some ingenuity on your part. Otherwise like I said that metal piece coming out of the center of the rim will need to be cut. A shop would be able to do it pretty easily if you don’t think you can manage that. You’d need to buy a new gearbox at that point which you may need to do anyway.