spare tire doesn't come down

[knitsafghans]

Trying to change tire (in blizzard but that's a long story). The cable came down but the tire did not come down with it. Gave up and drove home on rim (better than freezing to death and the tow wouldn't have come for 4+ hours) and now it's in the driveway. Any ideas for releasing it would be welcome.

[tj2000]

Originally Posted by knitsafghans

Trying to change tire (in blizzard but that's a long story). The cable came down but the tire did not come down with it. Gave up and drove home on rim (better than freezing to death and the tow wouldn't have come for 4+ hours) and now it's in the driveway. Any ideas for releasing it would be welcome.

Been there, done that about a year ago. There is a 'latch' mechanism at the top of the shaft that is holding up the tire. There is SUPPOSED TO BE a cable that hangs down from it (sometimes it gets tucked up in on top of the tire) that you can pull to release it. Mine fell off...... we ended up kicking the tire for all we were worth to get it freed from the latch, then before I replaced the spare tire, I replaced that pull cable with a thin braided wire cable and looped it all the way back over the inner most part of my tow bar (10-12inches). Once you get the tire off you will see what i have explained and it will all make sense.

Good luck.