I have a 1996 F350 crew cab powerstroke. With now having two bad shoulders at 65, I can no longer manually lower or raise the spare tire and carrier bracket while lying on my back under the truck. Ford later went to the hoist system for lowering/raising the spare tire but I don’t see any way to install one on my truck -especially with the second factory gas tank installed between the bottom of the bed of the truck and the spare tire. Any ideas on how to modify what I have? Thanks

 

very first thing i did with all my trucks was cut the spare tire off it, and put it in the bed.

 

Since I haul a camper, the spare in the bed has never worked long term for me.

On my 72 & 78, I put a bracket on the front bumper for it. On the 78 when heavy hauling, I began to have heat problems so had the tire shop put the spare back up under the bed when they changed out tires for me. They had no problem doing it and didn't charge me for it.

On my 87 with the 460, I got it down and found the exhaust had burned a hole in it and it was useless. Had it towed in, (I have always carried road side assist and towing on my insurance policy), and the tire shop put a replacement spare up there for me , after they replaced the stud I broke getting it down, and I later installed a heat shield.

On my 96 PSD I've never had to use it. Came close, but with green slime and a portable compressor I've not had to change a tire. I figure if I do, I'll have the tire shop put the spare back up in place when they repair or replace the flat that I had to take it down for to start with.

The 2011 F350 dually has the hoist system, but I have no intention of ever having to use the thing to lift a tire up into place. If I do and something goes sideways, I still have roadside assistance, so really it is a non issue for me. In the case of a flat, the tire shop will put it back in place after they fix or replace the bad tire that I had to drop it for to begin with.

The one thing I do do...I use Fluid Film to lube the heck out of any and all moving parts and anything with threads down there that has anything to do with the tire carrier. Failure to do so and go for a year, you won't have to worry about putting it back up, because you won't be able to get it down. If you do get it down you'll probably break something doing so. I'm in the wet part of Oregon so if you are in the desert or no / little rain-snow areas, this may not apply to you.

 

Thanks for the information- I don't want to carry the spare in the bed so I'm thinking that if there is enough room, I might try to fabricate a heavy duty support bracket to mount a factory hoist...…...

 

i bought a 1995 F250 with a truck camper and the previous owner put the spare on the roof of the truck camper. I did not like this so I bought the original OEM tire carrier and have installed it. The tire fits up against the gas tank. I was wondering if the spare should be pulled up snug against the gas tank as it rubs when the car bounces or if the bracket is intened to be suspended between the 2 bolts that hold it up. Any advice is welcome

 

Mine is touching the rear gas tank. It does not rub on the sides. It is the original tire size.

 

I believe my 96 has always been extremely close to or possibly even in contact with the rear gas tank. It pulls up pretty snug. It's been taken down several times by Ford and a couple of times by Les Shwab Tire Centers, but I've never had to take it down myself.
Pictures are not very good because I don't have a rack to get it up on and there isn't much room to the sides or back to get the camera lens in there, but here are a few that might give you an idea. This tire has been in the 'rack' for nearly 250,000 miles.
Again, mine is a 1996 but I don't think there is a bit of difference between the 95 and the 96.

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If there is any gap, it isn't any more than a playing card width.

 

Thank you very much. This has answered my question.