Spare tire storage, and changing a tire
Since I needed to take off the front wheels to replace the kingpin springs to
fix my death wobble, I figured this would be a good time to rotate the tires, and test out the gear and process for changing a flat -- massive failures on several levels.
First, the spare tire carrier defeated me. I eventually used the jack on the carrier (4) to hold the tire up while I did battle with the screw (5) that keeps the tire in place.
I tried to imagine my daughter doing this by the side of the road, in muddy or snowy conditions. There has to be a better way. Has anyone developed a better mechanism for holding the spare under the bed? I know some folks mount them on the bumper, but we use the doors all the time, and that would be massively inconvenient. Some talk about mounting them on the door, but that's a lot of weight on a structure not designed to handle such weight. Front bumper would interfere with the radiator, and look like ****. I've seen roof mounts, but this truck is already top heavy enough. I think under the bed is the right place, but surely there must be a better way... Has anyone tried using the cable & windlass approach Chevy uses on other vehicles?
Once I got the spare out, I cleaned off the decades of mud and rock that had accreted to the upper side of the wheel. The tire looks like it has never been used. I drove on it for a few miles, and the newly-appeared sidewall cracking makes me think it might be original equipment. Failure number 2, clearly a candidate for near-term replacement.
The third failure was with my 24V impact wrench. The documentation says it's rated for 380 lbs of torque. Ha! It can neither break loose a lug nut, nor torque one to 140 lbs. I used a breaker bar for the former, and a torque wrench for the latter. Once the impact wrench had given its all, the torque wrench needed another 1/4 turn to torque the lug nuts to 140 ftlbs. I'm debating whether the torque wrench is useful enough to keep in the truck. We'll see...
The fourth failure was that the rear wheel was rusted to the truck. No amount of pounding, kicking, levering, lowering and raising would break it free. So I put the lug nuts on a little loosely and drove it back and forth a couple of times, braking vigorously. That broke it free. I cleaned up and treated the rust. Had the tire been flat, I don't know what I'd have done... Probably use a can of fix-a-flat to get it inflated enough to drive on it so I could break it loose. Yuck!
The fifth failure was the jack. The truck came with a 6-ton bottle jack with a flat round head on the ram. Not cool. It was enough to lift the truck onto blocks, but I'd not ever use it without a wheel on the truck. Clearly another candidate for near-term replacement. What do CUCV owners carry for a jack one might use to change a flat by the side of the road? This jack/stand combination looks interesting, though perhaps more cheaply made than I'd prefer, but is there a better option? I'm looking for something effective that's also compact enough to live in the truck.
Changing tires is quite a project in my driveway on a sunny day. I hate to think about my daughter doing it at night in inclement weather in the mud. If there are mods to make this easier, I'd love to learn about them. I did search... As it stands now, I'd tell her to call StateFarm if she gets a flat. AAA doesn't service trucks this big, so I got StateFarm's RV roadside assistance service. Compared to the big RVs they service, the CUCV is easy.
I appreciate any suggestions from those with MV experience. I'm making progress with this truck, and learning a lot, but it seems I have a long way to go.
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