By Diesel on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 05:25 am: Edit

Does anyone know what the cost of a replacement spare tire carrier is, and where to find one. Two of the three retaining lugs bolts were stripped by the previous owner after changing a flat tire.

Thanks in advance,
Diesel
'97 XD

By Joshua Bova (Jbova) on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 06:16 am: Edit

I just looked at mine, it seems that you should be able to press the old ones out and replace them. Try taking the mount off the truck and use a vice and a couple pieces of wood to press them out. Then go to an autoparts store and see if they have replacements. Then press them back in.

-josh

By Diesel on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 07:11 am: Edit

I just went out and looked at the lug bolts again. They appear to be welded in place. I could grind the welds, take out the old bolts and replace them with new bolts, however I don't have access to a welder. If you have any other ideas, feel free to let me know.

By Ron on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 07:41 am: Edit

Diesel,

If this is the way it is you should be able to grind off the old studs and JB weld new ones in. Since the only purpose of the JB weld will be to prevent it from spinning it will be plenty strong. You will want the push in style with the flange behind it. I have seen this done on series hubs (ie the ones that have wheels spinning on them) and there have been no failures so I think the spare holder would be more than fine.

Ron

By Ron on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 07:42 am: Edit

PS JB weld is an epoxy product like steel avaiable anywhere walmart, auto stores etc

Ron

By Tom Proctor on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 07:50 am: Edit

Diesel,

Well, you could:
- grind the tack welds,
- knock out the stud,
- clean up the hole,
- insert a bolt from behind,
- lock the bolt in place with a nut

Measure the stud to figure out how long of a bolt to get. You'll probably need one a little longer so you can put backing washers in between the nuts/bolt-head and the carrier. You'll also need the longer length to offset the additional nut used to lock down the bolt(s). You might also want to torque them down and use a high strength loctite appropriate to the bolt diameter.

Good as new? Hard to say, as they might spin in place when you try to tighten down the spare wheel nuts. At which point you'll need to tack weld them... You should be able to get the bolts tacked in place for a few dollars. and save yourself the aggrivation.

BTW, While you have the rear door trim panel off, it's THE perfect time to install the CB antennae on the spare tire rack!!!

Tom P.
96 Disco

By Bill B on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 07:55 am: Edit

This may be obvious, but are they so bad that they cannot be re-tapped?

By Ron on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 08:04 am: Edit

And how exactly do you strip those bolts, I am lucky if I can get the wheels off with the stock wrench.

Ron

By Diesel on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 10:24 am: Edit

Ron,

I am not sure how the bolts were stripped, but I do know that the tire was changed at least once when the previous owner got a flat. I make a habit of hand threading the nut all the way before I use that wrench.

Tom,

I have been thinking about that CB antennae. Maybe it will be an additional project while the rear door is disassembled...as you said.

Thanks for the advice,
Diesel
'97 XD

By Diesel on Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 03:00 am: Edit

Does anyone know what the exact size of the spare tire carrier lug bolt is? I am going to try and retap the bolt.

Thanks,
Diesel