I've had my SD for almost 6 years and never checked the spare. its one of those things i always said i need to do but always forgot. well i got my first flat the other day and went to use the spare. luckily i was in my driveway. apparently Ford thinks these spares are worth locking up. they have a "key" which is like a socket with a soda machine key on the end. its supposed to be in the glove box. well mine wasn't and i am 99% sure never was because i would have seen something like that for sure. theres a little jar of touchup paint and a manual for every other friggen thing in there but no key for the spare. so i call ford and they said they need the VIN and $107 for this f ucken thing they didn't give me with my $40k truck. i argued with them and they agreed to give it to me for cost, which was $56 bucks. about $51 more than its worth. so i get the thing and am able to crank the spare down and live happily ever after. but, if you have a Ford truck, you ougtta check it out before you really need it.

Actually. . . . The parties at fault for your
dellema are
Your salesman
and the make ready department
In that order
The make ready department checks every vehicle
received at that dealer for anything damaged or
missing, and is supposed to make a claim for
anything found out of order. Having and using a
detailed and complex checklist for new stock units
is pretty much standard for any dealership of any
make of car. If something is wrong or missing,
they screwed up.
But the bottom line is that your salesman is the
one person responsible for your satisfaction with
whatever you bought. They're supposed to spend a
good deal of time with you going over every aspect
of your newly purchased vehicle, and answering any
question you may have
I know. I know. . . in today's world , they sold you a
car and got their commission and they could care
less about you now

ya i agree. he did spend some time with me but the truck came from another dealer out of state so who knows where the problem was. this dealership is actually pretty good as dealerships go. if it hadn't been almost 6 years since i bought it, i may have pitched more of a bitch to get a freebie. but i needed a friggen key. they always send a survey and that will be duly noted. not that they probably even give half a schit. they make serious money from several brands.

I went through this same ordeal. I bought my truck to the Dublin GA Ford dealer and the parts guy went out to the truck with a box that had 12 different socket keys in it. He figured out which one I had and ordered the key socket and a week later it was in. Cost was only $21.00, your dealer is screwing you.

A bad survey can mean your job
That's why most dealers have those
little gals with the sweet voices to
call you and make sure you're satisfied
before you send in your survey.

Unfortunately these days most dealers
are owned by investment groups and
not some individual that's been in the
car business for decades

The kind of people I started working for
at the Ford new car dealerships I started
working at had all been in the business
for several decades and knew what they
were talking about and genuinely cared
about their customers and cultivated
repeat business in all departments.
Nowadays, their concerns are making
the sale and selling financing and add ons
and nothing else
If a salesman that waited on you is still
working there when you come back, it'll
be a small miracle. It'll probably be a
small miracle if there's not a "UNDER NEW
MANAGEMENT/OWNERSHIP " banner
hanging out front

A can of Fix-A-Flat and a plug kit would have saved you a lot of aggravation.

Same thing happened to me, 2015 F250 and I was out hunting. Turned into a 2 day [bleep] show

I had a flat on my 2006 and if not for the manual I would not have figured out what was wrong... Mine was in the glovebox and luckily other than that experience I have not needed it since...

I’ve changed flats three times out in the brush on my F250 diesels through the years. Never had an issue with the wheel lock. The potential problem is the jack. I carry a 4’ Hi-Lift and a 3’ long 2”x12” to provide a solid support base for the jack. For anyone going off pavement, carry the Hi-Lift and the 2”x12” for support.
Since changing to Hankooks, no flats have occurred. Thanks to Sam Olson for the recommendation on the Hankooks. 👍

https://hi-lift.com/hi-lift-jacks/

Where do you hook a Hilift on the front of a pickup under 30 years old.
Bullrack or stepbars? Maybe. Certainly not on any OEM metal.

Bumper on the rear and tow hook on the front. All OEM on my trucks.

And you're blaming Ford? Geez...........

Some of you need to remember the Boy Scout motto!

i had that but did not use it because it was in the driveway. i just pulled it and took it to the tire place with my lesbo-mobile. but if i had been out in the woods, i'd gunked the schit out of that thing and fired up my little compressor and sat there for an hour waiting for it to fill.

i knew there would be one of ya.

ya i know and readily admit it. but the fact of the matter is there was no friggen key from the get-go. i posted this as a PSA. seems like i'm not the only one who had the issue.

and yes, i was a boy scout..

The wheel locks are shipped in the same bag as the remote and spare keys.

All my vehicles have fix-flat, plugs, and a decent compressor. On rough mountain paths, one spare isn't enough.

My 2018 F150 requires my ignition key to unlock the spare.

Must have been a few complaints.

You have had a vehicle for 6 years and never checked the spare. That is hard for me to comprehend.
Too bad you weren't in Boy Scouts.
The motto is "Be Prepared."

2015. mine has a hole in the bumper and that you put the jack rod into with the key on the end. why theres a lock is beyond me. should just lower with the notch thing on the end of the jack rod. i also have a compressor, 4way and even a floor jack in the bed. i am buying a junkyard wheel today and putting an old tire on it and keeping it in the bed. two is one, one is none.

reminds me, i need to throw a cheater pipe in there too. those friggen air tools crank those bolts down to tight.

A lot of vehicle manufacturers aren't including even the little temporary spares and jacks anymore in new vehicles as they are an extra cost option now. Instead they come with a small compressor and liquid tire sealant.

thanks for the judgement. now go f uck yourself.

I was a boy scout,,,,,, And I recently checked the spare on my almost 12 year old Tacoma for the first time in years. Couldn't crank it down but was able to get it free with a breaker bar. Think the internals on that crank mechanism got rusted or something. Sprayed the hell out of it with penetrating oil and cranked it up & down a few times. Works fine now. Shouldn't ignore those things for years at a time in a northern climate where rust and winter is more of a problem. Now I will be prepared in the event of a flat.

I think it was in 2005 that Ford came up with that great idea. Who in the heck steals a spare tire? A 20 volt 1/2" impact wrench will work to take the tires off.

Many are likely guilty of assuming everything is fine, til we need it.

Anyone ever experienced a low/flat spare?

I have a 2010 chevy PU... I think I saw a spare one time when I was looking under my truck. I have replaced the original tires once.. but not the spare. does it need replaced at the same tine also???

At 10 years old, dry rot would be likely enough I would not rely on that tire for more than limping duty. Old tires don't hold up well to heat (i.e. load and speed over time).

I’m in the plug kit camp, though I understand what you’re saying about it being in your driveway and that makes sense.

My uncle gave me a high zoot Blackjack plug kit a few years ago for Christmas and I keep it, a 12v compressor, and a giant can of Slime brand fix a flat in a snap top box under my back seat. I haven’t put a spare on since I started carrying that kit and most times don’t even bother going and getting it patched afterward as long as it isn’t leaking. Plugged one in the Happy Valley airstrip on the north slope of the Brooks range one time and drove it all the way back to Anchorage and then for another year and a half before it was time for new tires.

But I will check now that you mentioned it just to make sure. Mine’s a 2019 and I don’t know if it’s the same but it’s worth a look to be sure. Thanks for the heads up.

You're really supposed to include your spare tire in with tire rotations but I don't recall ever knowing anyone that said they did.

LOL.

If your dealer was gonna charge you $1200 plus labor to replace the battery... Just imagine what they would charge you for a new spare tire.

I don't know but it seems to me that tire sealants would / could mess with the electronic tire pressure sensors that are so common on newer vehicles nowadays.

..........I've checked it to ensure that it's not low or flat but I still could have been out on the roadside with a flat and unable to get my fully inflated spare off. I should have mentioned that the pressure has been checked but not the lowering mechanism.

I thought this thread would be about a backup AR from Palmetto State Armory.

What is wrong with you that you cant get over the battery thing?/ just because someone quoted me a stupid price on something dosent mean I took them up on it...get a life loser.

Yup. Handy at home and very valuable on the road.

Good reminder. Thanks. I need to check my ‘11.

As infrequently as one has a flat tire these days, it’s very easy to overlook.

Last flat was 4 years ago and that was on a trailer. Can’t recall my last vehicle flat.

I rotate tires twice per year (summer vs winter).

I need one of those 20 volt impacts. It be handy to have out on the road!

I bought my truck in November and have already used 3 plugs. I keep a plug kit, compressor and 2 ton scissor jack under the back seat. I do have the little locking lugnut tool in the bag with the compressor and plugging kit. I have not looked at the spare to make sure it doesn't require anything out of the ordinary.

Factory specs call for 150 to 165 lb/ft. on the torque wrench. My Milwaukee cordless goes on roadtrips with me now.

When I bought my '01 F250 SD, one of the first things I did was get the spare out from under the truck. I do seem to recall it was a bit of a puzzle.

I just don't like the spare where it's hard to get to, especially off pavement, in the mud, snow, or whatever. Mine lays in the bed of the truck.

Wheel locks of all flavor are a huge pain in the fugking ass.

I rank them right up there with the Obama Gas Cans.

Put the hi lift under the front tow hook on a 99 chevy once. Damned thing was cast. It broke before the front tire cleared the ground.

On the rear, I always jack from the receiver hitch frame.

Actually, the hood rats around here steal quite a
few spares, made easier by the flimsy spare tire
winch set up. They don't bother to crank it down,
just snip the end of it off with bolt cutters, then
you not only have to buy a new spare wheel and
tire, but a new winch as well.
The winch idea comes courtesy of the nosy
gubmint through their weight and fuel savings
mandates, just like the extinct vent windows .
Of course you know that for many decades truck
spare tires were mounted underneath
the rear of the truck on a simple easy to manufacture
rail that would last pretty much forever plus 3 days.
Lots of things the gubmint fiddles with that negatively
impacts the end user. Probably the biggest thing
I can think of is having to build a vehicle with
half of it in plastic that degrades instead of durable
and recyclable metal, thus taking up even more
scarce space in landfills.

I have the original spare on my 77 vette, I've been thinking of replacing it but it still holds air . It takes a door key to unlock.

Fuqk that... I would have raised so much he11 down there in the flesh they would have two choices either give me the fuqking key or wait for the man to arrive to arrest me.

Lolol....I thought the same thing. I just got another PSA lower for a backup to my backup AR and thought some other great minds had done the same. 😂.....nope, just a thread about spare tires. 😁. I keep Slime and/or a can of Fix-A-Flat and a compressor onboard all of my rigs. I’ve had great results with both. I don’t mess with the ridiculous spare tires, cheap jacks or the Chinese puzzle of unlocking them.

Several years ago my buddy and I did a suicide run to Neah Bay leaving my house early. We got to the boat launch and realized I had a flat in the truck. It was early Sunday morning and nothing was open on the Makah Indian reservation so we had to wait until the grocery store opened. We fixed the flat with Slime and small compressor that was part of the kit. I drove on those tires for another 2 years until I bought new tires.

I was towing the boat 2 weeks ago and got a flat in my Suburban. I used the can of Fix-A-Flat and the same little 12V compressor I bought at Neah Bay years ago. The tire held and this time instead of testing fate I took it to Les Schwab for a brake job and new tires.

I also have AAA RV plus for my wife, son and myself. I am double covered as far as the boat trailers and travel trailers go since BoatUSA and AAA cover the roadside assistance of my trailers too.

If I’m going into the back, back, backwoods or anywhere where a flat tire could mean serious trouble I’ll lash a full sized spare onto the roof rack and bring my floor jack and jack stands.....being prepared for the worst means that I won’t need the spare since the only things that break are the things that I’m not prepared to fix. 😂

$50 seems like a ridiculous amount of money for a socket “key” let alone $107 but what are you gonna do? However if you need it you need it and getting upset won’t help you get it. 😉

I suggest one auger his way into the workings and maybe weld on a 13/16 inch nut.

Didja check behind the rear seat in the plastic bag where some of the tools go? I've had 4 SD Fords since 2011 and that's where it's at.. FWIW, I will be removing the spare on my new F-450 within the next week and putting it in the bed where I can ensure the pressure's up and I don't hafta drop the danged thing in a rainstorn when ( not if) I have some flat somewhere...LOL

How about taking the truck to the retarded dealer, having them take off the retarded nut and replace it with a standard nut? Or would that be too simple?

Stop it!

I used to wear out a set tires every couple of years so I'd buy 4 tires and use one of my old tires for the spare. These days tires get old before I wear them out so I'll buy 5 and include the spare when I rotate them. I think 8 years is considered old.

I'm going truck shopping this fall and the Super Duty is on the top of my list. Is the lock needed to keep the spare in place or can you run without it?

8 years is old?

Damn, the Toyo M-55 255-85-16 E tires have been on my 96 GMC K2500 HD since 09. But I swapped the tires and aluminum wheels off from my 84 3/4 ton diesel where they had lived for a minimum of five years. That makes this set at least 16 years old with about 60K on the tread.

They are expensive, but I got my money's worth from them.

This.

=================

The 2013 nissan fronty has the long rod cranky winch deal. I check once/year and showed the family how it is done.

I also bought another steel wheeland mounted my best old tire on that. When i go into the back country it rides in the bed.

“Replacement spouts” on Amazon will fix the gas cans.

This video seems to hold some promise.

"That makes this set at least 16 years old with about 60K on the tread."

The mud tires on my '80 Chevy deer lease truck are 13 years old and still look almost brand new but I don't plan on driving them 75 mph on the highway.

According to my owner's manual, there is supposed to be a key, but I can't find it. I can raise and lower the spare just fine, so either mine is modified, or the key is locked in place at the winch inside the guide tube. Works for me either way.

At least you got a spare tire. Years ago, a guy I was supposed to meet was late due to a flat tire. His new Ford truck didn't come with a spare...it was an option, one he was not aware that he needed to specify as being wanted.