Somebody please tell me that I'm not reading the owner's manual
correctly! I hope this isn't true.
I decided that it's a nice, sunny day -- a good time to learn how to
use the factory-supplied jack and other tools to remove the spare
(from my '04 GMC 4x4), just like if I had a flat tire and had to
replace it with the spare. So I opened the owner's manual, found the
ten or so pages of instructions and cautions on how to get the jack
out, get the various rods and extenders and lug wrench/crank out of
the hiding place, and proceeded. The instructions told me to stick
the rods/crank through the little hole in the bumper and crank
counter-clockwise 'til the spare comes down on the cable. So I
cranked, cranked, and cranked some more -- 'til I noticed that the
wheel would only come down about three or four inches before it'd
stop its descent. HUNH?
So I read the next three or four pages of instructions and discovered
that this truck (evidently) has the secondary safety tire hold-in
device. Okay, now I'm ready to follow the instructions, which sure
seemed like they wanted me to balance the jack on top of the metal
wheel chocks, place this tinker-toy assembly under the center of the
wheel, then crank up, then crank down, and so on until the wheel
magically is free, free at last!
But it didn't come free, so I read another few pages -- and
discovered that (ready for this?) the secondary wheel hold-in
assembly is to be discarded and replaced after removal. The spare/
flat CANNOT be replaced using the original part!
What the heck? Remove the spare one time and then have to visit the
dealership to put the dang thing back in?
Any of you ever try this? Any of you ever figure out how the heck to
do it?
Jon Wennerberg
Seldom Seen Slim Land Speed Racing
Marquette, Michigan
(that's 'way up north)
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