I have a 2007 Yukon Denali with a stuck spare tire secondary latch. I have tried everything that was recommended in the Owner’s Manual (What a novel concept) to release it with no success. Short of replacing it, does anyone have any ideas?
Happy Memorial Day to all of you Vets out there (I are one too). Let’s not forget that this holiday is a lot more than just a day off.
Does the manual mention anything about using the jack and wheel blocks that came with the vehicle?
Tester
Yes and I tried it. I just sprayed the dickens out of the latch with WD-40. I’m going to let it sit for a couple of hours to see if that will help.
WD 40 is a good start. If it doesn’t work, try something like “Liquid Wrench” too. Folks here seem to like the PB Blaster product for unsticking stuck and corroded bolts as well. On really stubborn ones you might have to apply it several times over the course of two or three days.
What works best of all is a torch. Cut it out and replace the mechanism.
Look at YouTube and see several videos there ( I’m still watching some )
They’re taking off the license plate to access throught the bumper.
One GM guy here said that if you ever get it down…to not winch it up all the way tight or it’ll do that. I wonder if that’s what already happened.
( Memorial day for us is a busy day at the cemetary )
Thanks everyone. My solution was to cut the ears that actually hold the tire up, with an acetylene torch and i’ll replace the mechanism. Before I install the new mechanism I’m going to cut the clip on the safety mechanism so that I will never be troubled by it again. What a stupid design. Whatever GMC pays the nitwit engineer that came up with this, is way too much. Can’t imagine having to struggle with this while parked on the side of a highway. Doesn’t sound very “Safe” to me.
I’ve suffered the very same problem and cursed the very same engineer…
That said, the device is designed so that if the cable fails the tire doesn’t fall off the truck a smash into a following car. Imagine that carnage THAT could cause! I applaud them for trying and curse them for the solution they chose.
The GM guy that said not to winch it up all the way doesn’t know how it works. You’d have to leave the thing hanging several inches down for that little trick to be effective. The the banging of the flopping spare would likely drive you crazy and the cable would likely fail dropping the tire to the pavement.
Drop the spare down and grease the latch with lithium grease periodically. Yeah, this is a pain but so is torching the winch and shelling out $140 for a new one or having your truck towed because you can get the @#$% spare dropped to change a flat.