87 Ram 50 Sport - Labor of Love - Restoring the first vehicle I owned 25 years later!

[SubGothius]

Pretty sure the factory jack and spare tire tool/handle is behind the seats and I think I need that squared off head of the tool to lower the spare carrier? I looked at it from underneath and was going to pull it when I took off the factory's and was like WTF is this setup lol. Some very light reading on here, I saw a poster mention they were looking for the factory jack and handle so they could drop their spare under the bed.

The factory jack and handle/tool would be mounted under the seat(s) towards the rear. The handle/tool has a pair of opposed "wings" at one end that slot into the spindle of the chain hoist for the spare tire, via a hole just under the center of the tailgate above the license plate. That chain is hooked to the spindle at one end and a bracket at the other end, which just hooks into the center of the spare wheel. Then you use the tool to turn the spindle, wrapping the chain around it to hoist the spare up into place, where AFAICT friction alone holds it there.

[lithonius]

The factory jack and handle/tool would be mounted under the seat(s) towards the rear. The handle/tool has a pair of opposed "wings" at one end that slot into the spindle of the chain hoist for the spare tire, via a hole just under the center of the tailgate above the license plate. That chain is hooked to the spindle at one end and a bracket at the other end, which just hooks into the center of the spare wheel. Then you use the tool to turn the spindle, wrapping the chain around it to hoist the spare up into place, where AFAICT friction alone holds it there.

The wealth of knowledge from this forum is incredible. Thank you!

Here's an interesting thing I came across, now on the subject of the spare tire and OEM size(s). Just snapped a pic of the factory spare underneath just to sort of document the spindle and chain setup you're referring to.



My OEM Yokohama Radial 360 (aka Y360?) is a P205/75R14 which aligns with their offerings depending on model/options as you mentioned. My VIN plate shows a P195/75R14 - I would think my spare would match the VIN plate. Is it possible the spare was at some point changed to an identical model Yokohama with a larger width to a 205? Sure. Knowing the full history and ownership of the truck, I doubt it and think this is how it was sold new. Maybe they are all this way, I'm sure someone smarter than me on the subject can chime in or check their truck VIN tag and factory spare.



Just some more shots of the spare P205/75R14. I was thinking of buying 4 new OEM ones, but having trouble finding this size in the Radial 360 or any Yokohama for that matter - it seems to have been discontinued? The P/N# for that Yokohama is YOK-110136041 which seems to cross-reference now to a "MOPAR tire" with P/N# T110136041. Wonder what would arrive in the mail?
https://www.moparpartsgiant.com/part...110136041.html

Some more shots of the OEM spare -



While I was down here figured I'd show a little of the underside



Tried a product to remove some of the oxidation from the wheels to get them ready for some new rubber, didn't work as well as I expected but still was neat to watch them bleed a little . I think I'll just have to break out some S100 polish and get my time in on them. I figure all this dressing up of the stock wheels with some new tires will somehow make the truck look a little better in the garage, at least so I can keep lying to myself that it's not as bad as it looks from afar. Going for the looks-good-20ft-away angle until I start getting serious on what really needs to be done. EVERYTHING



AFTER -