Beakdown - Check to make sure you can get your spare tire down !

Highly recommend you make sure your spare tire lift and the jack handle work ... I Had to abandon my 2017 Tundra in back country because I got a flat tire and could not swap with the spare. The reason I could not swap the spare is that when I went to drop it down from under the Tundara, the spiral end of the crank that fits into both the Spare Tire lift hoist and the Jack literally twisted off. I did not reef on it that much before it twisted off. Could not figure out how to get the spare down with out the spiral crank.

It turned out that the lift hoist had frozen up. Toyota dealer was able to get it down with two men working on it for 20 minutes. Toyota dealer was really good about helping me and actually loaned me a spare so I could go back up and get my Tundra.

Not being able to get the spare tire down cost me a lost weekend and a lot of scrambling to get my family to safety and eventually getting my Tundra out of the woods.

Still love the Tundra but there were some serious lessons learned in this whole ordeal.

 

The factory jack was removed from my truck within a week of bringing her home. Piece of crap.
I have an 8t bottle jack, a 3t aluminum racing floor jack and the hi-lift in the truck now.
Many times in this forum have I recommended getting a jack and a spare that you can use and make sure they work.
Glad you made it home safe and your family is okay!

 

Concur, had to borrow a jack because the handle was twisted off. Bought 5 new tires all the same size and an alloy wheel that matched the 20" ones I have on the Limited. As part of this whole fiasco I learned the the original Tundra spare tire and wheel mounted underneath was not the same size as the other tires that came with the Tundra Limited. Also have added a six ton bottle jack, now carry the spare tire under my canopy with the new bottle jack, and the original Toyota jack with a new handle. Also added a 12v HD tire pump and two cans of Truck Fix-a-Flat and a flat repair kit that contains plug repair aids!

I am hesitant to put the spare back under the truck even though the lift now works with the new handle. I also added 3 short 2x6s to adjust jack height as needed. It actually took two different borrowed jacks to get the original flat off. It turns out that if you actually lift the truck on the recommended lift points you need a jack that can handle from about an 8 inches low point to over 18" high to get the fully aired up tire back on.

 

AAA

 

I had a quick snort when I saw this. Amen to that. Was on the road with dirt bikes in tow to Hebgen lake, Montana. Got a flat, pulled off the road, jacked the Tundra up, removed the lug nuts...and for the life of me I couldn't break the rim off of the rear hub. Kept at it, in sweltering heat and mosquitoes, until I felt my back give me that twinge of pain that said 'no you don't, or you won't walk for a week.' Called up the wife 1200 miles away and said....call and get AAA, as soon as they say we are signed up give them these GPS coordinates.

60 minutes later this tow driver (I am 220 and he dwarfed me) shows up and kind of snickers at me. A little while later, he is hot, swearing and finally goes back to his truck and gets some wood and a sledge. He was a little nicer to me after that, as I just smiled and said 'bugger to get off huh?'

As he drove off, my 14 yr old son waves and under his breath says the best line from the penguins in the movie Madegascar 'Smile and wave boys, smile and wave.'

https://youtu.be/DvYBZRwwGB4

 

Some things are just worth it!

 

You can put the jack under the LCA or under the axle. I wouldn't do this with the little pinner pad of bottle jack but do it quite frequently with a 3T floor jack when off road. The OEM LCAs are strong enough if the load is well displaced and not point loaded. Something like this will work.