Spare Tire Winch Installation

Garrette · 06-03-2018, 09:20 PM

Finally finished my under carriage spare tire cable winch under my 2014 3170. I thought it came out well. I got the winch from Lippert with a long arm so I could cut to length. To drill the smallest hole possible on my frame I cut the bar and used a coupling with cotter pins. The 3/4 hex end in just pretending thru the roto cast material of the curb side storage compartment. Now either a 3/4 wrench, ratchet or cordless drill to raise and lower the spare. Safety chain is used as insurance against cable separation. The cable winch has a 150lb lift. Tire and rim weigh 95lbs.
The tire is 3" lower to give the winch rod clearance but, I do not think this will be an issue.
Used 3x2 angle as a spacer welded toes up to act as a tire stop so the tire does not bend the winch rod.

An improvement would be to remove the original frame and support from the top of the frame. This would have moved the assembly up 1" and supported the roto cast bottom. As cutting down the original tire frame would have destroyed it, I opted to leave the original tire frame in place and added more weld. Not much factory weld here and under side is not a good design. Must give credit to a good friend for doing the welding work.

sask · 06-03-2018, 10:10 PM

Great photos... is that a safety chain in the photo?

My 2013 sunseeker came with a tire winch but no safety chains. It says made in China on it and the lift cable is quite thin. I ended up using a couple of ratchet straps to ensure the tire stayed under the RV.

Bodiedog · 06-03-2018, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garrette

Finally finished my under carriage spare tire cable winch under my 2014 3170. I thought it came out well. I got the winch from Lippert with a long arm so I could cut to length. To drill the smallest hole possible on my frame I cut the bar and used a coupling with cotter pins. The 3/4 hex end in just pretending thru the roto cast material of the curb side storage compartment. Now either a 3/4 wrench, ratchet or cordless drill to raise and lower the spare. Safety chain is used as insurance against cable separation. The cable winch has a 150lb lift. Tire and rim weigh 95lbs.
The tire is 3" lower to give the winch rod clearance but, I do not think this will be an issue.
Used 3x2 angle as a spacer welded toes up to act as a tire stop so the tire does not bend the winch rod.

An improvement would be to remove the original frame and support from the top of the frame. This would have moved the assembly up 1" and supported the roto cast bottom. As cutting down the original tire frame would have destroyed it, I opted to leave the original tire frame in place and added more weld. Not much factory weld here and under side is not a good design. Must give credit to a good friend for doing the welding work.

Great job! Glad to see it come together.

Garrette · 06-04-2018, 05:42 AM

Sask, that is a safety chain. My 2014 came with a safety chain. Did yours come with a winch? I thought all Sunseekers came with a crappy mount of a single bolt, retainer and 1 nut and safety chain. After the 2nd tire problem, the bolt was stripped out. Started working on a solution.
My unit came with a China bomb but after the 2nd tire problem, purchased a new set and used my newest Michelin as my spare.
The cable is thin but supposed to hold 150 lbs per convo with Lippert. Looked at my truck spare mount and it is about the same thickness.

sask · 06-04-2018, 06:56 AM

The more I read this forum, the more I realize that there are so many variables on these machines. I am not original owner and yes, there is a winch under there. When I got it, I thought that all Sunseekers had one but now maybe realize that it was an addon somewhere during it previous ownership.

I have a new Michelin as my spare knowing that I will use that as my replacement on a blowout or regular maintenance replacement.

A32Deuce · 06-04-2018, 08:27 AM

No winch on my 2012 SunSeeker. Just a single bolt and safety chain. So I made a rack I can lift the spare up and down using a small floor Jack. The rack uses pitpins to hold it up.

fred+sherry · 06-04-2018, 07:13 PM

Do you really change your own tires . Are the rear tires doable.

A32Deuce · 06-04-2018, 07:18 PM

I have had all six wheels off to check the brake pads. I have a 2 ft. long breaker bar to loosen the nuts and a torque wrench to tighten and use a battery powered torque wrench to spin off/on. To get the wheels back on I have a long prybar that I put under the tire and lift about an inch to get on. Also use 7 ton Jack stands just in case. I am not a young un!

fred+sherry · 06-04-2018, 07:40 PM

Im willing to give the front tires a try , but aren't the dullys hard to get loose off the hub . Or do you just beat the heak on the tire and pry with a long bar.

Duckogram · 06-04-2018, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fred+sherry

Im willing to give the front tires a try , but aren't the dullys hard to get loose off the hub . Or do you just beat the heak on the tire and pry with a long bar.

no beating or prying needed

Bodiedog · 06-04-2018, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fred+sherry

Im willing to give the front tires a try , but aren't the dullys hard to get loose off the hub . Or do you just beat the heak on the tire and pry with a long bar.

If you can change the front tire, you can change the rear dually. It's fairly straightforward. The key is to have the right tools in hand, including a 6-12 ton bottle jack, preferably some boards to sit the jack for extra height if needed, breaker bar and or impact wrench, and a spare tire of course.

I had to change a blowout on the rear last year after AAA showed up without the proper equipment and admitted he didn't know how to change out a dually. They said would be several hrs before they could get someone with the right equipment on scene. I figured since I was paying for service I would use them, but I wasn't gonna wait that long. Fortunately I had my jack with me and changed it out myself with no issues. No more AAA for me after that experience.

fred+sherry · 06-04-2018, 08:17 PM

I was told it's hard to get the dullys loose. I'll check out u tube about dullys . We have a 3010 D's . thanks

fred+sherry · 06-04-2018, 09:20 PM

U tube dually buddy , made it easier . Thanks

cariboo camper · 06-05-2018, 11:08 AM

Not difficult at all, change mine from winter to summer and back. With a couple of tire irons (spoons) it is not even that difficult to also break tire down from rim and mount a new tire.

Never had a problem getting wheels separated from each other, usually a swift kick works.

Try finding a tire shop that does truck tires, after watching for a few minutes you will see the little tricks of the trade.

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