Does anyone know how to take the lock off of the spare tire? The dealership said to pop it all off with a screwdriver. Everything is underneeth the tire and i can't get that down cause i don't have the key for it? HELP

 

Brace the spare so it won't fall on you and cut the cable with a dremel.
Then you can remove the entire winch system from the truck and ****can it.
I swear whoever at Ford came up with this bright idea ought to be shot.
A lock on the spare and one 'key' that is easily lost.

I guess we should just be glad only 01-03 have this issue.

 

my 04 uses the ignition/door key to open the lock, but i agree, the idea of putting the spare in the place it is is not a great idea. If you drive the truck in places like i do, that is a **** poor mounting location, things always getting under the chassis and hanging up in the back end. I am thinking of plating the undercarriage with some polished diamond plate steel.

 

My complaint with the spare is
from 97-00 you just put crank handle directly in the hole...
from 04 and up you use a real key (ignition key)...
but, the years 01-03 they came up with the bright idea of putting an appendage (spare key socket) onto the crank handle.

The 'appendage' is a [one each] and may be in the glove box, under the seat, behind the seat or most likely, long gone.
It wasn't something you could put on your keychain.
And it didn't get the use necessary to keep it handy.

Need some people to come up with bright ideas as to a good fix
because this is about the 3rd or 4th thread I've read from these 01-03 people
and there will probably be hundreds more down the road.

 

Yeah, it has a pattern similar to a locking lug nut. It works great, put one on my 99 years ago. But then I upgraded the tire size, bought 5 tires, purchased a 5th matching wheel so to have a matching sized spare. When rotating tires I do a 5 tire rotation with the spare and use the "crank appendage" every 8k miles. It is still in the glove box when needed .... and I never have a rusty lock to deal with on a cold rainy night .... and my spare matches my larger than stock tires.

 

These model year trucks are getting to be 5 to 7 years old now.

They will turn over from the original owners and that's when the appendage slips through the crack and the new owner gets the shaft whether he's bent over or not.