Tips for removing spare tire hoist winch?

Does anybody have any tips for removing the spare tire hoist winch without having to remove the bed? Mine is completely rusted and I'd like to replace it, but getting to the bolt heads above the winch is tricky. If you know of a tool that works well to reach up there, please let me know.

 

You don't necessarily have to completely remove the bed, but loosening in and moving it up a couple inches would make it a lot easier with a ratcheting wrench.

I need to remove mine. I tried without removing the bed and gave up.

 

I removed mine with a regular crescent wrench. A ratcheting wrench would have been great.

Don't need to remove or mess with the bed; just accept that it's going to be tight.

 

Unbolt it. It’s 4 bolts. Takes only a few minutes

 

i recently removed mine with a ratcheting wrench, did not have to move the bed. just took a little bit of patience because of the tight space.

 

forgot the mention I dremeled the four bolts down to the baseplate so that they come out sooner

 

Certainly watching with interest.

I had to torch my spare out yesterday to fluidfilm the frame.
Wrecked the tools designed to drop the tire first, whole mechanism is seized up.
Did you find a replacement? I haven't looked yet...

Removing the bed doesn't look so bad- but I just found out yesterday it's made of plastic! Normally I'd consider drilling through-holes and plug welding them, but a plastic bed is entirely new to me.

Anyway- if you dremel or otherwise grind those bolts flush from the underside- you might be able to simply through-drill them easier than trying to get them out with a wrench. The threads will be reversed coming from this end so a pilot hole through each bolt and then maybe a 1/2" bit... if it bites hard it could unthread the bolt- if not it will drill it out and make it easy to get rid of from there.
I likely won't get to this project until next summer, but I'm interested in how you handle it.

 

I think i still have a spare tire hoist that i removed from 2015 tacoma. If one of you needs it, i can go look to confirm if it's still around.

 

If you do end up removing the bed, make sure to spray the bolts with penetrant and let it soak for a day first.

I couldn't take off the spare winch with the bed in place...

 

Spoken like a true rust free AZ owner.

 

I seriously have doubts that I could remove the bed without breaking at least two of those bolts- the spare tire ones wouldn't stand a chance

If the mechanism itself is rusted and seized up (like mine), chances are the bolts to remove it are far worse.

 

I see… I didn’t have any of that to deal with. My truck is a southwest truck from 2008 so it was very easy

 

If it's in good shape, I would absolutely take you up on that generous offer.

 

Thanks. I'll reply here after I've removed it to let you know how it went. I'm not in a huge hurry, but I'll likely get to it in the next month. The longer I let it go, the worse the rust will be, especially with the winter salty roads.

 

I did it without removing the bed, why are people talking about removing the bed? seems really unnessacary unless im missing something

 

Was on a southern truck. I took it off my 2015 tacoma after only a year or 2. Been in a box since. I only have 1 of the bolts but otherwise looks nearly new. Looks like M8x25. Most auto parts stores carry those in a zinc coated grade 10.9 if you don't already have some laying around. Send me a pm and we can make a deal to ship it to you.

Got some 2nd gen tacoma oem floor mats too if you want em.

 

I installed the winch today. As rusty as my bolts were, some penetrating oil and a wire brush cleaned them up enough so that I could wrench them off. I tried a few angled wrenches, but in the end all I needed was a straight 12mm ratcheting box-end wrench. I had to take the rear bolts off first and then loosen the two front bolts at the same time so that the winch would drop down as I loosened them - there wasn't enough clearance between them and the bed otherwise. And when I replaced the bolts, I ended up buying slightly shorter ones. I think the originals were 25mm long, but I went with 20mm. I probably could have gotten away with 15mm, but 20mm was the shortest M8x1.25's that my local hardware store had. I hope yours goes as smoothly next summer.

 

I got a 12mm wrench on these bolts but its a little short. These are normal bolts yea? So looking up id be turning clockwise to remove? Stupid question but the bolts looked a little funny. Didn’t want to cranking them the wrong way with what little wrench i have

 

Now that it is replaced, make it a point to exercise it twice a year to inspect and to help keep it free. While it's down, liberally coat the entire mechanism and works with Fluid Film or equivalent. I do this every year spring and fall and even though when raising it, I don't muscle it down over-tight, it's still very stubborn about letting go to lower it on next the initial try. I coat the wheel as well.

 

They're regular bolts and nuts. They are not reverse threaded. So turn them the way you would a normal nut and bolt.