I finally gathered all the parts to convert the really hard to use (for an overweight 79 year old) spare tire mechanism of my '52 GMC 3/4 flatbed.
Years ago I had mounted a trailer hitch receiver which bolted to the rear crossmember of the truck. A neighbor welded a piece of 1/4" flat plate on top of the receiver mount after I had drilled 4 mounting holes for the hoist, which was from a 1998-2004 F150. The reason I used this hoist is that it mounts on a horizontal surface with the cable coming out of the bottom. I mounted the hoist with the joint for the handle turned about 15 degrees counter clockwise from straight back so the handle would not hit the backup light I have on the back of my flatbed.
I bought a spare tire tool kit for a 2004-18 F150 that consisted of the tools necessary to raise my jack and my new hoist. I had to flatten (used a BFH) the male end of one of the pieces from square to slightly rectangular to fit the hoist.
Once everything was installed I found that the handle wanted to flop around when operated, so I drilled a hole in the bottom rear of the flatbed and mounted a 1/2" eye bolt to support the hoist handle while cranking up/down.
When hoisted, the spare tire pulls up against 2 small crossmembers that the original spare mechanism pushed the spare up against.
The hoist and the tool kit were under $50 total from Amazon.
Pictures below.
Last edited by Bill Hanlon; 02/26/20265:20 PM.
'57 GMC 102, Original 347 V8, HydraMatic, 3.08 rear gear, added A/C, disk front brakes, HEI, AFB carb, '98 Honda Black Currant paint. T-boned and totaled 10/12 '52 GMC 152 Stake Bed, Original 228, SM420, added A/C, HEI, disk front brakes, '67 Chev 3.55 rear gear. Gets used as a real truck.
