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The other day I noticed my tire spare tire and rim we're gone, the only thing was left was a broken piece of cable under the bottom of my pick up.

I did this as a means of fixing it. 3/16 inch thick 3 inch wide flat bar cut 7 1/4 inches long. Secured with three cable clamps, but I'm wondering if anyone has a better idea on how to secure the cable.

Seems to me these might be prone to slippage while bouncing around under the bottom of my truck? I did put Loctite on the threads are but I'm not sure that's going to be sufficient.

Anyone have any thoughts on a better cable fastener?

I suspect your spare was stolen as thats pretty common. However it could have broken, but can't imagine you wouodn't have noticed. You can get another cable assembly from just about any gm salvage yard for a fairly reasonable price.

I'm guessing it was stolen too. I would think if you put loc tight on those clamps they will be just fine.

The same thing happened to me almost at the same time as Wildfowler's episode. Mine wasn't stolen - I was lucky enough to have a friend that found the spare. The cable had snapped. Weird.

Andy I read you post, and wonder whose front door your spare went through as it bounced through the neighborhood.

Hambone wrote:The same thing happened to me almost at the same time as Wildfowler's episode. Mine wasn't stolen - I was lucky enough to have a friend that found the spare. The cable had snapped. Weird.

Apparently cables DO snap on occasion, but I would guess there needs to be some sort of impact to make them do that. Found a truck spare in my yard once that I assumed was the result of some kid rounding the corner a bit fast and hitting a pothole. I also had mine knocked out from under my S-10 on West St. in beautiful Jackson, MS. Since I felt the cable snap on my truck, I must agree with the others on here and guess it was stolen. Hate it for you.

Mine wasn't stolen and there wasn't any impact. A friend found the spare in the road about 150 yards from my hunting camp. I was lucky, because it could have been anywhere and I would have never known what happened, otherwise.

I went back and looked for mine where I remembered hitting a log and another rough patch in the trail thinking I might find it nearby.

No luck and no telling how long mine had gone. Hopefully it will show up this winter when the grass dies back.

If it fell off while driving down the highway I can't believe it would just drop freely off without bouncing around some first. I'm reasonably observant while driving.

How would you even cut that factory apparatus off of there to steal the tire? I guess a battery Sawsall and a little time? Maybe?

Nothing else that I know of has been stolen. Although I don't even know what all I have back there anymore?

This little incident cost me a grand. $900 for a new set of tires and $75 for a base model steel rim. I put the best tire from my old set that had 70,000 miles on the new used rim for a spare now. Hopefully that old worn out tire will be enough of a theft deterrent?

teul2 wrote:Andy I read you post, and wonder whose front door your spare went through as it bounced through the neighborhood.

All right, just looked this part up online. It looks like the factory just use one little ferrule crimped on to the end of he cable.

I'm sure if the tire was not winched up all the way that thing would eventually pop off. I guess that spring should have helped to dampen the vibration from normal operation. But I'm not sure it would handle a loose tire?
I'm thinking the way I've got mine installed now, the tire itself should dampen Road vibration so long as the tire remains winched firmly up against the frame like it currently is. I'll check it in a couple weeks to make sure it's still there and that my U bolts are still nice and tight.