Hey Fellas? I'm havin' a little issue with the spare winch. I started to pull the spare tire back up and realized that I had the tire upside-down. So I lowered it, flipped the tire over and now the winch won't take up ANY of the cable. I tried raising it at a constant moderate rate and then went to a much slower rate of rotating the shaft. I know my cable has a few broken strands but it's certainly usable. I have no idea about the machinations of the winch so I don't know why it wouldn't be bringing in the cable. Thoughts?

 

Not sure this would help but have you tried to put some tension on the cable while winding?

 

Yessir. Tried both methods. It will bring the tire up about3 or 4 inches and that's it. Then I put a jack under the wheel and raised it giving about 3 or 4 inches of slack. When lowering the cable it's really easy to turn. Starting to raise is too for bit and then it starts to get tough, even with slack in the cable. Finally it gets to a point of you feeling and hearing a definite "click" on each rotation of the shaft but it doesn't do anything more. I've raised and lowered the cable numerous times. It worked fairly well the first time. Then when I realized that the face of the wheel needs to face the asphalt, that's when I had to turn the wheel around.

 

I am gonna guess your cable is binding up when you are raising the wheel. Can you lower it all the way down to inspect it?

 

I can and it seems to be fine. I found a guy here locally that is parting out his '98 and I've agreed to buy the one on his Durango for $20. Cheapest on Ebay is nearly $60 so I think I'm getting a solid good deal. He said he just took off the spare a few weeks ago and it worked fine.

 

Got the replacement for $20. We unwound it and checked out the cable. It was in perfect condition. A 3/8" ratchet and a short 13mm socket is all you need to replace that winch. It is only accessible from underneath but the top of the screws are such that you can feel them but not see them. Took me about 2 minutes to get both screws out and the winch can easily be manipulated out from the bracket that houses it. The old winch had frayed and there was a good 4" loop sticking out where it shouldn't have been and the plastic housing part of the winch that encases the cable was broken where the cable had burst its way through. It was clearly irreparable.

Thanks for the help fellas!

 

Thanks for reporting back with your solution and a brief guide.

It sucks when people come and ask questions, solve the problem and don't report back their findings. Just screws with the next guy who will soon wear the same shoes.

So again, thank you.

 

I hear ya on the people who seem to die when they have an issue and it gets resolved. Then they're miraculously restored when another problem crops up. I've been in another vintage BMW for um for about ten years and most of the guys there are top-notch about giving real answers when you need them and sharing parts for little or no money. It's all about the love of being an enthusiast. Characteristically it's rare in the BMW world too. We have people come from other model sites just because they know we're knowledgeable, not snobs, and willing to help anyone.

 

That’s how it should be. We are all here to enjoy what we love.