I was greeted with a flat when preparing to leave for work, yesterday. So, I had to drop the spare which turned out to be a major PITA. The Second Gen had the perfect setup in which the rod was inserted right into the receiver and could be done so in little to no light. With my truck, I couldn't get the rod to hit the receiver which required my retrieving a flash light to shine under the vehicle so I could spot the target. It makes me wonder if a previous owner removed a guide piece that I now need to locate. So, I would appreciate it if someone could post a picture of what the spare wheel lift mechanism receptacle looks like when the operator is looking right at the bumper.

Second, I had to buy a jack and its associate hardware from e-Bay as, once again, a previous owner did who-knows-what with the jack. Something is missing that secures it all under the seat, so a picture of what everything looks like would be nice.

Just a comment, but what the hell is it with previous owners? In the 20+ years of driving and owning vehicles, I've never understood why something as critical as the jack and/or the spare don't stay with the vehicle.

 

Where was your jack located? I might be able to shoot you some pictures off my dad's truck...

 

No pics as you would have to remove the spare tire to visually see it entirely, but the hole as you know is between the bumper and tailgate to the right of center. Behind the hole, there is a guide rod but it's rather large so the rod you stick in to crank down the tire, could take some finagling to sit properly. If it were a tight fit, the rod would likely join up nicely.
It's possible that the guide rod(held on only by pins I believe) could have shifted some. It's kind of a cheap set-up.

The jack may not have been put back after use because the previous owner likely had trouble getting it situated as you have to know exactly how it fits under the pass seat or else it wont fit.

I cant snap you any pics of my jack under the seat because I have amps under both front seats and now have the jack under the rear seat.
Also, my rear guide I guess you would call it has been replaced with a security style so it's slightly different and requires a star end on the mechanism to take down the tire. Was only $26 to prevent thieves from stealing my spare.

 

I don't want a picture of the mechanism, just a shot facing the bumper that focuses on the rod port.

 

I have a 60" LED Recon bar blocking the hole that I have to remove if I want to drop the spare down(crappy) but by the other picture you can clearly see the rod is misaligned and hanging low and to the left.





Yes, there is a plug in there. It keeps water out of the mechanism.

 

Thanks for those pictures. I think there's a guide tube missing from mine.



That thing is almost impossible to hit in the dark. Assuming there is nothing wrong with the setup of my truck, then it's a very **** poor design.