I'm finally back, and where/how to replace spare wheel winch
 

I'm finally back behind the wheel of a truck, I owned a 2002 a few years back but it was a complete and total piece of junk with just about every problem imaginable but someone stole it, and I ended up driving a 2003 Grand Caravan until just last week when it blew a piston through the oil pan.

After making a very bad decision purchasing an Equinox that required $4600 in repairs to safety I figured if I had no choice but to spend that much I'm going to hunt down a truck again. And thusly, I did :)

I managed to find a 2004 Ram that's in decent enough shape for my needs, and it's currently being certified by the dealer as we speak, so I should be behind the wheel in about a week.

However, the spare wheel winch is broken at the plate that physically holds the wheel up. Is there a way to fix it so it will once again hold my spare tire underneath the truck instead of in the bed?

Welcome back! I hope the "new" truck works out better than the others did. :)

Kind of hilarious that the POS truck was stolen, let someone else find out how bad it is! :D

Get the dealer to fix it before purchase....

yeah it really is lol. But I still ended up getting screwed because they tried to torch it, but it looks like they lit it on fire and then closed up all the doors. So the truck was too badly damaged to drive/not worth fixing while only being barely burned inside, but still in tact enough for the insurance company to pick every little thing apart and only give me $2000

that would've cost more because it's not an issue of safety since the tire can go in the bed. They only fix what's needed for a safety.

Because of a spare tire winch? This truck is awesome and loaded with features, I'd be very hard pressed to find the same thing for the $5k I paid for a certified vehicle.

Granted some of the work was a little shoddy (the body work) but I don't really care. She's a solid truck but admittedly needs a bit of work that I don't mind doing myself.

Front diff vent hose is cracked at the nipple, needs replacing and god knows what I'll find inside the diff, but there's no grinding or anything "off".
Passenger side CV boot is completely twisted and broken. needs replacing, maybe need new CV's :(
Power steering pump appears to leak. This should've been fixed as our safety standards now include the formation of droplets from leaks....however given that the truck was oil sprayed and there's like an inch thick of oil/grease/dirt on the (crossmember?) I'd say that they just didn't see it. it was hard for me to find until I wiped off a bunch of that oil.
I Maybe need a new alternator, or at the very least a new battery cause I know it's old.
needs a new pinion seal.