I had to cut the steel cable on the spare tire holder for my 2000 Sienna. The damn thing has been acting up and I finally got sick enough of it to take it out. The problem is it was unreliable in operation; it would begin to come down then bind up halfway down. From that point it was a crapshoot of whether it would go up or down.
The dealer wants $140 for a replacement and the junkyards are not much better. Considering how mine has gone bad for no reason I am hesitant to get one from a vehicle that's been sitting in a field somewhere. There are plenty of complaints on the Internet related to this item.
I have been unsuccessful in finding one online anywhere. Does anyone have a parts store they deal with that may have one?
You might be able to rebuild yours. You can get aircraft cable in stainless steel, which will eliminate that part rusting. The swaging tool to apply the ball crimps at the ends is commonly available, though the raw ball crimps themselves might be a problem - check with aircraft parts suppliers.
And the rest can be disassembled (cut the rivets) cleaned up, bead-blasted, hot-dip galvanized (or painted with zinc-rich 'Cold Galvanize' paint) and reassembled with galvanized bolts instead of rivets and the new stainless cable. Then you pack the inner gear workings with white grease.
Although I would also rig up a loop of aircraft cable between the frame rails, with thimble eyes on the ends, and a turnbuckle across the front of the spare as a 'Safety Strap' just in case your repair job has a hidden flaw. It's the combination of shock load of hitting bumps and the large mass of the tire that will break the winch, not the lowering and raising process.
Or give up on the winch and weld up a tray mount for the spare tire with square tubing and strap stock. The back half (toward axle) can be hinged with brackets up to the frame rails on each side, and the 'front' corners (toward back bumper) hung from two chunks of 1/2" threaded rod with big wingnuts. Use the jack to hold the tire up in position as you tighten or loosen the wingnuts. And once it's all aligned, drill 1/8" holes through the threaded rod for mouse keys (spring cotter) so the wingnuts can't back off from vibration.
And if this all sounds like Greek: Print it out and find someone at a welding shop to do it for you - it ain't brain surgery, just good old fashioned Battlefield Expedient Engineering. Who knows, they might come up with an even better idea.
Because you /really/ don't want to tempt Murphy (of Murphy's Law) by driving without a spare.
You might be able to fit another make to it if it is bolted on. Try a Ford or GM. Easily got in scrap yards, probably much cheaper and at least that part is relatively reliable. Just a thought.
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