I have an '01 Santa Fe. I was out vacuuming the back yesterday when I remembered a couple years ago the guy from Les Schwab said he couldn't get the spare tire put all the way back up. I had forgotten about that and haven't had a flat tire since then. The tire did not appear to be raised all the way up, it was easily visible from the rear and slanted down a little. So I assumed I needed to raise it up.
Of course, the bolt mechanism that raises the spare tire carrier cage was very rusty and didn't want to turn. I got some old WD-40 and sprayed it up onto the bolt to get things moving. I got my X-shaped tire iron (instead of the cheesy little one that comes with the car) and started cranking. Apply elbow grease, and pretty soon the tire was up where it should be.
But, I noticed the crank bolt for the mechanism looked like it was deeper in the hole than when I started. Sure enough, tried to shut the rear boot lid and it clunked down all the way but wouldn't latch. The boot lid won't latch anymore. The latch itself was slightly rotated and bent down toward the spare tire mechanism bolt head!
It looks like when I was cranking the tire up, I was sucking the frame together - bending the top sheet metal surface down toward the spare tire. I guess the tire was up as far as it was supposed to go.
1. Has anyone experienced this?
2. Can I fix it? Maybe putting a jack under the J-bolt and cranking in the opposite direction? Or simply jacking the bolt up slowly...?
Of course, the bolt mechanism that raises the spare tire carrier cage was very rusty and didn't want to turn. I got some old WD-40 and sprayed it up onto the bolt to get things moving. I got my X-shaped tire iron (instead of the cheesy little one that comes with the car) and started cranking. Apply elbow grease, and pretty soon the tire was up where it should be.
But, I noticed the crank bolt for the mechanism looked like it was deeper in the hole than when I started. Sure enough, tried to shut the rear boot lid and it clunked down all the way but wouldn't latch. The boot lid won't latch anymore. The latch itself was slightly rotated and bent down toward the spare tire mechanism bolt head!
It looks like when I was cranking the tire up, I was sucking the frame together - bending the top sheet metal surface down toward the spare tire. I guess the tire was up as far as it was supposed to go.
1. Has anyone experienced this?
2. Can I fix it? Maybe putting a jack under the J-bolt and cranking in the opposite direction? Or simply jacking the bolt up slowly...?