Recently bought F-350 with no spare. Got spare. Only problem now is no "key" to lower spare carrier mechanism. Does anyone know if this part is dealer only? Vehicle specific? Thank you for any help.

 

junk yard????

 

The internet has many comments about this one. I also purchased a used f-250 with a missing spare tire,lugnut wrench, jack and of course the famous key.

Here is what I did. off to the auto wreckers for a jack and a set of tools. There are apparently 19 different key patterns that are not referenced to the VIN number. They apparently no longer make or supply them. This is a very lousy deal.

So. I was lucky as there was no tire mounted on the winch system.
I crawled under the truck and with a socket - removed the winch from the mounting bracket. Two bolts and a lot of dirt in my face. There is a plastic guide tube that you need to twist off - not a hard thing as no tools required.

With the winch removed I walked over to the workbench and took a screwdriver and popped out the " theft device " -- easy. This leaves an inset for the thire changing tool to operate the winch.

I cleaned the winch before replacing and unwound the winch in full and touched the winch up with a bit of penetrating oil.

After that just reinstall and winch up the tire - don't forget the plastic tube of course. The new jack and tool set cost me $ 70 CDN. The frustration - $1,000.

And that is it !!

 

The lock is a gorilla brand lock. The ford dealers have the ability to get your spare out, and in the process get you the key number.

I just went though this situation while in the Phoenix area having a hitch installed at a camper dealer. (I'm from the SF Bay Area)

You will have to call Gorilla, as there website does not support the ford keys directly, you have to talk to a person at Gorilla.

Good Luck