Spare tire will not drop GM HTWL

2000 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, the spare tire would not drop. When I inserted the wrench to release the cable it would not engage, this is what I did to fix it.

[@stringbean1955]

Great information, and it led me to my solution. Before you bend it to remove the plastic tube, deflate the tire COMPLETELY. Remove the valve stem core, and the tire gets smaller, hopefully allowing you to wiggle it. Grab it and flex it back into place while pushing the wrench in (rotate for alignment)! My tire was raised so high that were actual dents in the sidewall where it was pressing the frame. Probably raised at some point underinflated, and then fully inflated, making it even tighter. Thank you again for diagnosing the problem!

[@rafaelwertzberger4848]

Thanks for the help. 2015 GMC Yukon, couldn't figure out the problem, was going to take it to the dealer to fix. You can imagine how much that would have cost.... now I fixed it and it only took 20 minutes with 3 mosquito bites... Thanks again.

[@alexchic5074]

I know im late here, but you are ablessing from the LORD as I couldn't for the life of me figure the problem, I peeked in with a flashlight and saw the outer grey circle sitting through the left, thought, okay, get the hook through the grey put and it'll latch to a lip, just gotta push harder. Now I know the issue and how to solve it. Thank you.

[@johntube2525]

If the spare tire is up there where it is suppose to be, you can not see the part you are to engage without taking the license plate off. I was putting my jack handle through the bumper hole and just spinning and spinning the jack handle and nothing was happening because the jack handle was not engaging, but once I took the license plate off I could see the tube had fallen off of the part I was suppose to engage. So, if you remove the license plate completely, and if the tube has come off of the part you are to engage with the jack handle, you can see the part, with the help of a flashlight, that the jack handle is suppose to engage. So with the license plate off, you can see if that the tube is off or on and you can then move the jack handle around from where you put it through the bumper and put it on the part you engage to let down the tire. Hope this trick to remove the license plate helps.

[@johntube2525]

If the spare tire is up there where it is suppose to be, you can not see the part you are to engage without taking the license plate off. I was putting my jack handle through the bumper hole and just spinning and spinning the jack handle and nothing was happening because the jack handle was not engaging, but once I took the license plate off I could see the tube had fallen off of the part I was suppose to engage. So, if you remove the license plate completely, and if the tube has come off of the part you are to engage with the jack handle, you can see the part, with the help of a flashlight, that the jack handle is suppose to engage. So with the license plate off, you can see if that the tube is off or on and you can then move the jack handle around from where you put it through the bumper and put it on the part you engage to let down the tire. Hope this trick to remove the license plate helps.