Hi all,
This is a cautionary tale to those that love to stick to other cars' rear ends on highways. There I was, driving on the Cross Bronx Expressway, when out of nowhere I hear what sounds like plastic scraping on pavement.
The CBE is not in great shape. There's hills, valleys, and uneven road everywhere. After a substantial bump in the road, I heard a thump followed by plastic scraping on the ground. I thought something fell inside the car at first, and went about my business in an orderly manner. The scraping subsided. Then it started again, so I pulled over at the first exit I could.
I look behind me to find that the compartment that held my spare was wide open. It appears as if the spare felt the urge to flee the vehicle and ended up on the left-most lane on the Cross Bronx Expwy.
Post-analysis concluded that the handle that secures the spare compartment snapped. The handle's strands of metal wire frayed. How the hell does this happen? The handle and its strands of wire were tucked into the chassis, not exposed out for the rain and salt to munch on it for years. I could only guess that corrosion is to blame but have a hard time understanding how corrosion got that far into the chassis. I have about 130k babied miles.
The motto of the story is targeted at motorists that don't like to keep a safe distance. Beware of X3s on the highway flinging donuts at you - they most likely won't know they did so until later.
P.S. I found the spare, part no. 36116758778, but can't find the handle anywhere in RealOEM...does anyone have an idea which section I should be looking in?
Wow dude quite the story. I'm glad that it seems no one was hurt!
Go to the body trim section, and all the way towards the bottom you'll find diagram "51_5191 Spare Saver Spare Tire Cup" . I hope that's what you're looking for! The handle is Item5 and the lowering mechanism (which I ASSume is what would have the cable mechanism) is Item3.
Good luck!
Thank you! Yes this is EXACTLY what I was looking for =) Thank you so much.
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