Stock Trailer Hitch and Spare Tire Fit K1500

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aleebee156

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Hey guys,

Ive got a 97 K1500 4x4. It does not appear to have the stock trailer hitch, but Im unsure. The trailer hitch is only bolted on by 4 bolts and two of them are all wonky so thats why i believe its not the factory trailer hitch, it appears to have been swapped out. Or it was just remounted totally wrong and improperly.

Anyways, the problem Im having is with the spare tire not fitting properly. It is the factory spare tire. With the tire lowered down passed the trailer hitch it hangs normally from the cable. When you raise the tire the tire runs into the trailer hitch and you have to push the spare tire towards the front of the truck a good 5-6" while raising it to get it to continue going up. Does that make sense? I hope so. So I can get the tire all the way up but the cable it hangs from is at a really steep angle. Im wondering if anyone has any pictures of the underside of their truck and the factory trailer hitch and its mounting. I'm thinking of just pulling it off and getting a new trailer hitch and starting from scratch but Id like to see what the stock set up is.

Thanks for the help!
 

aleebee156

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Also, can anyone confirm that their spare tire raises and lowers without being obstructed by the trailer hitch? Im assuming that is what is normal, but i suppose perhaps it is possible that everyone has to push the spare forward to clear the hitch when raising it... seems unlikely.
 

95C1500

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Mine is the exact same way after I installed a factory hitch. Although my tire is smaller because it's a 2wd. It's worked fine for me so far
 

aleebee156

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Really, hmm interesting. Ok thanks for the reply.

Does anyone else's spare do the same thing? The spare eventually gets all the way up for me but its really difficult to lower due to a lot of pressure from the spare tire against the trailer hitch, its causing the tool used to lower the spare to get rounded off/stripped
 

95C1500

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Sorry I'm not someone new haha but mine started rounding off too. I was told when I bought my hatch that it wouldn't fit z71s (bigger tires maybe?).

Mine is pushed toward the front of the truck but not 6"ish. But I'm willing to bet that it's because my spare is smaller than yours
 

95C1500

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4x4s came with 245s and Zs came with 265s iirc?
 
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