When Your Truck is Missing Parts?

Last week, someone was stopped aside the freeway with emergency flashers.  The last thing I wanted to do was to get to work, so I stopped to help.  I quickly found out that the individual could not get their jack underneath the car (hint: don't lower your cars, folks).  I finagled the jack underneath, and lifted the car.

Then we found out they didn't have a lug wrench.

So I headed back to my new-to-me truck to see if I could find mine.  I'd only had the truck for a half month, so this was something I needed to learn.  And that's when the new realization hit me ....

I didn't have a lug wrench or a jack for the truck!

I didn't even have the bracket that holds the jack and wrench down.  It typically sits underneath the front passengers' seat, but where it was was a threaded hole that would allow water to permeate the interior.  Not good.

So, a quick call to a dealership, and they can't even find a part number to order.  A check to eBay, and someone out there is charging $120 for the assembly.  I fired off an offer that was rejected.  Rather than face up to a low-ball and buy it, I grabbed parts from Home Depot, picked up my spare Kydex sheets, and bought a bottle jack from Harbor Freight.  Then it was a matter of assembling a frame.  I heated the Kydex and formed it around the jack (I didn't want a potential hydraulic fluid leak), and then riveted the thing together.

I did have to trim a panel to get it to fit, but unless you know what you are looking for, you'll never see it.

The other thing was that I didn't have a 6mmx1.0 hold-down bolt, so I turned some 1/4" threaded rod to the outside diameter and used a metric die to cut it, coated it with Loctite, and created my own hold down bolt.

Not bad!