Patent ID: 7377738

Claim:
A motor vehicle tire carrier actuator and retriever for a tire carrier including a rotatable shaft comprising, in combination: a first elongate member having a longitudinal axis and a first end configured to mate with a rotatable shaft of a tire carrier, the shaft having a longitudinal axis, the longitudinal axis of the first elongate member being substantially coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the shaft when the first elongate member and the shaft are mated together; and a second elongate member having a first end and a second end, an aperture formed in a central portion of the second elongate member to receive a second end of the first elongate member to form a T-shaped actuator for the tire carrier in a first configuration, a recess formed in the first end of the second elongate member to receive the second end of the first elongate member in a second configuration to form a retriever for a tire positioned beneath a vehicle, and a flange formed at the second end of the second elongate member to grasp a tire beneath the vehicle in the second configuration.