I'd cut the cable. The mechanism is likely rusted and seized and will need to be replaced anyway.

 

Congratulations! You have two flat tires.

If the pulley is seized I’m sure you’ve never put air in spare..

Call a tow or a buddy with a spare, replace the pulley and start pulling it down a couple times a year to lubricate the cable and air it up.

 

18 year old spare should still have 36 psi!!


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I'm sure its too late now, but did it come down just a little bit and stop? If it did, it was hanging up on the "safety" latch. Not sure what years/models had this but my 2006 did. I never got it to work using the instructions from the manual of pushing up with the jack to release the safety catch. I had to lower it the few inches it would go down, and then finagle the tire out of the way using the jack on one side to tilt it out of way just enough and then I believe I went in through the hole behind the license plate and grabbed hold of the latch with a pair of channel locks and squeezed the latch so it would unhook. It dropped loose after that. Pretty sure I "deleted" the safety catch afterwards, either by zip tying it so it couldn't spring out and latch anymore or grinding the catch off. I don't remember which and I've since sold the truck so I can't go look. Hope that helps somebody.

 

I'm pretty sure the 00's had the crappy design with the secondary latch that seizes up. You'll probably have to use an angle grinder to cut the ears off the cable, then you can drop the tire and replace the mechanism with the new design. And fix the spare while you're at it.