[jtrichard]

Yes you want the tire tight to the cross members if not you WILL be picking up your spare out of the street some where ...I always use the bottle jack to install/remove the tire the bolt nut/loop is kinda a joke its hard as hell to get it tight enough the jack is much easier... If you are not building a museum piece you can get a chain/cable tire lift out of a late model truck they work great I just put one on a trailer ....so nice