Anyone use a spare tire bike carrier?

[Humm3r_H3]

Originally posted by Hal:
STOP THE MADNESS
I HAVE A "THULE SPARE ME" MOUNTED ON MY 33" SPARE ON MY H3 RIGHT NOW. I have used it a number of times, it stays mounted there ready to go any time, it's not in the way, it's not too heavy, it has its own lock so a thief that wanted your spare would have to break the bike rack before they could get at the spare tire. The bikes ride high off the ground so no clearance problems at all when off road. I can use my tow hitch for towing whatever I want with bikes mounted to the spare.
On the negative side: the fit of the rack to the 33" tire is tight. I use the rubber spacers that come with the rack and also before tightening the lugs on the spare it helps to lift up on the rack mounting plate. You need all the clearance you can get for the top bar of the bike rack to clear the top of the tire when the rack is extended and ready to load bikes. If you have the capability to bend that top crossbar of the rack to fit the curvature of the top of the spare tire (only 1/2" would do it) then the rack would no longer have such a tight fit to the tire. You could also air down the spare and get a better fit (if you have a way to air up again when needed, and I don't know what that would do to the pressure monitoring system). The rack is not big on bike space, 2 bikes fit very snug on the rack. Lastly, with bikes back there your bad rear view goes to worse.
Bottom line, mine stays where it is, looks good, works good, and adds security to my spare tire.

thanks Hal, I will have to try that spare me again then. have any pics of yours installed?