in all honesty tony I wanted mine to hold the spare since day one, the OTHER benefits ive found over the years of wheeling and road driving is,
1 you always have a way to store and tie down any larger than vehicle loads!
2. while offroad the rack acts as a decent skid plate for low lying branches
3 you ALWAYS find things that you can toss up there like a high lift or a spare ... bigger items
4. its a great place for another set of lights!!!
5. great place to mount roof sliders to protect your roof line against trees