What size spare are you running? I recall seeing that for the outer two you just need to cut off the excess bolt to fit a 265/70/17 in there...
Edit: and another idea for those who can weld... clean up the area and throw some fillet welds around there to add support. Dont see a reason you'd want to permanently remove the hitch (and even if you did, you could grind the welds off)
Reply With Quote