Ever installed a Curt "wraparound" hitch on an HSE with a full-sized spare?

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Aug 23, 2025 | 05:34 PM

nickinps

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Three Wheeling

Joined: Jan 2021

Posts: 87

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Ever installed a Curt "wraparound" hitch on an HSE with a full-sized spare?

I'm close to pulling the trigger on a frame-mounted Curt hitch from Atlantic British ($320, https://www.roverparts.com/exterior-...ories/LH13456/ ) because my rear crossmember is rusted from the LR3's life in salt-using states and as a result the hitch mount tabs in the middle of the bumper are dangerously weak. I have a 2006 HSE with the full sized spare (255/55R19) and the instructions from Curt are pretty clear that this hitch will interfere with the undervehicle access to that size of a spare. But there are reports that people have gotten away with this, and one guy on a website reviewing this Curt mount is adamant that a full sized spare tire can indeed fit underneath but only if you "remove the circular rubber spacers at the top of the spare tire chamber towards the rear. They are supposed to unscrew, but if yours are like mine, the screw is corroded, so I just pried them off with a screwdriver and left the metal screw part intact since the tire will clear it." It looks like he's running 255/60R18s, which works out to the same total diameter as mine.

Anybody ever used this mount and was still able to drop and raise a full sized spare? If no, what did you do for a workaround?

Thanks,

Nick in Palm Springs