Yes it is doable but a little spastic to drop and raise the Spare tire with the Tire Iron provided.
I came across another Tire Iron from a Blazer the other day so I thought I'd 'Play' with it. I made a poor mans Speed Handle


I heated it up and Bent it, parallel with the Socket end section. Cut a small piece of pipe I had laying around, I slid it up the Tire Iron as a handle. Then for giggles I welded a Washer on the Tire Iron to keep the handle from sliding off. For those without a welder, I probably could have slid the Washer up, drilled a hole and put a cotter pin to hold it.
Silly stuff but it does work very well as compared to letting the Stock one dig a hole in the palm of your hand .
It sits in the same compartment as the Jack. Hopefully, I wont get stuck with a flat and will never have to use it on the side of the road.

 

i love these simple tricks that i would never think of. lol extremely easy to do and very helpful. nicely done

 

my method has always been. lower spare tire down. throw away crank mechanism, keep tire in bed

its crazy how many cars get towed in to work cause that thing is frozen. or how many spares are flat cause no one wants to climb down there and check. the geniuses at chrysler on their minivans put the tire in the middle of the van and covered it in a plastic housing so you cant even check the air pressure

 

Ill keep my tire rack !

 

I have teh tire spun around so The Valve is facing down and closest to teh rear bumper. Makes it easier to check.
One of the Items when I bought this vehicle was to Fully lower the Spare to make sure it works, I used wheel bearing grease on the cable and wherever I can inject it into the Mechanisim so it wont sieze up.
I agree...The whole idea of having to roll around under the car to get the bracket off the spare is ridiculous.

 

Pretty ingenious. I had one of these on my old S10 snap and I lost my spare. My spare on my jimmy is on my roof rack now.

 

I just keep a cordless drill with a flat screwdriver bit in mine it will raise and lower that tire with little effort, also have a power inverter installed just in case the drill runs low on juice!!!

 

not to be a downer or anything but one issue i see if that is it could make breaking your lug nuts loose a little harder, but other wise great idea.