Spare Tire Bracket & Trunk Layout

I'd like to take a few road trips or go on Power Tour in the Mustang.  I'm not sure if I'll make Power Tour this year but I started thinking of what I would take.  This led to buying a few Dewalt plastic totes to go in the back of the car with supplies.  I also wanted a toolbox but space was really tight due to the spare tire bracket.

The spare tire bracket in my Mustang looks different than the others that I've seen.  It protrudes more into the area above the gas tank.  The parts which extend over the gas tank look like gussets but they don't attach at the bottom.  I decided to trim it back a little this morning so that I'd have some additional storage space.  

Before trimming it, I drew out the shape of the metal in the event I want to recreate it later.  It was fairly easy to cut off as it was pretty mild 13 gauge steel (.0895 on micrometer).  With it trimmed, I used a grinder and even a file to get it to look super smooth.  I then coated it with some Rustoleum satin black paint.  I tried to feather in the paint so it does not stand out much and it turned out good.

I gained over an inch which seems rather pointless at first.  However, that inch now allows me to put in a Craftsman tool box between the two Dewalt storage trays.  I could stack things on top of it all if I needed as well.  The layout looks good to me but I don't have everything together that I'd expect to take.

I've struggled with bringing a spare but have decided against it.  I think I'm far more likely to have another problem than a flat tire.  A spare would take huge amounts of space in the truck.  Additionally, it is really hard to find one which would work over the front brakes and be exactly the same size as the rear tires so the TrueTrac would not be harmed by using it.