In 1953 they made the sidemount spare an option. Before that spare tires were carried under the rear of the truck on a dropdown bracket system. I will give you my opinion of the sidemount spare as I had one on my 53. I did not like it, plain and simple. One, it was on the drivers side and it added a lot of extra weight to that side especially when I was for the most part the only person in the truck. I had to add extra spring leaves to compensate. Two, it sticks out and causes a lot of wind resistence and it vibrates. Finally it stuck out too much for me to easily fit the truck in my narrow garage. Those are my thoughts.
Bill
