Good enough for me. My dad welded up a front hitch for his '99 C2500 with his lincoln buzzbox not too long ago. Neat welders.

 

Glad you brought that up. I was wondering if someone makes a smaller spare?
I had my last truck for 14 years and never used the spare. But with my luck if I took the spare out,I would get a flat today.

 

My spare tire doesn't fit with my current wheel/tire combo. The radius is different so I removed it altogether... I just make sure I have my AAA membership paid up.

 

Well, as a welder/fabricator, I have to say, the welds don't look good. However, I've seen some ugly welds that held for years so, as long as you're confident (provided, you've done it before and it held), it'll prolly be fine. And I've seen some "purdy" welds, by wannabe welders, which broke right off at the first sign of stress! I love to laugh at those guys!
It's, certainly, an improvement, as far as appearance.
Of course, you just cashed in any warranty you might have had.

I have an old "skinny" for a spare. It's much thinner than my current tires, but it's the smane height.
I used to run skinnies on the front, until I had one blow out at about 115mph (a bad thing). Now, the good one is just a spare. And guess what ... It's been my spare for about 9 years (guessing) and I've never used it!

 

I have a spare under my truck, but removed the jack long ago. I too, keep my AAA card with me.