Can lower the spare but there is a holder in middle of tire. Looks like it should be knotted through the center hole. However, also looks like the wire rope will stop it from coming back up through the hole.

 

Unless the cable/bracket has been modified, you are suppose to lower the tire via the wench cable until the tire is flat on the ground and has some slack in the cable. Then you lift one side of the tire to put more slack on the cable. Then you turn the bracket at an 45 degree angle to the tire to slide it through the center hole with the cable still attached to it. Basically, if the tire was laying flat on the horizontal axis, the bracket will need to be vertical to slide through. Hope that explains it for ya.