Abstract: A vehicle spare tire carrier and stowage assembly for supporting a tire beneath the floor and to the rear of the axle. The tire is supported in a generally box-like structure having a bottom, side walls, a front end wall but with an open top and rear ends. The support structure is hinge-mounted at the top edge of the forward end wall for selective lowering of the rear portion by a handled actuator which is attached at a rearward portion of the tire support and projects through an opening in the vehicle floor. Once the rear portion of the tire support engages the ground, the tire is easily slid rearward to clear the vehicle overhang by application of a rearward force to the end of a flexible plastic strip member which extends beneath and around the forward end of the tire and is attached at the other end to the vehicle forward of the rear bumper.