"The problem is my
spare.  I went to remove the spare yesterday in order to do some work on the
heater hoses.  I couldn't get the carrier open because of extreme pressure
from the tire that is in there.  I'm at Dave and Sandy Milo's house and Dave
and I finally managed to get the thing open."

Try this first, Maggie:
air it down. waaaaay down. carry some kind of pump/s or compressed canned
air. My spare fits in the clamshell (although that's modified a little) and
is a 215/65-16 set up. Snug and fits just fine.
Your diameter is 26.1" while mine is 27.0", and mine is wider by far. It is
very likely that, even with your extra hoses that you still have space up
there for just the tire, minus the air.

What I did with my clamshell: I took it off, removed that steel bar, put
some gate hinges on the frame
cross member to drop the clamshell about 1 1/2" or 2", put the clamshell
back on and that gave me enough room at the back end of the stow place for
the extra width. The front, where the bolt is, just tightens down until I
get maybe 40/50 lbs torque.

I have one of the volks caf� mod bars for the spare if you need it. I don't
use it anymore.

bob