I did mine like 30,000 miles ago, but I didn't drop the spare. Did it give you a lot more access?
I don't remember it being in the way, but that doesn't mean much since it was so long ago. Haha
It did help me have more space to maneuver. I'm sure I could have done it with the spare in place, but I was laying on my yard and it is slightly higher than the section of the driveway where I parked.
It only took a minute to drop the spare and slide it out of the way.
Ninja Edit: If I was going to do it again, I would have spent 10 minutes grabbing the pressure washer, and clearing out the chunks of dirt from under the front and rear diffs. Ah well, such is life.