I have the bracket

http://www.dodgeconnection.com/catalog/item/2901766/6284873.htm

J Bolt

http://www.dodgeconnection.com/catalog/item/2901766/6284877.htm

and J Bolt nut

http://www.dodgeconnection.com/catalog/item/2901766/6284881.htm

On the side of the bracket with the single hole, I have a bolt running up to the frame that is fixed and attached.

On the opposite end there are two holes. The oblong hole that is closer to the middle is on about a 45* bend on the bracket. I have the J bolt hooked into the frame and the thread runs down through the hole. I take the J bolt nut and start to screw it onto the J bolt. Only problem is that once it gets semi close to the bracket, the J bolt nut wont turn any longer because it contacts the sides of the spare tire bracket. It just won't thread on far enough to get tight.

I'm frustrated as hell and I cannot for the life of me figure it out. I've never use hardware like that nut and I've never seen one installed, nor can I even find a picture of one installed. Does anyone have an idiots guide for how to properly cinch up the spare tire to the bottom of the bed? Thanks.

The J bolt comes down through the end hole on the same end as the oval hole. With the mushroom end of the nut going up against the bracket.

Are you putting the J bolt through the flat end or channel end?? There are three holes so your description of "the hole" is a little vague.
The J bolt goes through the outermost hole on the flat end of the mount
If it still wont tighten sufficiently shorten the fixed end of the carrier.
As an additional precaution place a cable around the spare and chassis, its not un-common to get to where your going and find a missing spare...

You might want to at least buy it some flowers first.

Well?

Thanks for the replies fellas. I was putting the bolt through the wrong hole in the bracket because the hole in the frame that's closest to the real bumper just wasn't quite big enough to slip the J bolt through. I was figuring it just wasn't meant to go in that spot. I drilled it out just a tad and it went in.

After tightening the J bolt nut up, I noticed that the J bolt itself hung down 4-5" lower than the rear bumper and just looked bad so I ended up using a shorter bolt so you can't really see it hanging down. I'll either cut the J bolt or find a shorter one so less tools are required to remove the tire in case of a flat.

I used "C"-channel bolted to the stake pockets, and stood the tires up in the bed, then bolted them to the "C"-channel.
Not exactly what you were looking for however...
It does kinda answer the, "How do you mount the spare tire?" question.