spare tire CHEVROLET BLAZER 2003 2.G Owners Manual

To raise the seatbacks, lift up the seatbacks and push
until they lock in the upright position. Push and pull
on the seatbacks to check that the latches have locked
in the upright position. If they haven't, see your
dealer for service.
To return the head restraints to the upright position,
reach behind the seats and pull the head restraint
up until it locks into position.
On two-door models with an inside mounted spare tire,
the driver's side rear seat head restraint must be
lifted and held upright as the seatback is raised.
Otherwise, the head restraint will hit the spare tire and
prevent the seatback from properly latching.Push and pull on the head restraints to check that they
have locked in the upright position. If they haven't,
see your dealer for service.
{CAUTION:
If the seatback isn't locked, it could move
forward in a sudden stop or crash. That could
cause injury to the person sitting there. Always
press rearward on the seatback to be sure it is
locked.
{CAUTION:
A safety belt that is improperly routed, not
properly attached, or twisted won't provide the
protection needed in a crash. The person
wearing the belt could be seriously injured.
After raising the rear seatback, always check
to be sure that the safety belts are properly
routed and attached, and are not twisted.
1-8

Tailgate-Mounted Spare
If your vehicle has a tailgate mounted spare tire carrier,
you must move the carrier arm out of the way to
open the glass.
Here's how to move the arm:
1. Squeeze the release handle to free the carrier arm.2. Swing the carrier arm away from the tailgate. You
may need to give it a slight tug.
3. Latch the carrier arm by swinging it toward the
tailgate.
Sun Visors
To block out glare, you can pull the visor down. You
can also swing the visor from side-to-side.
2-16

Before You Go Off-Roading
There are some things to do before you go out. For
example, be sure to have all necessary maintenance
and service work done. Check to make sure all
underbody shields, if so equipped, are properly attached.
Be sure you read all the information about your
four-wheel-drive vehicle in this manual. Is there enough
fuel? Is the spare tire fully in¯ated? Are the ¯uid
levels up where they should be? What are the local
laws that apply to off-roading where you'll be driving? If
you don't know, you should check with law enforcement
people in the area. Will you be on someone's private
land? If so, be sure to get the necessary permission.
Loading Your Vehicle for Off-Road
Driving
There are some important things to remember about
how to load your vehicle.
·The heaviest things should be on the load ¯oor and
forward of your rear axle. Put heavier items as far
forward as you can.
·Be sure the load is secured properly, so driving on
the off-road terrain doesn't toss things around.
{CAUTION:
·Cargo on the load ¯oor piled higher than
the seatbacks can be thrown forward
during a sudden stop. You or your
passengers could be injured. Keep cargo
below the top of the seatbacks.
·Unsecured cargo on the load ¯oor can be
tossed about when driving over rough
terrain. You or your passengers can be
struck by ¯ying objects. Secure the cargo
properly.
·Heavy loads on the roof raise the vehicle's
center of gravity, making it more likely to
roll over. You can be seriously or fatally
injured if the vehicle rolls over. Put heavy
loads inside the cargo area, not on the
roof. Keep cargo in the cargo area as far
forward and low as possible.
You'll ®nd other important information in this manual.
See
Loading Your Vehicle on page 4-52,Luggage
Carrier on page 2-56andTires on page 5-54.
4-16

If a Tire Goes Flat........................................5-62
Changing a Flat Tire.....................................5-63
Compact Spare Tire......................................5-75
Spare Tire...................................................5-76
Appearance Care............................................5-76
Cleaning the Inside of Your Vehicle.................5-77
Care of Safety Belts......................................5-78
Weatherstrips...............................................5-79
Cleaning the Outside of Your Vehicle..............5-79
Sheet Metal Damage.....................................5-81
Finish Damage.............................................5-81
Underbody Maintenance................................5-81
Chemical Paint Spotting.................................5-82
Vehicle Care/Appearance Materials..................5-82Vehicle Identi®cation......................................5-83
Vehicle Identi®cation Number (VIN).................5-83
Service Parts Identi®cation Label.....................5-84
Electrical System............................................5-84
Add-On Electrical Equipment..........................5-84
Headlamps..................................................5-84
Windshield Wiper Fuses................................5-85
Power Windows and Other Power Options.......5-85
Fuses and Circuit Breakers............................5-85
Capacities and Speci®cations..........................5-91
Normal Maintenance Replacement Parts..........5-92
Section 5 Service and Appearance Care
5-2

When to Check
Check your tires once a month or more.
Also, check the tire pressure of the spare tire.
If you have a compact spare tire, it should be at
60 psi (420 kPa).
How to Check
Use a good quality pocket-type gage to check tire
pressure. You can't tell if your tires are properly in¯ated
simply by looking at them. Radial tires may look
properly in¯ated even when they're underin¯ated.
Be sure to put the valve caps back on the valve stems.
They help prevent leaks by keeping out dirt and
moisture.
Tire Inspection and Rotation
Tires should be rotated every 6,000 to 8,000 miles
(10 000 to 13 000 km).
Any time you notice unusual wear, rotate your tires as
soon as possible and check wheel alignment. Also
check for damaged tires or wheels. See
When It Is Time
for New Tires on page 5-57andWheel Replacement
on page 5-60for more information.Make sure the spare tire is stored securely. Push, pull,
and then try to rotate or turn the tire. If it moves,
use the wheel wrench to tighten the cable. See
Changing a Flat Tire on page 5-63.
The purpose of regular rotation is to achieve more
uniform wear for all tires on the vehicle. The ®rst rotation
is the most important. See ªPart A: Scheduled
Maintenance Services,º in Section 6, for scheduled
rotation intervals.
When rotating your tires, always use one of the correct
rotation patterns shown here.
If your vehicle has a compact spare tire or a spare tire
that does not match your vehicle's regular road tires
and wheels in size and type, do not include the spare in
the tire rotation.
5-56

Buying New Tires
To ®nd out what kind and size of tires you need, look at
the Certi®cation/Tire label.
The tires installed on your vehicle when it was new had
a Tire Performance Criteria Speci®cation (TPC Spec)
number on each tire's sidewall. When you get new tires,
get ones with that same TPC Spec number. That way
your vehicle will continue to have tires that are designed
to give proper endurance, handling, speed rating,
traction, ride and other things during normal service on
your vehicle. If your tires have an all-season tread
design, the TPC number will be followed by an ªMSº (for
mud and snow).
If you ever replace your tires with those not having a
TPC Spec number, make sure they are the same size,
load range, speed rating and construction type (bias,
bias-belted or radial) as your original tires.{CAUTION:
Mixing tires could cause you to lose control
while driving. If you mix tires of different sizes
or types (radial and bias-belted tires), the
vehicle may not handle properly, and you
could have a crash. Using tires of different
sizes may also cause damage to your vehicle.
Be sure to use the same size and type tires on
all wheels. It's all right to drive with your
compact spare (if you have one). It was
developed for use on your vehicle.
{CAUTION:
If you use bias-ply tires on your vehicle, the
wheel rim ¯anges could develop cracks after
many miles of driving. A tire and/or wheel
could fail suddenly, causing a crash. Use only
radial-ply tires with the wheels on your vehicle.
5-58

Uniform Tire Quality Grading
Quality grades can be found where applicable on the
tire sidewall between tread shoulder and maximum
section width. For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A
The following information relates to the system
developed by the United States National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, which grades tires by
treadwear, traction and temperature performance. (This
applies only to vehicles sold in the United States.)
The grades are molded on the sidewalls of most
passenger car tires. The Uniform Tire Quality Grading
system does not apply to deep tread, winter-type
snow tires, space-saver or temporary use spare tires,
tires with nominal rim diameters of 10 to 12 inches
(25 to 30 cm), or to some limited-production tires.
While the tires available on General Motors passenger
cars and light trucks may vary with respect to these
grades, they must also conform to federal safety
requirements and additional General Motors Tire
Performance Criteria (TPC) standards.
Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a comparative rating based on
the wear rate of the tire when tested under controlled
conditions on a speci®ed government test course.
For example, a tire graded 150 would wear one and
a half (1.5) times as well on the government course as
a tire graded 100. The relative performance of tires
depends upon the actual conditions of their use,
however, and may depart signi®cantly from the norm
due to variations in driving habits, service practices and
differences in road characteristics and climate.
Traction ± AA, A, B, C
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are AA, A,
B, and C. Those grades represent the tire's ability
to stop on wet pavement as measured under controlled
conditions on speci®ed government test surfaces of
asphalt and concrete. A tire marked C may have poor
traction performance. Warning: The traction grade
assigned to this tire is based on straight-ahead braking
traction tests, and does not include acceleration,
cornering, hydroplaning, or peak traction characteristics.
5-59

Changing a Flat Tire
If a tire goes ¯at, avoid further tire and wheel damage
by driving slowly to a level place. Turn on your
hazard warning ¯ashers.
{CAUTION:
Changing a tire can cause an injury. The
vehicle can slip off the jack and roll over you
or other people. You and they could be badly
injured. Find a level place to change your tire.
To help prevent the vehicle from moving:
1. Set the parking brake ®rmly.
2. Put the shift lever in PARK (P).
3. Turn off the engine.
To be even more certain the vehicle won't
move, you can put blocks at the front and rear
of the tire farthest away from the one being
changed. That would be the tire on the other
side of the vehicle, at the opposite end.The following steps will tell you how to use the jack and
change a tire.
Removing the Spare Tire and Tools
The jacking equipment you'll need is stored along the
driver's side inner rear quarter panel. In some cases,
you may have to remove the spare tire in order to reach
the jack. Your vehicle is also equipped with work
gloves and a plastic ground mat to assist in the changing
of a ¯at tire.
5-63

The following instructions explain how to remove the
spare tire, depending on where it is mounted on
your vehicle. See
Compact Spare Tire on page 5-75orSpare Tire on page 5-76for more information about
the spare.
1. To remove your jack
cover, pull up on the
latch(es) on the
cover. Remove the
wheel blocks, jack and
wheel wrench.
Notice:Never remove or restow a tire from/to a
stowage position under the vehicle while the vehicle
is supported by a jack. Always tighten the tire
fully against the underside of the vehicle when
restowing.2. To remove the
underbody-mounted
spare, insert the chisel
end of the wheel
wrench, on an angle,
into the hoist shaft hole
in the rear bumper.
Be sure the chisel end
of the wheel wrench
connects into the hoist
shaft.
3. Turn the wheel wrench counterclockwise to lower
the spare tire. Keep turning the wheel wrench until
the spare tire has been completely lowered. Tilt
the retainer at the end of the cable and pull it
through the wheel opening. Pull the tire out from
under the vehicle.
Notice:To help avoid vehicle damage, do not drive
the vehicle before the cable is restowed.
If you have an inside-mounted spare tire, the tire must
be removed in order to have access to the jack
storage.
5-64

To remove an inside-mounted spare tire, reach into your
tire's cover and unscrew the wing nut at the center of
the wheel. Remove it and the retainer. Unhook the
tire from the mounting bracket and remove the cover.
To remove a rear-mounted spare tire, ®rst make
sure that the carrier arm is fully-latched to the tailgate.
Then remove the spare tire cover.
If you have this feature,
the locking wheel nut can
be removed by snapping
the rubber weather
cover off the face of the
lock case.Insert the key and pull the
lock case straight off. It is
not necessary to turn
the key.
Put the spare tire near the ¯at tire.
5-65