wheel PONTIAC FIREBIRD 1996 Owner's Guide

Towing Your Vehicle
Try to have a Pontiac dealer or a professional towing
service tow your Firebird.
If your vehicle has been changed or modified since it
was factory-new by adding aftermarket items like
fog
lamps, aero skirting, or special tires and wheels, these
instructions may not be correct.
Before you do anything, turn on the hazard
warning flashers.
When you call, tell the towing service:
That your vehicle cannot be towed from the front or
That you vehicle has rea-wheel drive.
0 The make, model and year of your vehicle!
rear
with sling-type equipment.
0 Whether you can still move the shift lever.
0 If there was an accident, what was damaged.
When the towing service arrives, let the tow operator
know that this manual contains detailed towing
instructions and illustrations. The operator may want
to see them.
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To help avoid injury to you OF others:
0 Never let passengers ride in a vehicle that is
0 Never tow faster than safe or posted speeds.
0 Never tow with damaged parts not fully
secured.
0 Never get under your vehicle after it has
been lifted
by the tow truck.
0 Always secure the vehicle on each side with
separate safety
chains when tswhg it.
0 Never use J-hooks. Use T-hooks instead.
being towed.
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A CAUTION:
A vehicle can fall from a car carrier if it isn’t
adequately secured. This can cause
a collision,
serious personal injury and vehicle damage. The
vehicle should be tightly secured with chains or
steel cables before it
is transported.
Don’t use substitutes (ropes, leather straps,
canvas webbing, etc.) that can be cut by sharp
edgeswderneath the towed vehicle. Always use
T-hooks inserted in the T-hook slots. Never use
J-hooks. They will damage drivetrain and
suspension components.
When your vehicle is being towed, have the ignition
key turned #to the
OFF position. The steering wheel
should be clamped in a straight-ahead position, with
a clamping device designed for towing service. Do not
use the vehicle’s steering column lock
for this. The
transmission should be in
NEUTRAL (N) and the
parking brake released.
Don’t have your vehicle towed on the drive wheels
unless you must. If the
vehicle must be towed on the
drive wheels, be sure to follow the speed and distance
restrictions later in this section
or your transmission will
be damaged. If these limits must be exceeded, then the
drive wheels have to be supported on a dolly.
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Front Towing
Tow Limits -- 35 mph (55 kh), 50 miles (80 km)
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NOTICE:
Do not tow with sling-type equipment or
fascidfog light damage will occur.
Use wheel lift or car carrier equipment.
Additional ramping may be required
for car
carrier equipment.
Use safety chains and wheel straps.
.(.
Attach T-hook chains to slots in frame, rearward of front
wheels on both sides.
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NOTICE:
Do not attach winch cables or J-hooks to
suspension components when using car carrier
equipment. Always use T-hooks inserted in the
T-hook slots.
Attach a separate safety chain around outboard end of
each lower control arm.
NOTICE:
Take care not to damage the brake pipes and
hoses
or the ABS sensor and wiring.
NOTICE: 1
Towing a vehicle over rough surfaces could
damage
a vehicle. Damage can occur from
vehicle-to-ground or
vehicle-to-wheel-lift-equipment contact.
To help
avoid damage, install
a towing dolly and raise
vehicle until adequate clearance
is obtained
between the ground and/or wheel-lift equipment.
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Rear Towing
NOTICE:
Do not tow with sling-type equipment or rear
bumper valance will be damaged.
Use wheel lift or car carrier equipment.
Additional ramping may be required for car
carrier equipment.
Use safety chains and wheel straps.
Towing a vehicle over rough surfaces could
damage a vehicle. Damage can occur from vehicle
to ground
or vehicle to wheel lift equipment
contact. To help avoid damage, install a towing
dolly and raise vehicle until adequate clearance is
obtained between the ground and/or wheel-lift
equipment.
Do not attach winch cables or J-hooks to
suspension components when using car carrier
equipment. Always use T-hooks inserted in the
T-hook slots.
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Attach T-hook chains in front of rear wheels in bottom
of frame rail on both sides.
Attach a separate safety chain around each outboard end
of the rear axle.
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NOTICE:
Take care not -to damage the brake pipes and cables.
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If a Tire Goes Flat
It’s unusual for a tire to “blow out” while you’re driving,
especially
if you maintain your tires properly. If air goes
out of a tire, it’s much more likely to leak out slowly.
But if you should ever have a “blowout,” here are a few
tips about what to expect and what to do:
If a front tire fails, the flat tire will create a drag that
pulls the vehicle toward that side. Take your foot
off the
accelerator pedal and grip the steering wheel
firmly.
Steer to maintain lane position, and then gently bralie to
a stop well out
of the traffic lane.
A rear blowout, particularly on a curve, acts much like a
skid and may
require the same correction you’d use in a
skid. In any rear blowout, remove your foot from the
accelerator pedal. Get the vehicle under control by
steering the way you want the vehicle to
go. It may be
very bumpy and noisy, but you can still steer. Gently
brake to a stop
-- well off the road if possible.,
If a tire goes flat, the next part shows how to use your
jacking equipment to change a flat tire safely.
Changing a Flat Tire
If a tire goes flat, avoid further tire and wheel damage
by driving slowly
to a level place. Turn on your hazard
warning flashers.
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A CAUTILN:
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 firmly.
2. Put an automatic transmission shift
lever in
PARK (P), or shift a manual
transmission to
FIRST (1) or
REVERSE (a).
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.
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Find the plastic screw heads in the trim panel over the
spare tire. (See “Compact Spare’ Tire” later in this
section for more information about the compact spare.)
Use
a coin or a key to turn the screw heads until the
slots point front and back. Gently lift the trim panel and
move
it out of the way.
If you have speakers in the trim panel, you may have to
disconnect the wire form the speaker. The speaker wire
may be long enough to remove the trim panel without
disconnecting the wire.
Tu remove the jack and wheel wrench, loosen and
remove the bolt and remove the plastic cover.
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Remove the wing nut and adapter and pull out the spare. The tools you’ll be using include the jack (A) and wheel
wrench
(B).
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The jack has a bolt at the end. Attach the wheel wrench
to the jack bolt.
Turn the wheel wrench to the right to raise the lift
head a little.
If your wheel has a bolt-on center cap, loosen the plastic
caps using the wheel wrench.
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