tire size SUBARU BAJA 2003 1.G Owners Manual

1-26
Precautions against vehicle modification CAUTION
Do not perform any of the following modifications. Such modifi- cations can interfere with proper operation of the seatbelt perten-sioners. Attachment of any equipment (bush bar, winches, snow plow,
skid plate, etc.) other than SUBARU genuine accessory parts tothe front end. Modification of the suspension system or front end structure.
Installation of a tire of different size and construction from the
tires specified on the tire placard attached to the door jamb.
Always consult your SUBARU dealer if you want to install any acces-
sory parts to your vehicle.
Child restraint systems
WARNING
Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while the
vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child frominjury in a collision, because the child will be caught between the
passenger and objects inside the vehicle. Additionally, holding achild in your lap or arms in the front seat exposes that child to
another serious danger. Since the SRS airbag deploys with con-
siderable speed and force, the child could be injured or evenkilled. Put children aged 12 and under in the rear seat properly re-
strained at all times. The SRS airbag deploys with considerablespeed and force and can injure or even kill children, especially ifthey are 12 years of age and under and are not restrained or im-properly restrained. Because children are lighter and weaker than
adults, their risk of being injured from deployment is greater.

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-53
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Installation of a tire of different size and construction from the
tires specified on the tire placard attached to the driver ’s door
jamb.
Always consult your SUBARU dealer if you want to install any accessory
parts to your vehicle.

Starting and operating7-21
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Rear viscous limited slip differential (LSD) (if equipped)
CAUTION
Never start the engine while a tire on one side is jacked up, as
the vehicle may move. If one rear tire is spinning in mud, avoid continued spinning at
high speed as this could adversely affect the LSD. If a different size rear tire is temporarily used (as in an emer-
gency), it will adversely affect the LSD. Always replace it with aregular size tire as soon as possible.
The LSD provides optimum distribution of power according to the differ-
ence in revolutions between the right and left rear wheels that may be
caused by certain driving conditions, thereby improving driving stability
on snow-covered, muddy or other slippery roads. Power steering
CAUTION
Do not hold the steering wheel at the fully locked position left or right for more than five seconds. This may damage the powersteering pump.
The power steering system operates only when the engine is running.
If you lose power steering assist because the engine stops or the system
fails to function, you can steer but it will take much more effort. NOTE Right after the engine has been started and before it has warmed up, you may hear a noise coming from areas adjacent to the powersteering pump which is located at the right-front area of the enginecompartment. This noise is normal. It does not indicate power steer-ing system trouble.

Driving tips8-7
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ing. Therefore, when driving down a slope or turning corners, be sure to
reduce your speed and maintain an ample distance from other vehicles.When replacing a tire, make sure you use only the same size, circum-
ference, construction, brand, and load range as the original tires listed on
the tire placard. Using other sizes, circumferences or construction may re-
sult in severe mechanical damage to the drive train of your vehicle and
may affect ride, handling, braking, speedometer/odometer calibration, and
clearance between the body and tires. It also may be dangerous and lead
to loss of vehicle control. If you use a temporary spare tire to replace a flat tire, be sure to use
the original temporary spare tire stored in the vehicle. Using other sizes
may result in severe mechanical damage to the drive train of your vehicle. Always check the cold tire pressure before starting to drive. The rec-
ommended tire pressure is provided on the tire placard, which is locatedunder the door latch on the driver ’s side.
Tire chains should always be placed on the front wheels only.
There are some precautions that you must observe when towing your
vehicle. For detail information, see “Towing” section in Chapter 9.
Off road driving
WARNING
Always maintain a safe driving speed according to the road
and weather conditions in order to avoid having an accident on asharp turn, during sudden braking or under other similar condi-tions. Always use the utmost care in driving – overconfidence
because you are driving an all wheel drive vehicle could easilylead to a serious accident.
Because of the AWD feature and higher ground clearance, your Subaru
can be driven on ordinary roads or off-road. But please keep in mind that
an AWD Subaru is neither a conventional off-road vehicle nor an all-ter-
rain vehicle. If you do take your Subaru off-road, certain common sense
precautions such as the following should be taken:

Driving tips8-13
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flow control dial in “” and the temperature control dial set for max-
imum warmth. After the windshield gets warmed enough to melt the
frozen snow on it, wash it away using the windshield washer.
Snow stuck on the wiper arm prevents the wiper from working effec-
tively. If snow is stuck on the wiper arm, pull off the road to a safe
place, then remove it. If you stop the car at road side, use the hazard
warning flasher to alert other drivers.
We recommend use of non-freezing type wiper blades (winter blades)
during the seasons you could have snow and sub-zero temperatures.
Blades of this type give superior wiping performance in snowy condi-
tions. Be sure to use blades that are suitable for your vehicle. Corrosion protection
Refer to the “Corrosion protection ” section (Chapter 10).
Snow tires
WARNING
When replacing original tires with winter (snow) tires, make
sure you use only the same size and construction as recom- mended. Using other sizes or construction may affect speedome-ter/odometer calibration and clearance between the body and
tires. It also may be dangerous and lead to loss of vehicle con-trol. You must install four winter tires that are of the same size, cir-
cumferences, construction, brand, and load range. Mixing othersizes, circumferences or constructions may result in severe me-
chanical damage to the drive train of your vehicle and may affect
ride, handling, braking and speedometer/odometer calibration. Italso may be dangerous and lead to loss of vehicle control. Do not use a combination of radial, belted bias or bias tires
since it may cause dangerous handling characteristics and leadto an accident.

8-14
Your vehicle is equipped with “all season tires ” which are designed to
provide an adequate measure of traction, handling and braking perfor-
mance in year-round driving. In winter, it may be possible to enhance
performance through use of tires designed specifically for winter drivingconditions.
If you choose to install winter tires on your vehicle, be sure to use the
correct tire size and type. You must install four winter tires that are of thesame size, construction, brand and load range and you should never
mix radial, belted bias or bias tires since this may result in dangerous
handling characteristics. When you choose a tire, make sure that there is
enough clearance between the tire and vehicle body.
Remember to drive with care at all times regardless of the type of tires on your vehicle.
Your vehicle comes with P225/60R16 “all season tires ” as original
equipment. You should be aware that some winter tires with that
same size designation may actually be too large for the vehicle andmay cause rubbing on sharp turns. Listed below is the winter tiresize that we recommend.
Recommended winter (snow) tire size P215/60R16 Studless
Tire chains
CAUTION
Tire chains cannot be used on tires listed below because of lack
of clearance between the tires and vehicle body. P225/60R16 tires
P215/60R16 winter (snow) tires
Driving on snowy grades or icy roads may require the use of tire chains,
in which case put the chains on the front wheels only. Use only SAE
class S type chains that are of the correct size for your tires so as not to
damage the vehicle body or suspension.

8-32
nTires
WARNING
Never tow a trailer when the temporary spare tire is used. The temporary spare tire is not designed to sustain the towing load.
Use of the temporary spare tire when towing can result in failureof the spare tire and/or less stability of the vehicle.
Make sure that all the tires on your vehicle are properly inflated.
The recommended cold tire pressure under trailer towing conditions
is indicated on the tire placard located under the door striker on the
driver’ s side. Adjust the rear tire pressure to the recommended pres-
sure shown on the tire placard when the tires are cold. Normal pres-
sure should be maintained in the front tires.
Trailer tire condition, size, load rating and proper inflation pressure
should be in accordance with the trailer manufacturer ’s specifications.
In the event your vehicle gets a flat tire when towing a trailer, ask a
commercial road service to repair the flat tire.
If you carry a regular size spare tire in your vehicle or trailer as a pre-
caution against getting a flat tire, be sure that the spare tire is firmly
secured. Trailer towing tips CAUTION
Never exceed 45 mph (72 km/h) when towing a trailer in hilly
country on hot days. When towing a trailer, steering, stability, stopping distance and
braking performance will be different from normal operation. For
safety’ s sake, you should employ extra caution when towing a
trailer and you should never speed. You should also keep the fol-lowing tips in mind:

9-8
HB9056AA
5. Tilt the retainer at the end of the cable and pull it through the cen-
ter of the temporary spare tire.
6. After the temporary spare tire is removed from the cable, the cable
must be wound up completely by turning the hoist nut shaft clockwise
until you hear a clicking sound. Also visually inspect the cable to
make certain that there is no longer any slack present.WARNING
When using the spare tire hoist:
After the temporary spare tire is removed from the cable, wind
the cable up completely until the retainer at end of the cable sitsagainst the underside of the vehicle. Driving with the cable notretracted fully could result in damage to the adjacent under floorparts and lead to a serious accident. The spare tire holder is designed to carry only the smaller tem-
porary spare tire. Never store a full size tire (flat or otherwise) in
the spare tire holder. Doing so can result in damage to adjacentunder floor parts and can lead to a serious accident.
CAUTION
When using the spare tire hoist:Do not use air tools or power tools to turn the spare tire hoist
shaft end. If you do, it could result in severe mechanical damageto the spare tire hoist.

In case of emergency9-9
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Re-storage of spare tire
1. Turn the spare tire hoist shaft end counterclockwise with the wheel
nut wrench to loosen the cable sufficiently enough to allow the cable
end retainer go through center hole of the temporary spare tire.
2. Insert the retainer through the center hole of the temporary tire
(with the outside of the tire facing up).
3. Turn the hoist shaft end clockwise with the wheel nut wrench towind the cable up completely until you hear a few clicking sounds.
Confirm that the temporary spare tire holding cable has been wound
up completely by shaking the temporary tire.
CAUTION
If the temporary spare tire is not stored securely, it could damage
adjacent areas of the vehicle and make an abnormal noise.
4. Put the rubber cap on the hoist shaft end hole.
5. Place the wheel nut wrench back into the tool bag and store thejack and tool bag in their storage locations.
Temporary spare tire Using the temporary spare tire
WARNING
Never tow a trailer when the temporary spare tire is used. The temporary spare tire is not designed to sustain the towing load.
Use of the temporary spare tire when towing can result in failureof the spare tire and/or less stability of the vehicle and may leadto an accident.
CAUTION
Never use any temporary spare tire other than the original. Usingother sizes may result in severe mechanical damage to the drivetrain of your vehicle.

9-10
The temporary spare tire is smaller and lighter than a conventional tire
and is designed for emergency use only. Remove the temporary spare
tire and re-install the conventional tire as soon as possible because the
spare tire is designed only for temporary use.
Check the inflation pressure of the temporary spare tire periodically to
keep the tire ready for use. The correct pressure is 60 psi (420 kPa, 4.2
kg/cm 2
).
When using the temporary spare tire, note the following: Do not exceed 50 mph (80 km/h).
Do not put a tire chain on the temporary spare tire. Because of the
smaller tire size, a tire chain will not fit properly. Do not use two or more temporary spare tires at the same time.
Do not drive over obstacles. This tire has a smaller diameter, so
road clearance is reduced. When the wear indicator appears on the tread, replace the tire.
HB8003BB
HG0106
Indicator location mark
Tread wear indicator bar
NOTE [Automatic transmission vehicle] Before driving your vehicle with the temporary spare tire, put a spare fuse inside the FWD connectorlocated in the engine compartment and confirm that the Front-wheeldrive warning light comes on. The all wheel drive capability of the
vehicle has now been deactivated. After re-installing the convention-al tire, remove the spare fuse from the FWD connector in order to
reactivate all wheel drive.