2003 GMC SONOMA spare wheel

Off-Road Driving with Your
Four-Wheel-Drive Vehicle
This off-road guide is for vehicles that have four-wheel
drive.
Also, seeAnti-Lock BrakesunderBraking on page 4-5.
If your vehicle doesn’t have four-wheel drive, you
shouldn’t drive off-road unless you’re on a level, solid
surface.
Off-road driving can be great fun. But it does have
some denite hazards. The greatest of these is
the terrain itself.
'Off-roading' means you’ve left the great North American
road system behind. Traffic lanes aren’t marked.
Curves aren’t banked. There are no road signs.
Surfaces can be slippery, rough, uphill or downhill.
In short, you’ve gone right back to nature.
Off-road driving involves some new skills. And that’s
why it’s very important that you read this guide.
You’llnd many driving tips and suggestions. These will
help make your off-road driving safer and more
enjoyable.
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 inated?
Are theuid 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.
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Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement..............5-56
Tires..............................................................5-58
Inflation–Tire Pressure................................5-58
Tire Inspection and Rotation...........................5-60
When It Is Time for New Tires.......................5-61
Buying New Tires.........................................5-62
Uniform Tire Quality Grading..........................5-63
Wheel Alignment and Tire Balance..................5-64
Wheel Replacement......................................5-65
Tire Chains..................................................5-66
If a Tire Goes Flat........................................5-67
Changing a Flat Tire.....................................5-68
Compact Spare Tire......................................5-78
Appearance Care............................................5-79
Cleaning the Inside of Your Vehicle.................5-79
Care of Safety Belts......................................5-82
Weatherstrips...............................................5-82
Cleaning the Outside of Your Vehicle..............5-82Sheet Metal Damage.....................................5-85
Finish Damage.............................................5-85
Underbody Maintenance................................5-85
Chemical Paint Spotting.................................5-85
GM Vehicle Care/Appearance Materials...........5-86
Vehicle Identification......................................5-87
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).................5-87
Service Parts Identification Label.....................5-88
Electrical System............................................5-88
Add-On Electrical Equipment..........................5-88
Headlamps..................................................5-88
Windshield Wiper Fuses................................5-88
Power Windows and Other Power Options.......5-88
Fuses and Circuit Breakers
............................5-89
Capacities and Specifications
..........................5-94
Capacities and Specifications
.........................5-95
Normal Maintenance Replacement Parts
..........5-96
Section 5 Service and Appearance Care
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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. SeeWhen It Is Time
for New Tires on page 5-61andWheel Replacement
on page 5-65for 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 5-68.
The purpose of regular rotation is to achieve more
uniform wear for all tires on the vehicle. Thefirst rotation
is the most important. See“Part A: Scheduled
Maintenance Services,”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.
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Buying New Tires
Tofind out what kind and size of tires you need,
look at the Certification/Tire label.
The tires installed on your vehicle when it was new had
a Tire Performance Criteria Specification (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“MS”
(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 rimanges 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.
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Changing a Flat Tire
If a tire goesflat, avoid further tire and wheel damage
by driving slowly to a level place. Turn on your
hazard warningflashers.
{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 brakermly.
2. Put an automatic transmission shift lever in
PARK (P), or shift a manual transmission to
FIRST (1) or REVERSE (R).
3. Turn off the engine.
Put the wheel 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 inside the
plastic jack cover which is behind the front seats, either
on the center of the wall (extended cab) or on the
passenger’s side of the wall (regular cab).
The jacking equipment for the crew cab is located behind
the rear seatback on the passenger’s side of the vehicle.
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1. To remove it, turn the plastic wing nut
counterclockwise. Remove the jack cover.
2. Turn the wing nut counterclockwise and 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.3. Insert the chisel end
of the wheel wrench,
on an angle, into
the hole in the rear
bumper.
Be sure the chisel end of the wheel wrench
connects into the hoist shaft.
4. Turn the wheel wrench counterclockwise to lower
the spare tire. Keep turning the wheel wrench until
the spare tire can be pulled out from under the
vehicle.
5. When the tire has been completely lowered, tilt the
retainer at the end of the cable and pull it through
the wheel opening.
6. Pull the tire out from under the vehicle.
If your vehicle is equipped with a compact spare
tire, it is stowed underneath the rear of your vehicle.
SeeCompact Spare Tire on page 5-78for more
information about the compact spare.
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Notice:To help avoid vehicle damage, do not drive
the vehicle before the cable is restowed.
7. Put the spare tire near theflat tire.
The tools you’ll be using include the jack (A) and wheel
wrench (B). Your vehicle may also have an optional
hub cap removal tool.Removing Wheel Covers
Position the bent end of your hub cap removal tool
(shown), or the chisel end of your wheel wrench, in the
notch of the hub cap and pry off the hub cap.
Some of the molded plastic hub caps have imitation
wheel nuts molded into them. The wheel wrench won’t
fit these imitation nuts, so don’t try to remove them
with the socket end of the wheel wrench.
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If you have individual wheel nut caps that cover each
nut, they must be removed in order to get to the wheel
nuts. Use the socket end of the wheel wrench to
remove the wheel nut caps.
Your wheel nut caps may attach your hub cap to the
wheel. Remove these wheel nut caps before you take
off the hub cap.
Removing the Flat Tire and Installing
the Spare Tire
1. Using the wheel wrench, loosen all the wheel nuts.
Don’t remove them yet.
2. Turn the jack handle clockwise slightly to raise the
jack lift head.
3. Fit the jack into the appropriate hole nearest the
flat tire.
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