355
Safety features of your vehicle
Just before impact, drivers often brake
heavily. Such heavy braking lowers the
front portion of the vehicle causing it to
“ride” under a vehicle with a higher
ground clearance. Air bags may not
inflate in this "under-ride" situation
because deceleration forces that are
detected by sensors may be signifi-
cantly reduced by such “under-ride”
collisions.Air bags do not inflate in most rollover
accidents, even though the vehicle is
equipped with side impact air bags and
curtain air bags. Air bags may not inflate if the vehicle
collides with objects such as utility
poles or trees, where the point of
impact is concentrated to one area and
the deceleration forces are significant-
ly reduced.
OFS031045OED036104OFS031048
What to do in an emergency
18 6
Important - use of compact spare tire
(if equipped)
If your vehicle is equipped with a
compact spare tire, it will take up less
space than a regular-size tire. This
tire is smaller than a conventional tire
and is designed for temporary use
only.
The compact spare should be inflat-
ed to 60 psi (420 kPa).
✽ ✽
NOTICE
Check the inflation pressure after
installing the spare tire. Adjust it to
the specified pressure, as necessary.
When using a compact spare tire,
observe the following precautions:
Under no circumstances should you
exceed 50 mph (80 km/h); a higher
speed could damage the tire.
Ensure that you drive slowly enough
for the road conditions to avoid all
hazards. Any road hazard, such as a
pothole or debris, could seriously
damage the compact spare.
Any continuous road use of this tire
could result in tire failure, loss of
vehicle control, and possible per-
sonal injury.
Do not exceed the vehicle’s maxi-
mum load rating or the load-carry-
ing capacity shown on the sidewall
of the compact spare tire.
Avoid driving over obstacles. The
compact spare tire diameter is
smaller than the diameter of a con-
ventional tire and reduces the
ground clearance approximately 1
inch (25 mm), which could result in
damage to the vehicle.
Do not take this vehicle through an
automatic car wash while the com-
pact spare tire is installed.
CAUTION
You should drive carefully
when the compact spare is in
use. The compact spare
should be replaced by the
proper conventional tire and
rim at the first opportunity.
The operation of this vehicle
is not recommended with
more than one compact spare
tire in use at the same time.
WARNING
The compact spare tire is for
emergency use only. Do not
operate your vehicle on this
compact spare at speeds over
50 mph (80 km/h). The original
tire should be repaired or
replaced as soon as is possible
to avoid failure of the spare
possibly leading to personal
injury or death.
Maintenance
54 7
Compact spare tire replacement
(if equipped)
A compact spare tire has a shorter
tread life than a regular size tire.
Replace it when you can see the
tread wear indicator bars on the tire.
The replacement compact spare tire
should be the same size and design
tire as the one provided with your
new vehicle and should be mounted
on the same compact spare tire
wheel. The compact spare tire is not
designed to be mounted on a regular
size wheel, and the compact spare
tire wheel is not designed for mount-
ing a regular size tire.Wheel replacement
When replacing the metal wheels for
any reason, make sure the new
wheels are equivalent to the original
factory units in diameter, rim width
and offset.Tire traction
Tire traction can be reduced if you
drive on worn tires, tires that are
improperly inflated or on slippery
road surfaces. Tires should be
replaced when tread wear indicators
appear. To reduce the possibility of
losing control, slow down whenever
there is rain, snow or ice on the road.
Tire maintenance
In addition to proper inflation, correct
wheel alignment helps to decrease
tire wear. If you find a tire is worn
unevenly, have your dealer check the
wheel alignment.
When you have new tires installed,
make sure they are balanced. This
will increase vehicle ride comfort and
tire life. Additionally, a tire should
always be rebalanced if it is removed
from the wheel.
WARNING
A wheel that is not the correct
size may adversely affect wheel
and bearing life, braking and
stopping abilities, handling char-
acteristics, ground clearance,
body-to-tire clearance, snow
chain clearance, speedometer
and odometer calibration, head-
light aim and bumper height.
