I was reading my manual this morning and it said if you have a flat on the front of a SS the spare will not fit due to the larger front brakes and you must take off a rear wheel to put on the front and then put the spare on the rear. That's a *****. Those with the SS may take note of this.

 

Yes, I read that as well. I am glad I did becuase I would have been ticked off if I couldnt get it right the first time.
JV

 

If I'm not mistaken proper spare tire usage is to put the spare of the rear of the vehicle and move a full size tire/wheel to the front on any vehicle anyways.

 

I would say the spare should fit..
The front rotors are the same as the others..

http://www.zercustoms.com/news/2008-...-revealed.html

Brakes
- Type: power 4-wheel disc with standard anti-lock; 54mm single-piston front calipers and 38mm single-piston rear calipers
- Rotor diameter x thickness(in / mm): front: 11.65 x 1.02 / 296 x 26 (vented)
- Disc diameter x width (in / mm): Rear: 9.84 x 0.55 / 270 x 14 (solid)

Or my guess , they used different types of calipers...

http://www.chevrolet.com/hhr/specifications/

Front
Rotor size (in.) (dia. x thick.) 11.65 x 1.02
Rear
Drum size (in.) (dia. x thick.) 9.84 x 1.


Unless chevy did something different and didn't document it to the public..

Try to put your spare on... let us know..

Other possible change was, different type of calipers..

 

Maybe they state it this way because of the upcoming Brembo option, that way someone that doesn't really know anything about what their car is equipped with won't get in a jamb. This keeps Chevy from putting out a revision to the manual later, you know...cover your a**!

 

boy its a PITA to have to change a spare, to have to change TWO tires if you get a flat, man double PITA. Esp if the weather is bad.
hmmmmm. Nice planning ahead, Chevy!

 

Another reason might be if you have the LSD, you would want the same size tires on the front. I would rather have the dognut on the rear anyway.

Just remember....

Roadside Assistance.......

 

If you want to be real cool, you just buy another factory rim that matches yours and then just use it instead of the spare. Would love to do that with just the regular HHR.

 

My Crossfire didn't have a spare at all (2 different tire sizes), it just came with a can of "Fix a Flat".

 

Do they provide two jacks so you can jack up the front and the back at the same time? If not, that's a real pain! I think I'd buy a full size spare if it fit in the tire compartment.