Yes that is correct. It's hard on the transaxle otherwise.

Probably not an issue if you drive s l o w l y to get the tire fixed and get it fixed right away, however.

 

It might be hard on the transaxle but it also creates major handling problems considering that the front wheels are the ones that point you in the direction that you want to go. Traction and braking are affected by having a spare up front.

As for the comment about two jacks, it's really not that difficult to rotate a rear tire to replace a blown front. It's probably no more than 10 minutes of extra work on a decent day (maybe if you're in the rain or snow it could be a bit of a PITA.)

 

So, what's the workflow in this situation. Let's say my drivers' side front tire is flat.

Is it OK to jack up the drivers' side rear of the car, remove the good tire, insert doughnut, remove the jack, jack up the front, insert good wheel?

Or, is it a bad idea to jack up the rear of the car, since the weight will be on your flat front tire? -- if that's the case, aren't you up the creek without a paddle?

Thanks for humoring me...

 

If you have a flat on the front and you jack up the rear on the same side you actually transfer some weight more onto the opposite front tire (your good tire) so you don't really have to worry about the flat tire/rim. Besides, if you've encountered a flat while driving any damage that might be caused will likely occur at the beginning of deflation (I would imagine.)

So yeah, the procedure you outline works. Jack up the rear, put the donut on, move the rear to the front and your set.

 

give me a break!!! How many flats have you had in the last year anyway.. How many flats have you have int the last 5 years.. I use to drive a yukon up and down alleys as well as city and highways and in 3 years i might have had one flat... I got it stuck more than I got flats... Before that I had another job and had a pickup provided to me.. and did alot of "off road and dirt road driving" and in the eight years i had that pickup I probably had 1 maybe two flats"

Oh Iknow it sucks when you get a flat but come on it not like you do it every week....

 

tleaslie.....

you have a valid point about, "...how many flats....". We discussed that very issue on another thread when people were B******G about the space saver flat. I remember researching and found out the that the percentage of vehicle owners that experience a flat is very,very low. Also the percentage of non repairables in also very low....but I can't quote that number currently. It was published I believe by The American Tire Manufacturers Association.

Of course some members here are just unlucky and get a lot of flats. They kind of take up the slack of us members who seldom have the problem (huh, hhrcrafty).

In fact, I can't remember the last time I had a flat. I think it was back 5-6 vehicles, ago.

 

You're cold as ice, Snoopy...

Anyway, I have two words for SS owners: Run Flats. You have a LTPWS just like the Corvette now, so why not just get a set of EMTs? Take that silly useless donut out of there and save some weight or throw a set of subs or NOS in the well.

 

I would like to point out to many of you that the HHR is a FWD car. If i had a flat tire on the front, regardless of what the manual says, i would still move the rear full tire in place of the front tire. The front tires represent your steering, drive and a majority of breaking. Why would you even think twice. On a RWD your in a little catch 22 because your steering is effected if its the front, but your drive traction is effected on the back. I'd vote steering over drive as you shouldn't be blasting around on a spare and possibly ruin your wheel alignment with prolonged use.

 

I never used to have flat tires until I bought a Ford Windstar. Since 1998, I have had 8 flats, replaced 4 tires because of damaged caused when they went flat, and spent countless hours in the tire shop. I rotated the tires every 6,000 miles and kept them inflated. The only reason I can give is I live in "Hooterville" where roofing contractors use flatbed trailers to haul away old shingles. There have been tons of roofs replaced due to hurricanes and every lose nail somehow seems to find my tires.