Flat front tire, FWD fuse or not?
 

Have the spare on the front, should I put the FWD fuse in to drive it to the tire shop?

(Not driving it except to the shop)

I would. Some would also recommend putting the spare on the back and the good rear tire on the front.

yes you should. Wetaher the flat is front or rear, the speed diffenrce (id any) will show up as stress at the center diff/awd clutchpack. Much easier to put the fuse in then face a possible 800.00 repiar.

nipper

Oh yeah, forgot about that. If I have time tomorrow I'll switch them up. Only had it on the front for the two blocks to get back home. :o

I understand the FWD fuse/spare location rationale often stated here, but I've found nothing in the SVX owner's manual addressing the matter. Maybe that's an error of omission, but if ever I have to call my spare into service, I want my best rubber in front, 'cos under normal driving conditions those are the tires that do the work. The most important matter is to keep driving with the spare to an absolute minimum. It's for emergency use only.

dcb

The SVX does not have a center diff. It has a transfer clutch. If it had a center diff, it would be able to handle the difference, because that's what differentials do.

Not exactly true. You should always no matter if it is a fwd, rwd or 4wd vehicle have the better rubber on the back. Not for normal driving conditions but rather for emergency handling reasons. Only reason you've been told that is b/c its coming from the rwd era.

I learned this the hard way and can tell you 2 days before a weather front is coming through.

Not to discount your experience, but the front wheels do the steering, plus the majority of the pulling and stopping, so that's where I'd want my best tires under any circumstances. Nobody told me this; it just seems sensible. Now then, if my reasoning's flawed or i'm overlooking the obvious, it wouldn't be the first time...

The possibility of damaging the rear diff is the only reason I can fathom that anybody'd want to run a donut spare on the front and again, nothing I've read in the owner's manual suggests that such damage could occur. Surely the outer diameter of the spare was deliberately selected to closely match that of the other tires.

dcb

Sorry again you're wrong, granted logical in your reasoning but still in error. A car is steered by the whole chasis not just the fronts. Check out even Tireracks recommendations. Basically in an emergency situation if your front tires loose grip later than the rears you'll go into a spin
however, if the opposite is true the car will be more than managable in will simply oversteer hence it is ALWAYS recommended to put the better tires on the rear than the fronts.

Granted in everyday driving situations the car will feel more stable with balds on the rear and new tires up front but it isn't for normal driving rather emergency driving. There are still plenty who say put it on the drive axle but most of those either used your logic or are of the RWD era and just assumed that was the reasoning. I too had my eyes opened to this as I once thought the same as you:D.

As for the doughnut though, that should always go on the rear. Remember it is temporary and for speeds up to what 50mph or so.

the only issue with putting good rubber on the rear is with a FWD car... the back tires wear much slower then the front so if you get 2 tires and you keep the half worn tires on the front then you will have bald tires on the front and new tires on the rear pretty soon insteed of evenly worn tires

I never said it was the most economical. Only the safest and expert recommended method. Ideally you should rotate your tires every 3-5k so they wear at the same rate.

If you really worry about, just take the flat wheel to the tire store and repair (you can fix it yourself...not that bad) and if some nice guys will even charge you cheaper since they don't have to mount it back for ya... :D

I switched it to the back and the tire shop is less then 5 miles away.

10:00 tomorrow morning 225/45/17 BFG g-force Sport's go on.

I was going to upgrade to 245/40/17's, but I would have had to wait a couple days, and I really need the car ASAP. :o