Spare Tire problems of the 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche

Driving my 2003 chevy Avalanche on PA I -380 tire firestone wilderness 265/70/16 blow-out on rear driver side cause damage to plastics covers . My wife hear the blow tire and she was thinking it was from truck passing but it was on my car. Stop the car safe and used spare tires to next service shop. Stop in scranton at firestone dealer and replace blow tire with same brand {aprox 4 months just replace 2 new firestone wilderness tires on front] I have 25 years exp. On cdl class a and never expect on cars tire blow-out like trucks. I all time care for vehicle im driving and never just drive. Tires pressure ck is all time in my maintenance and kept at 36psi. Firestone dealer refuse to change blow tire with out of charge so I paid 140. 00 for new tire and keep the blow tire for record. Hope not for refund just to keep rounds safe and not have a accident from a car with blow tires.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche. The contact stated that he was unable to retrieve the spare tire. He stated that in order to remove the tire, he had to use a blow torch. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the vehicle hoist was defective and needed to be replace. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 60,000 and current mileage 100, 000.

2003 Chevrolet Avalanche with "z66" package spare tire is a 16 inch tire. The vehicle is equipped with 17 inch tires. Sales literature indicates that the "z66" package upgrades all wheels 17 inch wheels. Despite manufacture and dealers claims the vehicle handling is very erratic with 16 inch spare installed. Dealer stated spare is for temporary use only. This is no consolation when the next exit on the highway is 40+ miles away. Manufacture and dealer both state that the TSB released resolves this issue. However, consumers are not provided TSB's in the show room. Problem was discovered when passenger side rear tire went flat. While repairing flat tire it was discovered that the original tire was out of round and could not be balanced even with over 5 oz of weight on tire. Replaced tire with brand new tire which required 3. 5 oz weight to balance indicating bad rim. Dealer and manufacture both state that is normal amount of weight for 17 inch tires. The 3 other tires on vehicle have less than 3. 5 oz combined weight to balance those. Dealer and manufacture both state problem must have been caused when original tire went flat. Original tire came from dealer with no weights installed and truck had pull to right when new.

The truck came with 17 inch goodyear tires. The spare is a 16 inch bridgestone tire.