Flat tyre's front supports separate pieces (9)
I believe the answer is:
apartment
'flat' is the definition.
(I know that flat can be written as apartment)
'tyre's front supports separate pieces' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'separate' could be 'apart' (similar in meaning) and 'apart' is located in the answer.
'pieces' could be 'men' (man can mean a chess piece) and 'men' is located in the answer.
A single letter 't' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for apartment that I've seen before include "Room ? flat" , "19 across" , "Suite of rooms to live in" , "Set of rooms or American flat" , "Flat (chiefly US)" .)