Looking to toss the hubcaps aside and strap on a set of wheels. I would like to know if any of the 740s come out with actual wheels or will any off of any other model Volvo fit.

 

There were a few different style aluminum wheels for 740's . Try some salvage yards or ebay . They all fit.

 

Try searching.

 

Newbie Factory Wheel Guide...OMG its huge SORRY! nf56k!!!!!! - Turbobricks Forums

 

most 5 bolt REAR WHEEL DRIVE volvo wheels should fit a 740. the FWD volvos (850s, s/v/c70, etc) have a different offset and would require spacers.

there ARE some potential issues with 740/940's and brake clearance with 14" wheels used on many 240s.

MY personal preference on a 740 is Hydra

(Hydra is a 16" wheel so uses a wider and lower profile tire that costs a bit more)

or Draco



Aries were quite common on 940's


the Nova wheel was used on many early 960s and fits a 740. wheels for the updated 1995 960 and the s/v90 series are NOT interchangeable with the earlier ones, same spacer problem as FWD.



oh. 740 with Hydras...


same 740 with Aries (two were bent, so I replaced all 4 with the above)


940SE with Nova


Nova on our old 960 (after it was totalled in an accident, RIP)
]

 

yeah I am totally liking the Hydra wheels. I have looked around some on the internet but havent found many prices. My friend told me where there was an assortment of early 90 740's in a junkyard close by. I might go have a looksy and see what I can find.

 

I think my second choice would be the Nova early 960 rims, like on the green and gold car in my pics. they are elegant, fairly easy to keep clean, and seem quite sturdy. I've seen several bent sets of Aries, which makes me wonder if they aren't more fragile than some of the others. The down side of 16" wheels is, the 55 series tires give the car a harsher, stiffer ride vs the stock /65 size. The original size on the 740s was 14", but pretty quickly they upgraded to 15", and 16" for the turbo and sports models. On a 15" 740/940, I believe the standard tire was 185/65-15 for sedans and 195/65-15 for wagons. The 16" rims would take 205/55-16 tires.

having gone the rounds of various combinations of off-spec tire sizes with various vehicles, its been my general experience that running tires the wrong outside diameter for a given car will really mess up the handling, and generally not of the better. running wheels with very short sidewalls on large rims will make the car miserable on rough roads, and greatly increase the probability of rim or sidewall damage if/when you hit a pothole.

 

yeah i have found out that the hard way running 17''s on a lot of civics I had a couple bent and even one time I split the inner side of a rim when I cut a corner too sharp and went off the pavement, your definitely right about the price of 16'' tires they are a little high for what you get considering you can get 17's for cheaper, I guess cause there are more vehicle now that run the 17 instead of 16''s

 

the tires for a 740/940 are more expensive than some other sizes also because they are a heavier duty tire, with a higher load rating, especially the wagons which use a slightly larger size. its not obvious, but when you look at various tire sizes there's also a another number, something like 91V after the main size (P205/55-16 or whatever), the 91 is the load rating (and the V is the speed rating). different size tires tend to be different load ratings inherently... A fully loaded civic is probably 1000 lbs lighter than a fully loaded 740/940 wagon, the 7/9 both weighs more to start with and has more useful payload, and I'd suspect the Civic's standard tires are probably more like load rating 87 or something instead of 91 for the Volvo

 

yeah you are probably correct about that, I took my 92 civic cx to a weigh station and it weighed in at 1745 pounds, that my friend is a light ride. But I did strip it down a little bit more to achieve that weight (no ac) (no power steering factory also stripped out sound deadening and smog gone etc.. etc..) The tire on my 740 now are what the person had own it and they are some super cheap tires I have never heard of, I usually try to run a quality tire. but they are in good shape I might as well wear them out plus it gives me time to find different wheels.

 

if you want a tire on the 740 that rides really nicely and quietly, handles adequately, and has awesome rain traction, try the Michelin Primacy MXV4. Now, I have no idea how they are in the snow, if you live where that white stuff falls (no snow but lots of rain here on the left coast).

These are nothing like the Energy MXV4 of a few years ago, I stopped using Michelins for about 5 years because they were harsh riding and noisy, and tried Yokohamas (mostly Avid AVS4) on my various cars. Yokos were nice when new, but as they wore, they got really skittish, and their sidewalls were really too thin for the massive 740 class car.

 

the tire on it now are called republic something anothers not a tire I am familiar with. I have been running Kuhmo Solus KR 21 on my previous car and still running them on my wifes car and I love em for the money they are awsome