Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum and to Volvo ownership and i have a question I hope you can help me with. I recently bought a 96 850 turbo wagon with 50k miles, trouble is it is eating front tires. I had the shocks replaced in October, and new front tires. this morning i noticed the right front is showing white belts near the side wall. After some investigation, I understand this is a known issue - one of a class action suite against Volvo. I spoke to my local deal who said that was not true. Two questions:
1) Is this a known problem
2) Is there any known solution? Updated/alternate alignment setting?

My sincerest thanks for any help you may have.

Mike

 

Mike, I don't believe there is any class action lawsuit for tire wear. As to your problem, my car began eating tires, even after a fresh alignment. The problem is more than likely a bad control arm and or tie rod end. I replaced my control arms (had new ball joints) as well as both outer tie rod ends. Then I put on new tires and had it realigned. 5000 miles later and no outside shoulder wear, driving just as hard as I did previously. - AB

 

Make sure you get a 4 wheell alignment and have them check all the suspension parts. Sounds to me like something is stopping it from aligning properly. I recently had a bad outer tie rod and the tire place found it when doing an alignmnent.

 

I probably should have mentioned, that this have been a problem since the car was new - multiple volvo dealers have looked at it... not able to fix. Are there some aftermarket solutions? I am having my mechanic look at it Wednesday, so I hope to know more then. He did the shock replacement last fall, and did not see any other bad parts.

Thanks again,

Mike

 

So you're saying only the right front is getting the wear? If that's the issue, I would just replace the right front control arm and outer tie rod end and see if that does it. All together from FCP Groton that would be under $150. I would guess that something is slightly bent from the factory. - AB

 

Hi Mike,

Greetings from Yokohama, Japan.

I once lived 1 hour away from Boston (Winchendon), and Boston is my most favourite city in the United States.

Anyway, I myself have not heard of the problem as a common issue. Unfortunately, the top dog of the forum named "Moderator Tech" is unable to come to the forum currently, and I believe Tech could have solved your problem in a few sentences.

I would like to know a few things regarding the front suspension:

1) Is this a known problem
Not that I know of.

2) Is there any known solution? Updated/alternate alignment setting?
Have the fronts re-aligned at a dealer and make sure to receive the readout from the alignment machine, the numbers should be BLACK/GREEN, not RED. RED numbers denote out-of-alignment. Here's the factory spec I got from a dealer in Chicago (Schaumburg, Patrick Volvo):

FRONT (L&R) SPECIFIED RANGES:

The numbers are in degrees:
Camber: -1.0 to 1.0
Caster: 2.3 to 4.3
Toe: 0.12 to 0.22
Cross camber: -1.0 to 1.0
Cross caster: -1.0 to 1.0
Total toe: 0.23 to 0.43

REAR (L&R) SPECIFIED RANGES:
Camber: -1.5 to -0.5
Toe: -0.06 to 0.13
Total toe: -0.11 to 0.25
Thrust angle: -0.25 to 0.25

When the front struts were replaced, did they replace the following as well?:

---COPY FROM https://volvoforums.com/m_48928/tm.htm---

FRONT SUSPENSION:
1. Upper mount (bearing) with new nuts x 3 each side (total of 6 nuts).
2. Upper springseat (notorious for wearing out & causing clunking noise).
3. Bump stop for strut
4. Special washer for strut
5. Top cap for strut
6. New bolts & nuts for strut lower attachment.
7. Ball joint/control arm with new nuts & bolts (Newer models cannot replace ball joint alone).
8. Sway bar (stabilizer) link rods (new parts should come with new lock nuts).

---END OF COPY---

Do you hear any noise from around the front suspension, or see something deformed/bent? I am suspecting the upper spring seats. If they are worn (they're known to fail after a while), it may change the camber angle as you drive the car, but it is usually noticed by clunking noise.

If you can do safely, visually inspect the ball joint for rubber boot wear. Also, try to move the wheel if you can lift the front end and put it on jackstands. There should not be any play.

Doyou hear any noise from around the hub/bearing? It is difficult to differentiate the noise from suspension but any small info would help.

Lastly, do you know the brands of the struts & tyres? Also, double-check the tyre pressure, it probably isn't the cause but eliminate every possibility.

Sorry I could not narrow down the problem.


JPN

 

JPN - thanks for the input! I will give this info to my mechanic. oddly, I had to replace the left half bearing in the fall, just before the shocks. I wonder if the stress from miss alignment is causing that to fail too?

I'll let you know what I find.

Kind Regards,

Mike

 

If you're seeing ANYTHING but rubber on your wheels, get them replaced ASAP.

If one of your tires blows, then that is a HUGE safety hazard.

How many miles has it been on these tires?
Edit: And what kind of tires are they?

 

I have put about 5K miles on them, and they are BF Goodrich tires. I am going to replace them after my mechanic checks it our Wednesday. I won't be driving much anyway.

Thanks again,

Mike

 

Hi guys,

well here is the news. The front tires are history, and the front was out of alignment 1 degree in toe in. Now let's see how long it lasts, we got the 3 year alignment package.

Now, on to the broken door hinge, ABS light, Check engine light...

Thanks for your helpful informaiton.

kindest regards,

Mike

 

Wow... A degree of toe is about 1 inch. That's enormous. One time I reinstalled the coilovers on one of my race cars after having the shocks revalved, and I had 1 5/16" of total toe out in the front. Fortunately, I towed the car to the alignment shop to get it aligned. - AB

 

Hopefully your check engine light is due to the ABS problem.

The 96-97' have some type of ABS design problem so it fails alot. What you gotta do, is you gotta send the entire ABS unit to this one guy, and he will fix it for you. I think It's about 100 bucks, but I forget the guy...

 

Hi Mike,

Glad the problem was found. Like AB has noted, 1 inch off alignment is significant, but it should be fine now that you had it realigned. I myself have alignment done at every 3 years/30,000 miles, or when I hit something big (deep potholes, large curves, etc...[8D]).

1) Broken door hinge โ†’ Junkyard, on-line vendor or dealer.

2) ABS โ†“
http://home.earthlink.net/~vicrocha/
http://www.modulemaster.com/
http://www.autoecu.com/
http://www.google.co.jp/search?hl=ja...+repair&lr=
*Make sure that it is the module that is failing. Most likely it is the module, but it could be loose electrical connection, dirty wheel speed sensors/pulse serrations, etc...

3) CEL โ†’ OBD-II scanner, visit parts store such as AutoZone and have a free diagnosis. If it's emission-related, they cannot reset the code, the problem has to be repaired.

Good luck,


JPN

 

From my research the VolvoAWD are very hard on the tire wear. Owners are replacing their tires at 15-20k (mils). They claim due to the way the Volvo AWD is build results in a fast wearing on the tires treads. I currently have Michelins Piolts but they are making a funny noise and treads have worn.

Here's a poll on the suggested tire replacment.
Online Poll ยป Results http://forums.swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=64169

Nokian(37%, 38 votes)
Michelin Pilot MXM4(23%, 24 votes)
Bridgestone Alenza 255/55/18(9%, 10 votes)
Goodyear Eagle Response Edge 235/60/18(6%, 7 votes)
Toyo Proxes(5%, 6 votes)
Yokohama Geolander HTS 255/55/18(4%, 5 votes)
Cooper Zeon XST 255/55/18(3%, 4 votes)
Dunlop SP5000 M+S in 255/55-18(2%, 3 votes)
BF GoodRich gforce KDW2 255/55/16(0%, 1 votes)
Pirelli Ice & Snow winter 235/60/18(0%, 1 votes)
Continental CrossContact LX 255/55/18(0%, 1 votes)

=====================================

I plan on getting the Nokian WR G2 SUV (all Season), they are hard to find and run about $200-$240 p/tire[] (may need to order online)

If i'm going to replace my tires every 15-20mil, I figure it would run about the same $$ wise to invest inthe Nokian Tireswhich (is about 45,000 miles) If interested in the Nokian, check out Josh Spangler @ tiresbyweb@gmail.comor 800 576-1009 ext 775 (May offer a little discount- Tell him Liz from the volvo forum refrered you)

Nokian Info:
http://www.tiresbyweb.com/showproduct.aspx?Productid=7396&ProdVar=61703

Keep us posted on how you make out