My wife bought a used C70 about a year ago. Not long after she bought the car I noticed, while doing an oil change, that the tires were rubbing the inner fenders and they had rubbed wholes in the plastic and started rubbing the frame. After closer inspection I noticed that the steering stops had fallen off both sides of the car. I ordered new steering stops from the local Volvo dealership and installed them. (the pop rivet on) After the new stops were installed I noticed the steering radius of the car was HORRIBLE, when I say horrible I absolutely mean horrible. You can not even pull into a parking place in a parking lot without pulling in, backing up then pulling the rest of the way in. Soon after the stops were installed they fell off again. I replaced them again and then they fell off again. I have been through this about 4 times now and they keep falling off. I can always tell when they have fallen off because the car steers way better with them gone but the tires rub inside the fender wells. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Is there a way to fix this? I am SO frustrated with this that I am about ready to sell the car over it.

Other than this steering problem my wife loves her car. I have seen tons of complaints about how these cars rattling and stuff like that and we both agree the cup holders are crappy and the leather seats started wearing from getting in and out really soon after she bought it but those issues are not a big deal to us. We realize that this car really isn't designed to be a daily driver and since she uses it as a daily driverwe expect to see issues like. I figure when the seats get really bad I will have them recovered in a better quality leather.As far as the rattles go, I have never seen a true sports car that didn't rattle, especially a convertible. Anyone that has ever driven a convertible corvette should know exactly what I mean.

 

Hi, Welcome to the forum.

I'm wondering if the car was in an accident before you bought it and wasn't put together right.
The Tires could be rubbing on out of place wheel wells. You could also have the wrong size tires. Are they aftermarket?
The reason I feel this is, my V70 has a very good turning radius. Being the wagon version, you would think the radius would be wider than the C.


.

 

My turning radious sucks as well. I'm never bothered to measure what it is exactly. But I know its not impressive. I have lived with it, since I dont really care. I did take a few peeks on the interweb, and it seems to be a general complaint of the car.

Ce la vie.

S.

 

After doing some research online today I found that the runing radius of the 01 C70 is 38.4'. That is really, really crappy but I can live with that. I just want the steering stops to quit falling off so the tires won't rub.

To the best I can tell the car has never been wrecked and it has factory tires and wheels on it.

 

Yes that is normal for the C70 one of the worse ones out there.

 

I think I am going to have a steel plate welded on in place of the steering stops. At least that would keep the tires from rubbing inside the fenders and I won't have to worry about those falling off like the stops do. They litterally fall off every two weeks or so.

 

Here's some intersting info. I have been researching the turn radius more and also looking at the radius on newer models (considering trade-in) I have found conflicting info on the 07. Check out these links and look at the turning radius:

http://www.cars.com/go/compare/trimC...=USB70VOC101A0

http://www.internetautoguide.com/rev...0/summary.html

Here's a list of vehicles that are considered to have a poor turning radius and the C70way more thanall these.

1. Hummer H1 Alpha - 26.5
2. Maybach Type 62 – 24.3
3. Lincoln Navigator L - 22
4. Rolls-Royce Phantom – 22. 7
5. Hummer H2 - 21.7
6. Chevrolet Suburban – 21.5
7. Cadillac Escalade ESV - 21.5
8. Lincoln Town Car Signature L – 20 .8
9. Infiniti QX56 – 20.5



There's also something here that appears to be an official press release about the 01 that states it is 38.4 feet but I also saw it stated at 19.2 on another website.

19.2 is reasonable but 38.4? Look at it this way, a Maybach 62 has a turn radius of 24.3'!

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/press/vo...specs/c70.html

http://www.cars.com/go/crp/research....Selection=true

 

They may not be able to weld to the control arms. They are pop metal or what ever you want to call it.
Maybe tap the rivet holes and install screws.

 

You should add Chevy Corvette to the list of autos with poor steering radius. Secondly don't call a Volvo C70 a sports car. It is far removed from that status if only for the horrible torque steer and excessive weight. It instead is a luxury touring coupe' and nothing like a Mazda MX5, Austin Healey, Honda s2000 and the like.

r.

 

Call it what you want to, anything with 225/45-17 tires ain't gonna ride good.

The 2001 Corvette turning radius is 19.3'. I have yet to find any vehicle that has a turn radius as poor as the C70 at 38.4' I really wonder if the 38.4 number is in meters not feet. That would be 11.7 feet which makes much more sense for a car of this size. Of course if that's true then there is a problem with my wifes because hers won't do that for sure.

 

You are comparing two different forms of measurement. No chance a Vette's turning radius is 19 feet, a tiny Mitsubishi Mirage does it in 31 1/2 feet. My mothers van does it in 37. Average car does it between 33-38.

But then again 19.3 meters = 63 feet, that's like an airplane so whatever measurement 19.3 is based off I have no clue.

 

Yea, that was my point. I think these numbers are not all in the same form of measurement or something because they JDLR. (just don't look right)

I will say this, I have in the past driven an extended cab chevy pickup and an extended cab ford 4x4 and either of those could turn into a parking place without having to pull forwards, backup then pull forwards again but the C70 absolutely can not do that. I have to think in my mind that this is not normal for this car. I guess I will not know for sure until next week. I took the car to the local Volvo dealership and the front end man is on vacation but he is due back Monday so I plan to go back up there Monday and let him drive it to see what he thinks.

Right now I am fairly sure a battleship has a tighter turn radius than my wife's C70. LOL

 

Yeah, but the battleships only come in gray and they are not 1/100th as sexy as a C70, even with all those big guns protruding from the deck.

 

no kidding. why don't they make them in blue to match the ocean

 

Because they couldn't see each other and they would run into each other.

 

I drive a C70 myself. Although the turning radius is not the best, performing simple tasks like turning into a space are not an issue (Without reversing and re-aiming) The only problems that come are doing U-Turns at stop lights, some streets are pretty narrow and I have to squeeze the car by the curb. I'd say overall it's adequate, I've seen much worse in other Coupes/Sedans.

 

I think the 38'4" is the turning circle. I found this on another website
[align=center]




VEHICLE

TURNING CIRCLE


C70 - 2.5T & T5

38' 4" (11.7 m)


S70/V70 with 195 tyres

33' 6" (10.2 m)


S70/V70 with 205 tyres

34' 10" (10.6 m)


S40/V40 with 195 tyres

34' 10' (10.6 m)


850 & 850TDI with 195 tyres

33' 6' (10.2 m)


850 & 850TDI with 205 tyres

34' 10' (10.6 m)


850 T5 & 850R

34' 10' (10.6 m)


850AWD

37' 0'


700 / 900

32' 3"


200

32' 6'


140

30' 4"


164

31' 7"


340 DL/GL

30' 2"


340GLE/360

30' 8"


400




120

34' 0'


544

29' 11"


1800

31' 0"


1800ES

31' 6"[/align]

 

the C70 turns horribly! mine started turning better once i replaced the inner and outer tie-rod ends and both control arms. then you have to re-learn how to turn in a car with the c70, almost like you have to actually *think* about what your doing.

 

I just purchased a 2000 C-70 convertible. I read about the poor turning radius but decided to get the car anyway. I was driving a 94 Labaron with a real bad turning radius figuring I'm used to it so let's go with it. My car seems to turn just fine. I was surprised to see it turned so well. Now I'm wondering if those stops you mentioned were gone from my car. I don't hear any tire rub when I turn however. Guess when the snow, mud and slush clears I'll have to get down to take a good look.

 

Eeeek ! im having the same issues.....I think its just a ****y turning circle and we have to live with it ;( im using it as a daily driver and im managing alright, I Dont take it into the city anyway. Might get the tie rods and controller arms checked to see if that will make a difference as the car has done 140,000Km...about 90K miles.