Well, per my previous thread, I replaced all 4 motor mounts on my wife's '01 S40 in an effort to eliminate a pretty severe front end wobble. Sadly, this didn't solve the issue. I left it at a good friend's(trusted)tire/auto shop and he called and said I have 2 out of round wheels, 2 tires beginning to separate, and that I need both drive axles. Also, just for fun, it needs rear brakes. While reading through search results before I did the motor mounts, I noticed an unbelievable amount of posts mentioning bent or out of round rims. This is my first(and probably last)experience wrenching on a Volvo. I've worked on BMW's, Toyota's, Fords, etc. and have never even heard of a bent rim that wasn't the result of some sort of impact. Neither of the bent rims have had any bad pothole or curb hits. FWIW, my wife said it seemed to start after a trip to a tire store for an oil change and tire rotation/balance with one defective tire replaced. Is there a good explanation for this unusually high number of bad wheels on Volovo's? My actual tech question is what other(not Volvo)vehicle uses the same wheel size and lug pattern as the '01 S40? My guy measured the wheel as 15 x 6.5 with 4 lugs on 4.5" centers. Does this sound correct and what's the cheapest way to find a set of wheels? My local Pull-A Part has hundreds of rims super cheap and I guess I can trace a hub from the spare for lug spacing comparison if I have to. What have most of you done in this situation? I can't really ask my wife to drive a car with 2 different types of wheels. Also, what am I facing with axles? Bad?

 

I can't speak to your wheel questions but having just replaced my axles due to a vibration at high speeds here is what I can tell you:
1) getting cheap axles is hit and miss based on all the reading I've done
2) getting new volvo axles is a dumb idea as they are about $600 each
3) I replaced mine with used volvo axles from the junkyard at $60 each. Problems solved.
As for labour, at most this is an hour for each side. I had never done mine and did the passenger side in 45min.

 

Thanks for the info on the axles. My junkyard has a number of S40's to check for axles. Any info on replacement wheels(preferably from another OEM)would be greatly appreciated. So far my tire guy can't find a cross reference. Thanks in advance.

Charles

 

Generally the wheels are not the problem - its when the tires are underinflated and you hit a pothole that you can damage both the tire and the rim. I like to keep 36 PSI on all four. If you want to shop for replacements, I'd stick to OEM - you can shop for parts yards using car-part.com to find a yard near you showing "A" rated (less than 2 blemishes per rim) - in the $75 to $100 range. Look at the pics to see what matches - cars from 1999 to 2004 (early) use the same size but there's a few choices. For my 2000 S40, I kept the factory 15x6s for my snows and bought some 16x6.5s from a 2003 as my summer wheels.

 

Thanks for the wheel info. Anyone know what years or models have compatable axles? My junkyard has quite a few Volvo's, but I'm not sure exactly which w/o actually going out there and looking. Also, is there a quick physical or visual check w/axles to verify if what I find is in good shape or not? Thanks.

Charles

 

you are compatible with 2000-2004 S40s (old body style) for the axles as well. When looking at the axles, mostly check if the boots are in good shape - most fail when the boot tears and the CV joint goes dry. Also check for any odd loose play.

 

...or V40 same years