I have a 2003 Volvo S60. Has 105,000 miles. This is my first Volvo and I got it around last September... Just this weekend, I descided to rotate the tires myself. I jacked the front and back up at the same time in the appropiate places. I took 5 lug "bolts" out and on the front tires only I had to pop a cap out of the rim to undo a bolt there. BUT!.... The tires wont come off! Like there is some type of safetly device or...?? Played with it for awhile and just descided to bring it to someone and watch to see how they take off the tire...But anyway today I went for a drive, and when I applied the brakes, it pulled to the left REALY HARD, scary hard. So I hit the brakes hard a couple times, both going forward and backwards hoping to adjust them. Worked for a little while and stopped fine but now the problems is back but not as bad. Then, ever since I tried to rotate the tires, the steering wheel is now crooked, which it has never been before!! While driving it will weave back and forth by itself like strong wind is blowing, but there is no wind. I poped the hood and all fluids are ok. I noticed that there is fresh power steering fluid on the resivor which never used to be there before! SO....what gives????? All I did was jack the car up and try to take the tire off and now I have all these problems!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You.

 

It's fairly common for the wheels to stick to the hub when they haven't been removed in a while. What I do is whack the backside of the wheel or tire with a big hammer, spin the wheel some, hit it, spin it, hit it, ... until it eventually loosens itself. Basically, I am trying not to hit it in the same spot repeatedly. Also, you don't have to mess with the center bolt located behind the center cap. That is the axle bolt.

It's weird that you have so many symptoms after doing something so routine. It could be one thing or it could be a couple of things. I have a couple of questions. While you were jacking the car did it make any noises and when you set it down did you hear anything? Did you loosen the lugs on both front wheels or only one front? When you tightened the lugs back up did you use a torque wrench or did you tighten them up "as tight as I could get them"? When the car was weaving how fast were you going, was it grooved pavement?

The fact is a car with your mileage is going to have things wearing out. You will be able to learn a lot about the condition of components with the wheels off.

 

I also thought the wheels were stuck, so I hit the tire multible times with my foot, hit it hard a couple times but still no luck. It made no noise when jacking up or putting it back down. I only loosed the lug bolts on the front tire and back tire on the passenger side. And I tightend the lugs as tight as I found them when I took them out, I wouldnt ever tighten as "tight as I could get them". It starts weaving around 50-60 MPH, and its on smooth pavement.

IMO 105,000 is hardly any miles at all, its just getting broke in. lol. Its just weird because it worked just fine before I tried rotating the tires. The day after I have all these problems.... Nothing was hit like a curb or anything.

 

The approach I use to remove the wheel for removal after taking off the lug nuts is to lower the jack just a bit until the tire touches the ground and the pressure from the car weight releases the wheel..........to reiterate, just lower the jack a bit so the tire touches the ground with slight pressure. Also, before you first loosen up lug nuts, jack the car up just enough so the pressure is off of the tire but not enough that the tire moves when you release the lug nuts. The reverse approach should be used when reinstalling the lug nuts.......not to have the full weight of the car on the wheel. Finally, removing and reinstalling the lug nuts use should use an "X" approach to gradually tighten up the lug nuts, i.e., tighten the top lug nut a little, then the nut opposite it, and continue around the wheel.........then do it again and again. This ensures that there is even pressure applied to all lug nuts evenly......then let the jack down to just the tire barely touching the ground and do the final "X" tightening. I just bought a torque wrench for the final tightening at WalMart $25 to ensure I don't over tighten.

 

I wonder if the weaving is something as simple as a loose wheel. Anyway you might as well do the tire rotation. I don't know about the steering being off center. I don't want to tell you it's something if it's nothing.

Maybe everything on your car is okay. I have 110K on mine. I have recently replaced the endlinks - one of which had about a half inch of play, making tons of racket. I replaced control arms because of torn/worn bushings. And I did the shocks and struts and spring seats. They are all typical wear items on this platform.

You're right. 105K is nothing. I have already seen a few with 180K+ (still not alot, but this is still a newer car line).

 

The brake rotor has a threaded "nub" that sticks out between two lug nuts. If you look on the back side of the rim, you will see you can only put the wheel on in one position with the "nub" lining up with the empty hole.

 

lol, still 180k is nothing at all IMO. I've had lots of vehicle's with over 200k, I've had a Ford truck that had over 250k before I sold it ( everything original, never any problems besides regular maintainence...but never replaced struts, wheel bearing or anything like that ). I also have a 1997 Ford Explorer with 215k and it runs good as when i bought it years ago...

But I took the Volvo to a mechanic yesterday...Turns out since the wheels are aluminum and the hub is steel it got seized on. But it needs a new sway bar, front struts and a alignment!! over $600!!!! WHOA! Thats about as much money it costs to make ALL the repairs on my Explorer for the last 10 years! lol.

Well thanks for your help. And no offence to mcleantmw, but I didn't come hear wanting to know how to take off a fricken tire.

 

180K miles is not high. But keep in mind that the S60 model is only 8 years old. I imagine the Fords you owned were a bit older? Just wait until the S60s start to get in the hands of teenagers and college students. Then you will start to see some with 200K-300K.

I have to say I did own a Honda that was cheap to own. I only took care of things if it put the car out of commission. That doesn't mean that it was in tip-top shape. Any number of things could have gone wrong, but luckily they didn't. Some cars you can neglect and get away with it and they seem to last. Volvos can last a long time, but don't think you won't have to put a few nickels in once in a while to keep it going. The front suspension on the S60 is a bit of a weak point. At least it is done.

But everything is alright now? The alignment should have put the steering straight...

 

Not on P2's, there is only a small 6mm bolt that holds the rotor in line when changing wheels. It does need to be removed for some aftermarket wheels however.