All wheel drive and tires

tom4342 · Post by **tom4342** » 23 Apr 2016, 18:55

I have heard it said on all wheel drive vehicles you should replace all 4 tires at once so not to damage the transfer case well i have a 98v70 AWD and i have never replaced all 4 at once.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 23 Apr 2016, 20:03

Yes that's true, different tire diameters can damage an AWD system. Not to mention that the P80 AWD already has a high failure rate. I'm not exactly sure what your question is though.

tom4342 · Post by **tom4342** » 23 Apr 2016, 21:56

Not a good AWD system i assume i lent the car to my exe for a year and she replaced tires willie nillie even using different used tires.She said back in the winter the AWD wouldn't engage but otherwise ran in FWD fine.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 23 Apr 2016, 23:34

IMHO, these AWD systems often get a bad and totally undeserved rap.

Sure, it's an older, fully mechanical system that you've actually got to
pay some attention to, but if you keep good, matched tires on it, take
care of it's fluids and watch out for the front CV boot on the driveshaft
getting baked about every 100K miles, it will serve you well.

It you've had your XC for any length of time, you really should be aware of
what you need to keep an eye on. If you aren't, searching MVS, SS and VS
will reveal a wealth of information about this viscous coupling based AWD.

There are no perfect cars out there, but for my money, I'll take simple,
dependable and mechanical AWD any day over the gadget ridden, computer
controlled vehicles on today's market. Personally, I don't need more points of
failure. I need a system that will get me around at -40 with no problems.

Post by **rspi** » 24 Apr 2016, 06:29

tom4342 wrote:Not a good AWD system i assume i lent the car to my exe for a year and she replaced tires willie nillie even using different used tires.She said back in the winter the AWD wouldn't engage but otherwise ran in FWD fine.

Can you please post a pic of the shaft installed? Lol

Post by **misha** » 24 Apr 2016, 09:29

tom4342 wrote:I have heard it said on all wheel drive vehicles you should replace all 4 tires at once so not to damage the transfer case well i have a 98v70 AWD and i have never replaced all 4 at once.

It's good enough JUST to have ALL 4 tires in same dimensions.For example...if you put 205/55/16 tires....ALL 4 MUST be 205/55/16.

Different thread wear doesn't count and can NOT make some kind of damage to AWD system.

Post by **j-dawg** » 24 Apr 2016, 11:02

For some vehicles, tread wear is a consideration. Subaru, for example, recommends that circumference of all four tires be within 2/32". Tire Rack will shave a new tire down to match tread depth on your old tires, so you can replace just one at a time.

I don't know if the Volvo system is subject to the same requirement.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 24 Apr 2016, 11:15

misha wrote:
tom4342 wrote:I have heard it said on all wheel drive vehicles you should replace all 4 tires at once so not to damage the transfer case well i have a 98v70 AWD and i have never replaced all 4 at once.
It's good enough JUST to have ALL 4 tires in same dimensions.For example...if you put 205/55/16 tires....ALL 4 MUST be 205/55/16.

Different thread wear doesn't count and can NOT make some kind of damage to AWD system.

These are seriously misleading and incorrect statements.

Just because they all have the same numbers printed on the sidewall
doesn't mean that the tires will all have the same physical dimensions.
Proper rotation and maintaining even wear between the front and rear
axles is key to the long life and survival of P80 AWD components.

Different tread wear leads to different tire diameters and the car won't care
what's stamped on the sidewalls. If you run outside of the tire diameter tolerances
for this system, the AWD will engage when it's not supposed and things WILL wear
out and components WILL fail.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 24 Apr 2016, 13:40

+1

Any kind of wear is an important consideration with an AWD vehicle.

Post by **misha** » 24 Apr 2016, 14:54

Guys....are you talking from your experience or you're just guessing?I'm talking from my personal and friend's experience.

350k km with '00 Audi A6 Quattro 2.5 TDI V6 should be more than enough experience for my statement.
Also...a friend had a '02 Volvo XC 70 which had around 300k km when he sold it and he JUST took care that ALL 4 tires are the same dimensions.Car was bought brand new and guess what...never had a problem with transmission.
Like i said...thread wear is NOT counting for AWD system as long as all 4 tires are the same size.

I'm not trying to convince somebody to follow my example.I'm just saying the facts from experience.