98 v70 wheels - think I need new ones

Post by **98v70dad** » 02 Jul 2016, 16:26

Today I finished replacing my inner and outer tie rods and I took the car out for a test drive. The front end is a good bit smoother up to about 65 mph. Above that speed I start to get some very annoying vibration - like a wobble. I need 4 new tires and the last set was never perfectly balanced so the wobble is probably partly due to being out of balance.

However, I also suspect that the wheels are beaten to death. They are aluminum and they were in pretty rough shape when I got the car. My daughter who is known for driving over medians and curbs probably added to the problem. She drove it for 6 years. Also, among the maintenance records I got when I bought the car was a bill for a new wheel. The lady who owned the car before me explained that she "bent it" and had to get a new one. There is a bent one that I keep on the back because it causes a wobble up front. You can actually see the small buckle in the rim. Its small and it holds air but the wheels on this car were definitely abused.

So now my question.... whats a good cheap strategy to fixing this? Used wheels can easily be as bad as what I have. The local guy want $89 which is too steep for me. You cant really evaluate a wheel by looking at it. There are places that will true up your wheels, recondition them,etc. You're without your car for a few days and its fairly expensive. So that doesn't seem like a viable option for me either.

Has anybody got some good suggestions?

Post by **scot850** » 02 Jul 2016, 18:07

Take the car/wheels to a good tire show and have them spin the wheels up and have them look for movement in the rim either in/out or up/down. This movement would me the rim is either bent in the first case, or oval in the second. Either can be caused by hitting pot-holes, kerbs, speed bumps too hard. My car has 2 of the winter rims that have the 'oval' problem most likely caused by hitting pot holes. We are lucky in some respects up here as a lot of people have winter and summer rims/tires so there are a fair number of rims coming up to buy. Always remember buying old rims there is a chance they are also bent. I took my last set to my local repair shop I know well and they spun the bare rims for me so we could check they were straight and round. I will now have them powder coated before winter and re-fit the winters onto these rims.

A lot of folks recommend running the smallest diameter tires/rims for winter on steel rims as the steel rims can take more punishment than alloys and having a larger side-wall on the tires means the tires can also absorb more punishment (usually) as they can flex more.

The tires can also get damaged by hitting kerbs/pot-holes, etc., and they may not be round.

Hope that is of help and not too confusing!

Neil.

Post by **abscate** » 02 Jul 2016, 18:20

- call up Erie VoVo get a good price on four alloys or steel and Ill get them to you in a few weeks. No later than end August.

Post by **98v70dad** » 02 Jul 2016, 18:29

scot850 wrote:Take the car/wheels to a good tire show and have them spin the wheels up and have them look for movement in the rim either in/out or up/down. This movement would me the rim is either bent in the first case, or oval in the second. Either can be caused by hitting pot-holes, kerbs, speed bumps too hard. My car has 2 of the winter rims that have the 'oval' problem most likely caused by hitting pot holes. We are lucky in some respects up here as a lot of people have winter and summer rims/tires so there are a fair number of rims coming up to buy. Always remember buying old rims there is a chance they are also bent. I took my last set to my local repair shop I know well and they spun the bare rims for me so we could check they were straight and round. I will now have them powder coated before winter and re-fit the winters onto these rims.

A lot of folks recommend running the smallest diameter tires/rims for winter on steel rims as the steel rims can take more punishment than alloys and having a larger side-wall on the tires means the tires can also absorb more punishment (usually) as they can flex more.

The tires can also get damaged by hitting kerbs/pot-holes, etc., and they may not be round.

Hope that is of help and not too confusing!

Neil.

Thanks scot850. I know the different options for fixing it. The key is fixing it cheaply - maybe thats not possible. My car is worth 800-1500 dollars. Spending 400-500 dollars to fix the wheels just doesn't make sense. Especially if I plan to keep the car only 2 more years. I drive a long way to and from work so I'd like to do something about it other than driving slower.

Post by **abscate** » 02 Jul 2016, 19:11

It costs 10 cents per mile in maintenance costs to run a car, regardless of how much it is worth. You will spend more on gas than the car is worth, whereas the repairs you actually get some value back. IN this case, you can unload the spare wheels for some coin when done.

Post by **scot850** » 02 Jul 2016, 23:03

Maybe repairing wheels in US is cheaper, but here I was quoted $150-180/wheel to straighten, and then the cost of re-finishing doubles that per rim. By comparison I just picked up 5 x 16" alloys with part worn Michelin tires (1 is un-worn) for $350 CDN (about 280 US). No need to re-fit the tires and I may just re-balance for piece of mind.

Neil.

Post by **98v70dad** » 03 Jul 2016, 08:55

scot850 wrote:Maybe repairing wheels in US is cheaper, but here I was quoted $150-180/wheel to straighten, and then the cost of re-finishing doubles that per rim. By comparison I just picked up 5 x 16" alloys with part worn Michelin tires (1 is un-worn) for $350 CDN (about 280 US). No need to re-fit the tires and I may just re-balance for piece of mind.

Neil.

I think refinishing is out of the question for me due to the cost. It is expensive here also.

I guess I should change my question to how can I buy used wheels (especially mail order) and know I'm not getting something as bad (or worse) as what I already have. I really don't care about what they look like. I just want something that works as intended

People often get rid of alloy wheels because they leak or they are bent. Original used wheels for my 98 will have had plenty of opportunity to get beaten up (up to 18 years worth). So I am cautious about buying over the internet because I don't want to spend the money and not improve my situation.

Post by **98v70dad** » 03 Jul 2016, 09:14

abscate wrote:It costs 10 cents per mile in maintenance costs to run a car, regardless of how much it is worth. You will spend more on gas than the car is worth, whereas the repairs you actually get some value back. IN this case, you can unload the spare wheels for some coin when done.

I agree that most maintenance is worth doing. All safety related maintenance should be done. Anything that degrades the roadworthiness should be done. But some things are not in that category for me. For example the paint on my car looks terrible. I could spend $1500 and get it painted and it will look good. I'll never get that back. It may raise value of the car a few hundred dollars when I sell it but I would never get back my full investment. My wheels are similar. They aren't so bad that they're dangerous, they just annoy me. I'd like to do something about them but not at great expense.

I suspect a lot of the people on this site consider their Volvo a much loved pride and joy. A person would put 600 worth of new wheels on their pride and joy. Mine was not well cared for by the previous owner. The wheels look like the were driven against the curb for all of its 150,000 miles. It is ugly up close. It has holes in the upholstery. The paint on the bumpers is cracked. It smells. Nobody wants to ride in it. However I bought it because mechanically it gets me to and from work, its roadworthy and it had low miles. I take good care of it. I wouldn't hesitate to set out on a 1000 mile trip in it, but the wheels would drive me crazy.

Post by **98v70dad** » 03 Jul 2016, 09:26

98v70dad wrote:
abscate wrote:It costs 10 cents per mile in maintenance costs to run a car, regardless of how much it is worth. You will spend more on gas than the car is worth, whereas the repairs you actually get some value back. IN this case, you can unload the spare wheels for some coin when done.
I agree that most maintenance is worth doing. All safety related maintenance should be done. Anything that if skipped degrades the road worthiness should be done. But some things are not in that category for me. For example the paint on my car looks terrible. I could spend $1500 and get it painted and it will look good. I'll never get that back. It may raise value of the car a few hundred dollars when I sell it but I would never get back my full investment. My wheels are similar. They aren't so bad that they're dangerous, they just annoy me. I'd like to do something about them but not at great expense.

I suspect a lot of the people on this site consider their Volvo a much loved pride and joy. A person would put 600 worth of new wheels on their pride and joy. Mine was not well cared for by the previous owner. The wheels look like the were driven against the curb for all of its 150,000 miles. It is ugly up close. It has holes in the upholstery. The paint on the bumpers is cracked. It smells. Nobody wants to ride in it. I was mostly like that when I got it. I bought it because mechanically its good it gets me to and from work, its roadworthy and it had low miles. I take good care of it. I wouldn't hesitate to set out on a 1000 mile trip in it, but the wheels would drive me crazy.

Post by **98v70dad** » 03 Jul 2016, 09:28

I forgot to mention that I appreciate all the comments. I'm just looking for the cheapest way to address my problem other than ignoring it