T rated tires on a 98 v70 NA Topic is solved

[98v70dad]

I took the V70 out for a test drive this morning and after driving it 25 miles at highway speeds I decided the tires weren't properly balanced. I took the car back and the shop manager balanced them himself. They are dramatically better but still not perfect. They vibrate just a little at about 67 mph. I'd say acceptable for an 18 year old car. I believe they are as good as I'll ever get at PEP Boys. I generally don't use PEP Boys for anything but supplies. However, they had a tire on my "buy list" in stock and nobody else did. The manager told me that none of them were properly balanced - no surprise to me.. So that is the rest of the story..

[misha]

...They vibrate just a little at about 67 mph. I'd say acceptable for an 18 year old car...

Wheel balance and wheel vibrations have nothing to do with age of the car.
Since you have NEW tires and rims in acceptable condition there shouldn't be a single trace of vibration at either speed.
Like i said.....proper balance will make vibration go away....as long as even a new tire...isn't bad from factory.

With 2 slightly bent alloy rims on my 850 and good tires there is no trace of vibraton on either speed....up to 200km/h....and my tires are at about 50% of tread left.

I guess that suspension is in good shape without play.
If there is play in suspension you will ruin new tires prematurely.

[98v70dad]

...They vibrate just a little at about 67 mph. I'd say acceptable for an 18 year old car...

Wheel balance and wheel vibrations have nothing to do with age of the car.

I guess that suspension is in good shape without play.
If there is play in suspension you will ruin new tires prematurely.

My vibration isn't necessarily related to the tires and wheels. It could be from the re-manufactured cv axles, original wheel bearings or even the engine mounts.

I agree that its probably the wheel/tire balance but I bought the tires at a place that probably isn't capable of doing any better. Pep Boys, where I got the work done, is a low cost, low quality place. As I said, the only reason I bought from them is they had the tires I wanted AND they agreed to mount a T rated tire on my car. I could take the volvo to a good shop and get the wheels road force balanced and it would cost me quite a bit. When I said the slight vibration was acceptable for an 18 year old car I meant it wasn't worth spending more money on it for a minimal improvement.

Everything in the suspension (except the control arm which are still good), both front and back is new and less than 2 years old. Also, all of the suspension parts bought are OEM (no junk).

[misha]

Ok.... and yes...bad axles can produce vibration on steering wheel.
Wheel bearings can NOT be a reason as long as they are quiet which points that they are good.

[98v70dad]

Ok.... and yes...bad axles can produce vibration on steering wheel.
Wheel bearings can NOT be a reason as long as they are quiet which points that they are good.

I have a mild droning sound that I haven't been able to pinpoint. Its very subtle. I doubt that its a wheel bearing but it could be. My daughter drove this car for 4 years and she routinely ran it over curbs. That is how the wheels got so damaged. Running over curbs at moderate speeds can beat up/damage your wheel bearings.

[beigg]

Pep Boys, where I got the work done, is a low cost, low quality place. As I said, the only reason I bought from them is they had the tires I wanted AND they agreed to mount a T rated tire on my car. I could take the volvo to a good shop and get the wheels road force balanced and it would cost me quite a bit. When I said the slight vibration was acceptable for an 18 year old car I meant it wasn't worth spending more money on it for a minimal improvement.

I dont know where Southeast is exactly, but the pepboys I've had interacted with have provided light years better customer satisfaction when compared to BT, DT, & Sears. Pepboys rates up to the Goodyear & Walmart workmanship, which have proven to be good thus far in life. lol

My vibration isn't necessarily related to the tires and wheels. It could be from the re-manufactured cv axles, original wheel bearings or even the engine mounts.

Everything in the suspension (except the control arm which are still good), both front and back is new and less than 2 years old. Also, all of the suspension parts bought are OEM (no junk).

OEM new stuff? OEM reman is just about inline with new aftermarket branded junk.

[98v70dad]

Lemforder, Beilstien, Volvo suspension parts. If I have to spend an afternoon or weekend putting in parts I'm putting the best available for the money. I made the mistake of putting cheap aftermarket parts in this car the first two yeasr I owned it and now that all of them have failed and been replaced I'm back to either volvo parts or parts made the original manufacturer (or better). This website is a great resource for researching that

I'm in Atlanta. Pep Boys here is where you go if you can't afford to get it done right. Its in the bottom tier. All of the cars in the lot waiting to be worked on are rolling wrecks. The fact that I had to wait three hours Friday night for my new tires when I was the only customer in the store and then had to return Saturday for two hours to get the balance re-done and its still not perfect is a testament to mediocrity. I did get my continental tires which is a plus. For some reason nobody ever has them at a reasonable price in Atlanta. I now have a lifetime rotate and balance from Pep Boys which can't properly balance a tire. Maybe a different location will be better.

[misha]

Continental tires are excellent tires.
They are my favorite.....premium sport contact for summer and winter contact for winter.

[98v70dad]

Continental tires are excellent tires.
They are my favorite.....premium sport contact for summer and winter contact for winter.

They are also a good value. They're not cheap but they're a lot cheaper than an equivalent Michelin. I bought the True Contacts. They have a 90K warrantee. So, I wont have to replace them for a long time. I have had a very tough time finding them in Atlanta. Every time I buy tire I look for them and nobody ever has them. They will always offer to order them but then the price ends up being full retail.

[shaker_chi]

When you see the speed rating on a tire, that is the speed the tire is capable of sustaining, NOT it's top speed. In other words, you could go faster than 120 on an H rated tire, you just couldn't go on the autobahn and do it for 15 miles straight. It was not made to tolerate the heat generated at that speed. Also, the treadwear ratings are essentially worthless since each manufacturer creates their own benchmark. They are useful for comparing Michelin to Michelin tires, but Michelin vs. Yokohama....not so much.