T rated tires on a 98 v70 NA Topic is solved

[scot850]

All tires brands can have tires that are a little out of perfect, I've had it with Michelins, particularly their winter tires. Also installers don't alsways know how to install tires correctly. Most good manufacturers have a spot or sticker on the tire which is where the tire should be positioned relative to the valve for best balancing. I have had tires fitted at fast fit centers where clearly they don't care or are un-trained monkeys who just don't know.

Balancing is also an art, and can be affected by poor maintenance and calibration of the equipment. Positioning requirements and types of weights used also can affect the accuracy.

Most owners don't like knock on weights on the outer edge of the rims (cause surface damage or can cause significant damage if a kerb is hit at that point as it can drag the weight around the edge or break the edge as a pressure point). The next best thing then it to place 'sticky' weights as far out to the front on the inside of the rim, with knock on weights on the inner edge. Problem with tis I have found is if using Volvo 15" wheels is the balance stick on weights can catch on the brake caliper and then runs them around the inner side of the rim. 16" rims on 280mm rotors are usually ok for not causing this.

So there are many things that can affect even a perfect tire and rim, but when making tires there are many processes involved and these can affect the tire quality, from sipe cutting depth variability and the tread variability and tire belting that can affect how the tire follows the road.

Even perfect suspension can cause some vibration. When we bought out 06 XC70 we had new tires on the car (Continental) and they have always had a slight vibration even after re-balancing. Front suspension and alignments, rotors etc has made no difference, so we have lived with it.

Neil.

[kippster41493]

To put my 2 cents in on this topic since I sell tires for a living and know probably way too much about them I want to clear a couple things up. The term "speed rating" is a little bit of a misconception. It's more or less the strength/ stability of the sidewalls. They are designed to handle a certain amount of weight, It is more specific to "under strain conditions" i.e. hard braking/ cornering like avoiding an accident. If not properly rated the sidewalls can collapse under pressure.

What our vehicle's specify is a V rated tire which is like what everyone is saying is rated at 149 mph/ 240 kph. All that indicates is that tires can safely be driving for a certain amount of time at that speed with out blowing. This is not what the car companies are looking at for these sort of vehicles, they are looking at the stiffness of the sidewall to make sure the tires will hold the vehicle's weight under load. The actual speed of which they are capable of is just a bonus.

Well, don't be shy, you should whip out your '98 V70 NA owner's manual and ask them where it says a V-rated tire is required. That is fiction.

This is not fiction, you are correct it does not say in the owners manual the rating for the tire, BUT there is a sticker on the door itself (or it may be on the pillar where the door latches) that has the tire info - correct size, speed rating, proper tire inflation for cold and warm tires, etc.

The reason most places won't install an under rated tire is so they don't have customer coming back about how the tire "wasn't properly mounted" and get sued. It has happened a lot to the point I don't even know a place that will install under rated tires unless it's a used tire shop which they don't have any liability because they are installing used tires anyway.

The vibration from an unbalanced tire, (which 99.99% of tires are out of balance) is noticeable around the 50mph-70mph (highest speed I've heard) after that it isn't noticeable anymore. If the tires have been balanced, re-balanced, and road force balanced than that is a suspension issue. Most likely a ball joint or even a tie rod. It's a waste of time and money to balance your tires until your hearts content because it's most likely not the tires at this point.

All in all, it's a major misconception when people hear the term "speed rating" I hear it all the time at work "well it's not a racecar" ...... I've very aware your mini-van is not a racecar.....

If I missed anything or there are other questions let me know, like I said it's my job to know all of this so don't feel shy. I explain all of that at least a couple of times a day so I'm fairly used to it.

Update I forgot to mention - when buying new tires if you find a place that installs under rated tires (if you bring in just the wheels most places will because they don't know what you're putting the wheels on) The mileage warranty on the tires are void from the tire company. So if you have 60,000 mile tires, you get 5,000 out of it before if blows or a belt slips from default from the factory, you pay full price for another tire

[oragex]

The reason most places won't install an under rated tire is so they don't have customer coming back about how the tire "wasn't properly mounted" and get sued. It has happened a lot to the point I don't even know a place that will install under rated tires unless it's a used tire shop which they don't have any liability because they are installing used tires anyway.

As above ^^
Most car owners will never drive past 80mph here in North America. A 'S' rated tire is plenty enough up to 110 mph and will be good for the majority of drivers. But if the original poster knows he will race the car to it's max speed which is perhaps near 150mph, then a 'V' rated tire is a must.
The garages will only sell/install the tire rate specified by the car maker because the car is able to do 150mph and among the car owners there will be at least one that will go that fast.

[kranz]

This is not fiction, you are correct it does not say in the owners manual the rating for the tire, BUT there is a sticker on the door itself (or it may be on the pillar where the door latches) that has the tire info - correct size, speed rating, proper tire inflation for cold and warm tires, etc.

Actually, on the '98 V70, the MFR tire data appears on the inside of Fuel filler door, and gives the various tire, weight, and inflation metrics. However, it DOES NOT give a speed rating.

I suspect the reason for selling H or V tires as a policy has more to do with who their target customers are, liability, & management of a smaller tire inventory.

[kippster41493]

This is not fiction, you are correct it does not say in the owners manual the rating for the tire, BUT there is a sticker on the door itself (or it may be on the pillar where the door latches) that has the tire info - correct size, speed rating, proper tire inflation for cold and warm tires, etc.

Actually, on the '98 V70, the MFR tire data appears on the inside of Fuel filler door, and gives the various tire, weight, and inflation metrics. However, it DOES NOT give a speed rating.

I suspect the reason for selling H or V tires as a policy has more to do with who their target customers are, liability, & management of a smaller tire inventory.

Thank you for the correction my car doesn't have the fuel filler door cover, and I don't exactly look at the spots I specified earlier too often. I should have said "on MOST vehicles." But I do believe that on the sticker that has the vehicle information on it (alignment shops that have newer racks scan this tag) there is a barcode on it that when scanned pulls up the information on the vehicle which is where it would be found. Tire shops I'm not entirely sure if they are capable of using the barcode. I've seen an alignment shop do it and dealerships do it so I can't say all tire shops will/can.

Not that I don't believe you but I will check what info is on my vehicle in the sports I specified to see what is all on there. I'll note anything that may pertain to this topic.

[beigg]

The vibration from an unbalanced tire, (which 99.99% of tires are out of balance) is noticeable around the 50mph-70mph (highest speed I've heard) after that it isn't noticeable anymore. If the tires have been balanced, re-balanced, and road force balanced than that is a suspension issue. Most likely a ball joint or even a tie rod. It's a waste of time and money to balance your tires until your hearts content because it's most likely not the tires at this point.

All in all, it's a major misconception when people hear the term "speed rating" I hear it all the time at work "well it's not a racecar" ...... I've very aware your mini-van is not a racecar.....

If I missed anything or there are other questions let me know, like I said it's my job to know all of this so don't feel shy. I explain all of that at least a couple of times a day so I'm fairly used to it.

Update I forgot to mention - when buying new tires if you find a place that installs under rated tires (if you bring in just the wheels most places will because they don't know what you're putting the wheels on) The mileage warranty on the tires are void from the tire company. So if you have 60,000 mile tires, you get 5,000 out of it before if blows or a belt slips from default from the factory, you pay full price for another tire

To connote onto this; You may run into an issue with a potential future shop should your car need an alignment and that shop truly inspects and pre-examines the tires comparing them to the vehicles "specs".
The outcome may be them turning you away, to avoid any liability due to the inadequate tires found equipped.

[98v70dad]

I was the wheel tire and brake engineer at a major airline for a few years at my last job. I know more about tires than the average guy, although I wouldn't call myself an expert. Tires are complex. I would argue that it would take at least 10 years to become an expert. A V rated tire on a 20 year old car that was an under powered dog when it was new is just ridiculous. My opinion. but on my car my opinion counts a lot.

[beigg]

If your local pepboys offer alignments, that might open an opportunity for the service to be conducted with T rated rubbers.

[kippster41493]

I was the wheel tire and brake engineer at a major airline for a few years at my last job. I know more about tires than the average guy, although I wouldn't call myself an expert. Tires are complex. I would argue that it would take at least 10 years to become an expert. A V rated tire on a 20 year old car that was an under powered dog when it was new is just ridiculous. My opinion. but on my car my opinion counts a lot.

You would be correct to put "high speed capable" tires on an old car that's lost some power over the years. But remember that the companies are looking at the sidewall stability under strenuous conditions and the speed capability is a bonus. If I made it seem I'm claiming to be an expert on tires, I am not trying to claim that I just happen to know a bit more than the average bear.

Being that tires are the only thing between our vehicles and the road and we kind of need them I was just clearing up things so that people understand how shopping for tires can be confusing but not hard to learn once everything is explained and for any more questions to let me know and I'll help you as much as I can. Tires are a very important part of any car, commonly over looked because they almost need no attention.

If any of this info sticks out to anyone just remember they were designed this way for a specific reason, Volvo does not make any money on what tires you decided to go with unless you go through the dealership obviously but considering how old our vehicles are I'm going to take a guess and say not very many of us go to the dealership for tires anymore. So just take into consideration yes lower rated tires work, but the rating is set high for a reason.

[98v70dad]

I was the wheel tire and brake engineer at a major airline for a few years at my last job. I know more about tires than the average guy, although I wouldn't call myself an expert. Tires are complex. I would argue that it would take at least 10 years to become an expert. A V rated tire on a 20 year old car that was an under powered dog when it was new is just ridiculous. My opinion. but on my car my opinion counts a lot.

You would be correct to put "high speed capable" tires on an old car that's lost some power over the years. But remember that the companies are looking at the sidewall stability under strenuous conditions and the speed capability is a bonus. If I made it seem I'm claiming to be an expert on tires, I am not trying to claim that I just happen to know a bit more than the average bear.

Being that tires are the only thing between our vehicles and the road and we kind of need them I was just clearing up things so that people understand how shopping for tires can be confusing but not hard to learn once everything is explained and for any more questions to let me know and I'll help you as much as I can. Tires are a very important part of any car, commonly over looked because they almost need no attention.

If any of this info sticks out to anyone just remember they were designed this way for a specific reason, Volvo does not make any money on what tires you decided to go with unless you go through the dealership obviously but considering how old our vehicles are I'm going to take a guess and say not very many of us go to the dealership for tires anymore. So just take into consideration yes lower rated tires work, but the rating is set high for a reason.

Actually you haven't posted anything that I disagree with. AND I agree that you know more about tires than most people. The expert comment I made was directed at me. I'm no expert - I really don't know that much - but I know more than the average guy. It was easier to buy tires when I knew nothing at all except price.

I did consult my friend who is an expert and was also the guy who trained me regarding tires and he indicated that based on my driving and the age of my car and how the car is being used that a T-rated tire is well within its design envelope. I'm not concerned about the safety aspects. It may cause me some problems getting them rotated and balanced .... I made a quick decision and probably would just buy the H-rated (unfortunately the store didn't have them).

I have a heartburn with tire stores telling me I have to use a certain tire just because that's how the car was delivered. Volvo probably actually needed a V rated for the S70 turbo and got a huge volume discount to put them on all the new Volvos that year. Marketing plays a big role on what is initially installed. Thereafter as consumers we're stuck with that.