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Tip/Trick: Wheel mounting alignment tool.

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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Eddystone
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Tip/Trick: Wheel mounting alignment tool.

Post by Eddystone »

Tip and/or Trick:

All of my Volvos except my 1999 S70 have had a place on the wheel where the pin on the rotor could engage and line up the lug holes properly. The stock 99 S70 wheels have no provision for accepting the alignment pin. A guy at a tire store gave me an aluminum alignment tool that is threaded on one end and rounded on the other which works just fine - when I can find it...

I used to have to mount heavy x-ray tubes to overhead gantries that had four bolts in the back. Once you got one bolt in, the other three were easy, but that first one was a real bitch to get started while holding a 70 lb weight at chest height. A more experienced guy showed me that you could take a slightly longer standard bolt and grind the head off to make an alignment tool. You thread that in finger tight, hang the weight on it, align the other bolt holes, install the other bolts, and then remove the alignment tool and replace it with the last bolt.

I was going to get a long bolt the same thread as the lug nut and cut the head off, but the tire guy did me a favor by handing me the exact tool. If no one hands you such a tool, I suggest making one. You might want to chamfer the edges where you cut the bolt head off.
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Post by erikv11 »

And when you consider that on a P80 the "alignment pin" is basically useless even when there *is* one, this is a great tip. With a large fleet and all of their tire rotations and snow tire changes, I remove and remount a lot of wheels. Feels like sometimes I have work too hard to align the holes.

P80 wheel lug bolts are M12 x 1.75, take that info to the hardware store or consider it if you want to buy something prefab like https://www.amazon.com/Steelman-78820-1 ... way&sr=8-1
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'07 XC70, willow green, 212k
'99 Camry V6 :shock: 153k
gone: '96 NA 850 210k, '98 NA V70 182k, '98 S70 NA 225k, '96 855 NA 169k

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Post by abscate »

I bet you can buy that bolt in Chinesium SS from Lowe Quality with an unthreaded shank, and you can just snap off the head with your fingers.
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Post by wizechatmgr »

abscate wrote: 12 Jul 2019, 19:39 I bet you can buy that bolt in Chinesium SS from Lowe Quality with an unthreaded shank, and you can just snap off the head with your fingers.
Or I can hit it with a torque spec that should be in inch pounds and instead do it in foot pounds =P
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Post by erikv11 »

wizechatmgr wrote: 12 Jul 2019, 20:02
abscate wrote: 12 Jul 2019, 19:39 I bet you can buy that bolt in Chinesium SS from Lowe Quality with an unthreaded shank, and you can just snap off the head with your fingers.
Or I can hit it with a torque spec that should be in inch pounds and instead do it in foot pounds =P
Video, please!
'95 854 T-5R, Motronic 4.4, 185k
'98 V70, T5 tune-injectors-turbo, LPT engine, 304k, daily driver
'06 S60 R, 197k
'07 XC70, black, 205k
'07 XC70, willow green, 212k
'99 Camry V6 :shock: 153k
gone: '96 NA 850 210k, '98 NA V70 182k, '98 S70 NA 225k, '96 855 NA 169k

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Post by wizechatmgr »

erikv11 wrote: 12 Jul 2019, 20:37
wizechatmgr wrote: 12 Jul 2019, 20:02
abscate wrote: 12 Jul 2019, 19:39 I bet you can buy that bolt in Chinesium SS from Lowe Quality with an unthreaded shank, and you can just snap off the head with your fingers.
Or I can hit it with a torque spec that should be in inch pounds and instead do it in foot pounds =P
Video, please!
Sadly, the bolt in question was through a cam bearing cap - suffice it to say that bad boy suddenly went loose then blam, snapped and the torque wrench jumped. Had I been counting the number of turns, I would have likely known better. Of the 12 bolts torqued, only one failed.

Rear left below...
IMG_20190618_120353_01.jpg
IMG_20190618_104521.jpg
This was on a 2012 Ninja 650, the access to that area to remove that snapped bolt SUCKS. Looking like I'll be using Alum to eat the steel out.
Last edited by wizechatmgr on 12 Jul 2019, 21:30, edited 1 time in total.
Wisdom requires knowledge as a prerequisite, but knowledge can be developed due to a lack of wisdom.
In order to learn how to fix something, you must first learn how to break it.
1999 V70 XC AWD 2.4 T -- ~231k miles
1998 V70 2.4 NA -- ~184k miles

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Post by Eddystone »

Or $2.53 at Home Depot...

11.png
11.png (105.48 KiB) Viewed 7368 times
1998 V70 Non-Turbo/Auto The Perfect Driving Appliance
1993 945 Turbo/Auto Pickemup Truck that Will Not Die. New 960 seats!
1999 S70 T5 Turbo/Auto which is better than Abscate's T5
All U.S. market models.
All running and on the road.
PM me if you are in Ohio. I'm in Lorain.

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Post by abscate »

Eddystone wrote: 12 Jul 2019, 21:10 Or $2.53 at Home Depot...


11.png
How much of a discount can I get if they cut off the head?
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Post by wizechatmgr »

abscate wrote: 12 Jul 2019, 21:39
Eddystone wrote: 12 Jul 2019, 21:10 Or $2.53 at Home Depot...


11.png
How much of a discount can I get if they cut off the head?
That used to be a thing with failed leadership =P
Wisdom requires knowledge as a prerequisite, but knowledge can be developed due to a lack of wisdom.
In order to learn how to fix something, you must first learn how to break it.
1999 V70 XC AWD 2.4 T -- ~231k miles
1998 V70 2.4 NA -- ~184k miles

jimmy57
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Post by jimmy57 »

Buy it at Lowe's or Home Depot and then go to lumber and ask for that 1 free cut you are allowed

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