V60 Front Allignment

Post by **Marks** » 21 Oct 2019, 06:35

We have a 2017 V60 Cross Country T6 with 20K miles. It was a dealer demo car purchased with 4K miles. We were surprised to see severe front tire wear on the insides of both 19" Perelli front tires. The wear is approximately 1" strip on the inside of each tire. Plan is to replace both front tires and get an alignment. Rear tires show normal 1/32 wear. Has anyone had similar alignment issues?

theman · Post by **theman** » 21 Oct 2019, 14:37

Yes, my 2017 S60 which I bought new has 40K mi now. Just had a flat on passenger front due to some crazy wear. I find it hard to believe it's an alignment issue. Just sent it to dealer and they say the solution is to run a harder tire. Wha?! Asinine. This is a design flaw if tolerances are so tight that being out of alignment causes this (see photos below).

Note the clean black spot on the lower spring plate. That appears to be where the tire has been contacting hard parts. There's no way this is from being out of alignment. Look at the difference in tread depth to the problematic section!

Post by **MoVolvos** » 23 Oct 2019, 21:30

theman wrote: ↑21 Oct 2019, 14:37 Yes, my 2017 S60 which I bought new has 40K mi now. Just had a flat on passenger front due to some crazy wear. I find it hard to believe it's an alignment issue. Just sent it to dealer and they say the solution is to run a harder tire. Wha?! Asinine. This is a design flaw if tolerances are so tight that being out of alignment causes this (see photos below).

Note the clean black spot on the lower spring plate. That appears to be where the tire has been contacting hard parts. There's no way this is from being out of alignment. Look at the difference in tread depth to the problematic section!

If you look at the front suspension diagrams for the 2017 S60 it is basic to most Volvos and other make and models. It's a typical MacPherson Suspension.

Typical MacPherson Suspension
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=included+angl ... herson.jpg

2017 S60 Front Suspension - Strut & Steering Knuckle
https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/show ... veLine=441

2017 S60 Front Suspension - Control Arm & Steering Knuckle
https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/show ... veLine=441

In your second photo the tire will have to be very, very tall and wide before it can potentially flex enough laterally while on a turn to rub the strut's spring perch. The second photo with the strut and tire setup will not produce the wear you show on the two tires. Also, the tire in photo 2 is different from the tires in photo 1 and 3? Photo 2 has a directional tire.

The SAI Angle will not allow the kind of rubbing especially when the tire is so much lower than the spring perch. Follow the link to the bottom of the page for SAI Angle. It is set meaning designed into the suspension so the tire and strut move together.

https://www.superiorengineering.com.au/wheel-alignment

Even if the Camber was off, which would be very little as there are no adjustments for it, the Included Angle would not differ enough to cause rubbing. Same link as above scroll down pass SAI and Included Angle is explained.

https://www.superiorengineering.com.au/wheel-alignment

Without looking at Alignment Specs and the Suspension in general it would be very difficult to make any calls as to why there is such bad wear or maybe potentially rubbing against something else. Could be a combination of things also including defective tires.

theman · Post by **theman** » 24 Oct 2019, 05:27

Thanks for the elaborate reply Mo. It's the same tire, just different angles. 2, showing the spring plate mark, is showing the rub mark rather than the worn inside, so maybe that's confounding things.

I spoke to a couple different trusted Volvo techs and there's consensus it's a simply alignment issue, exacerbated by the soft stock Pirelli rubber.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 24 Oct 2019, 16:16

theman wrote: ↑24 Oct 2019, 05:27 Thanks for the elaborate reply Mo. It's the same tire, just different angles. 2, showing the spring plate mark, is showing the rub mark rather than the worn inside, so maybe that's confounding things.

I spoke to a couple different trusted Volvo techs and there's consensus it's a simply alignment issue, exacerbated by the soft stock Pirelli rubber.

Thanks for the reply. I suspected alignment and tire issues including improper inflation but it is still very extreme for sure. I can see the tires in Pic 1 & 3 where it shows the damaged tire being the same but the tread pattern on Pic 2

... Not getting it regardless of angle. The clean black spot on the Spring Perch of the Strut should not be tire related.

theman · Post by **theman** » 24 Oct 2019, 18:20

HA! Now I realize the difference - in desperation of avoiding a tow I test-fit my 850 spare wheel/tire but of course it didn't fit. That's an 850 wheel/tire laying against the rotor. Sorry about that, totally forgot until I just looked, thinking, what the hell is he talking about?! Did I mi....err, yep I sure did :0

Post by **MoVolvos** » 26 Oct 2019, 02:09

theman wrote: ↑24 Oct 2019, 18:20 HA! Now I realize the difference - in desperation of avoiding a tow I test-fit my 850 spare wheel/tire but of course it didn't fit. That's an 850 wheel/tire laying against the rotor. Sorry about that, totally forgot until I just looked, thinking, what the hell is he talking about?! Did I mi....err, yep I sure did :0

Whew, thank you for the clarification. I was thinking, how...?