Tyre Wear - Volvo V70 - Durelli
{Moved from Discussion. DD}

Hi,

I have a 2002 Volvo V70. It\'s done about 50k miles, and the rear tyres are still the original. Until recently they had lasted really well, but in the past few weeks they seem to have both worn extensivly on the outside of each tyre. The wear is like what you get on the front after you kerb it and knock the tracking out.

If both sides of the tyre are worn then thats a classic under inflation, but it\'s only one side.

These are pirelli (the olbivous choice for Durelli!)

Any ideas?




cheers

Durelli - son of a famous Italian tyre maker
Tyre Wear - Rob C
So effectively, its as if you have too much positive camber at the rear wheels.
Presumably, if you have kerbed the rear, it would only affect one side.

Have you removed something heavy from the boot, that you have previously always carried?
Tyre Wear - Volvo V70 - Durelli
It was put down to 4 wheel tracking, They (tyre fitter B)reckoned that the both rear wheels were affected by something like a speed bump!

they also spotted bald spots on the front wheels, which were missed by tyre fitter A, even though I asked them to check all the tyres for wear while it was up on the ramp.

So I've gone from thinking I had 4 good tyres, to no good tyres.



cheers

Durelli - son of a famous Italian tyre maker
Tyre Wear - Volvo V70 - Durelli
Hi again,

next set of rear tyres went in just the same way, after a further 30k miles.

Took it to Micheldever tyres this time and was told this was a common fault on Estate cars. The Camber is set to cope with load in the back and so when unloaded the outside edge does wear.

But when the tread depth is low there is no way for the heat to be dissipated and so the outside edge wears quickly.

There is no way the camber on rear wheels can be adjusted.

He advised to keep a heavy weight in the back of the car and the tyres had about 6k miles life left in them.


Anyone seen this behaviour before?



cheers

Durelli - son of a famous Italian tyre maker
Tyre Wear - Volvo V70 - Xileno {P}
30K from a set of tyres is very acceptable.
Tyre Wear - Volvo V70 - SjB {P}
Anyone seen this behaviour before?


The opposite is very common on Vectra GSi Estates like my previous car (a 2000 W model) but in this case is a side effect of making the car grip and handle beyond the more humble versions; they run a huge amount of negative camber, just like old Beemers, with the result that I used to knock out the inside edge of rear tyres every 16k miles. The outside shoulder would be like new and have virtually new levels of tread depth each time replaced.

For information the car I replaced the GSi Estate with is a 2003 V70 2.4T SE that I purchased new and on which I specified the Sachs Nivomatic self rear levelling suspension. This super pair of devices uses the motion of the car over bumps to pump up the rear suspension to normal ride levels. No motor is used, and the units automatically bleed off pressure on reaching the normal ride height or as the car is unloaded.

Now at 33k miles I checked the tyres last weekend as it happens, and all tyres (excellent Goodyear Eagle GSD3 F1 in standard size 225x45 for 17" wheels) are wearing as evenly as the (sorry to say in light of your preference!) poor original fitment Pirelli P6000s (noisy, mediocre longevity and grip, and poor standing water tolerance). For the record the latter lasted mid twenty thousand miles (having been swapped so they all wore out together) with the car in standard tune (200bhp / 285NM) but the Goodyears are coping with 258bhp / 444NM courtesy of some software and mechanical modifications, so it will be interesting to see how they last.