Tire rotation?!?!

[SpudRacer]

I have been pouring over the owner's manual for the 2004' XC70, and have come across a discrepancy. I am wondering what others are doing.

Page 94 states (and I quote) "Volvo recommends rotating the tires every 7,500 miles (12,000km). Tires should be rotated front-to-back/back-to-front only. Tires must maintain the same direction of rotation throughout their lifetime, and should never be rotated from one side of the vehicle to the other."

OK, so Volvo recommends rotating the tires. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Now skip to page 110 (and I quote), "Volvo does not recommend rotating the tires. However, if tires are rotated, they must be kept on the same side of the car so that they revolve in the same direction as before rotation."

So, what are we to make of this? Is everyone rotating their tires? Or not? http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hehe.gif

We are going to the dealership in Santa Barbara tomorrow to sign more papers and present our passports to get copied for our OSD. I will bring this topic up if I can remember and try to get an answer. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

I'm surprised this wasn't caught by all the sharp eyed forum members yet, but it probably was, and I missed the post. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/lookaround.gif

Respectfully,

Spud

[Hiro's XC]

Rotate front to back. You will cause excesive wear on the tires if you cross rotate them. I do believe you can cross rotate the scorpians but there is no need to unless you have excessive wear on an edge of the tires. The Nokians I have are directional and can only go front to back.

If you change the oil every 5K just rotate them then. And if you do mostly city driving definetly rotate at 5K as they wear much more quickly. If you are 70% highway the 7500 mile rec is A-OK.

[SpudRacer]

Hiro,

I found TWO places in the owners manual that recommend NOT rotating your tires on the 04' XC70, and only ONE place where it recommends rotating the tires.

What gives?

Spud

[Hiro's XC]

The want the dealer to get the tire replacement business. Also, when rotated the car handals different until the tires seat into the different suspension geometry. This cause the customer to come back and complain about it and then you have more billable warranty time.

There is no good reason to not rotate. Ignore the fact you saw it. Unless you like replacing the front tires 2 to 1 to the rears.

jason

[SpudRacer]

Jason,

I agree completely with rotating tires, always have, always will.

Not rotating would wear the fronts prematurely, I agree.  When replaced, they would then have a significant diameter difference from the rears which, I'm afraid, would wreak havoc with the Haldex AWD system.  This would require replacing all 4, even though the rears still had some tread left.  The only way to prolong the duration between tire changes would be to rotate your tires.

We are on the same page with this one, just didn't understand Volvo's reasoning.  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Thanks for the education on billing!  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Respectfully,

Spud

[barrysharp]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (SpudRacer @ Sep. 21 2003,14:45)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Not rotating would wear the fronts prematurely, I agree. When replaced, they would then have a significant diameter difference from the rears which, I&#39;m afraid, would wreak havoc with the Haldex AWD system.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Spud:

I don&#39;t believe the differing wheel wearing issue is a problem with the Haldex AWD system introduced with model year 2003 XC70s. It is a problem with the Viscous Coupled system in XC70s prior to MY2003 though.

[SpudRacer]

Does that mean I could run tires in the rear that are (say) 1&quot; larger in diameter than the fronts without any ill effects?? &nbsp;This wouldn&#39;t affect the AWD, antilock brakes, or DSTC?

Not that I would ever do such a thing, just curious.

Spud

[Hiro's XC]

Drive train, no effect, ABS &amp; DSTC yes, since they measure corner to corner front to back and diagonal.