Bad tires or something else?

[XC70 fan]

We bought a new 2005 XC70 last week. The car drives great and we love it. Only one thing we can't figure out is when we reach speeds of at least 60 mph, the car begins to swerve. The feeling is similar to that if you were driving in extremely windy conditions. At first, we thought it was the road condition, but it is beginning to happen almost everywhere. I suspect it could be the tires, maybe they're defective or they are just bad tires. Could it also be something wrong with the steering? Perhaps something is loose. I will have the dealer check it out soon, but thought I would ask here first.

[PlaysWithCars]

Have the dealer check the alignment. It is not uncommon for the alignment to be incorrect from the factory, for all manufacturers.

Second check is for other suspension and steering components, again by the dealer.

IMHO, this should be performed for no charge by the dealer, as part of the Dealer Prep. You just dropped a large chunk of money on their doorstep, they can deliver you a safe vehicle for the road.

[SYS]

We bought a new 2005 XC70 last week. The car drives great and we love it. Only one thing we can't figure out is when we reach speeds of at least 60 mph, the car begins to swerve. The feeling is similar to that if you were driving in extremely windy conditions. At first, we thought it was the road condition, but it is beginning to happen almost everywhere. I suspect it could be the tires, maybe they're defective or they are just bad tires. Could it also be something wrong with the steering? Perhaps something is loose. I will have the dealer check it out soon, but thought I would ask here first.

Yours, too!! I experienced exactly the same when I got mine about a couple of weeks ago. I was inclined to blame on the tires rather than the alignment, and therefore skipped a visit to the dealer. I was also thinking about checking the tire air pressure, but I've been extremely busy lately so I haven't gotten around to it. I think when the tires are at max air pressure, the car would behave like we're experiencing. Perhaps it's a common practice for the factory to ship it with additional air pressure as a comp for two months of inactivity during shipping?? Just my guess....

[XC70 fan]

PlayWithCars suggestions make sense, so I'm going to call the dealer and setup an appointment for them to check it out. Just don't know when I can do it because I'm really busy right now. If you do get it checked out before me, please post update, and I'll do the same. Hope it is as simple as an alignment or perhaps tire balance.




Yours, too!! I experienced exactly the same when I got mine about a couple of weeks ago. I was inclined to blame on the tires rather than the alignment, and therefore skipped a visit to the dealer. I was also thinking about checking the tire air pressure, but I've been extremely busy lately so I haven't gotten around to it. I think when the tires are at max air pressure, the car would behave like we're experiencing. Perhaps it's a common practice for the factory to ship it with additional air pressure as a comp for two months of inactivity during shipping?? Just my guess....

[XC70Geo]

Do you have a stock Pirelli STR? If yes, it's not normal. I have tried up to 220 km/h and had no problem.
You should check the tire pressure, and try to find anything else, but IMHO you'd better start with your dealer.
In any case, I suggest to have the wheels realigned by the dealership. Bad alignment can cause your simptoms. Gibbons gave the numbers here (http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5203&highlight=camber).
My XC70 is as stable as no car I ever had, and yours must be better. I asked my dealer to realign the wheels as I got the car.

[ashpee]

Hey,

I have a problem that is strongly related to the alignment subject.

After purchasing the XC, I felt the steering was too light and insecure. When looking at the front of the car from a distance, one can see the wheels are inclined to the inside (negative camber as on old BMW's rear).

I asked the dealer to perform an alignment on it, but the position of the wheels can not be adjusted any further. The adjustment has reached its end.

After that, he ordered the shocks that should be at the front, according to the plate on the inner wing under the hood. This tought us that the shocks are the correct items. Can there otherwise be anything to adjust or that can be wrong. (We assume that the number on that plate is not correct, or stock does not match the number). Anyone ever had this problem before me?

My tyres are using rapidly on the inside.

Thanks for your help.

Hans

[asilverm]

Are you driving on grooved highways (many parallel lines running in the direction of travel)? When I first got my 04XC70 with stock scorpion STRs I had the same problem and posted my concerns to this forum. I was told that many others had experienced it and it would go away. It did at about 4K-5K miles. I have 25K and it has not recurred.

[XC70 fan]

Yes, I have the stock Scorpion STR tires. And yes, that was also what I was suspecting, that it is the grooves in the road. I hope you're right that the problem will go away. But why would the problem go away? Just wondering what the science behind it is.

I'm only at 1000 miles right now, so we'll see what happens at 4k-5k miles. In the meantime, I'll call the dealer and have them check it out just in case.



Are you driving on grooved highways (many parallel lines running in the direction of travel)? When I first got my 04XC70 with stock scorpion STRs I had the same problem and posted my concerns to this forum. I was told that many others had experienced it and it would go away. It did at about 4K-5K miles. I have 25K and it has not recurred.

[SYS]

But why would the problem go away? Just wondering what the science behind it is.

It is my guess, and only a guess, the reason why the problem starts to go away is that, as the tires are wearing out a bit the less grooves-to-grooves interactions. If the grooves on the road is the true culprit, then the same phenomenon probably should occur with anyone owning any set of brand new tires with the max grooves on them, unless the P.Scorpions are particularly grooved to cause such symptoms more than any other new tires....

[Willy]

The Scorpions are all season tyres. Often, these tyres have the rubber compound of summer tyres and are cut with grooves like a winter tyre. I haven't driven them many miles since after testdriving the XC, I decided it would be better to have two sets of tyres.
Willy

[V70XC_01]

You may also consider that new tire tread is also softer than after it goes through hundreds of heat cycles that occur as they are used. The tread will harden a bit which causes the tread to stiffen. I'm not familiar with the tread design on those tires but it sounds like they have many thin strips of tread rather than larger blocks. Another thought is that the road surface is typically crowned to varying degrees for water runoff and the surface changes from one area to the next either in material used, patches and repairs and even temperature. My guess is that most likely it's the flexing tread which should stiffen and stabilize with miles traveled. If anyone remembers the first issue of BF Goodrich T/A 50-series tires back about 30-35 years, you'll remember how bad they were for the first couple thousand miles. After that they were the tire to have.