i'm LOOKING FOR SPARE TIRE 2003 xc 70

[I_am_perfect]

Not according to Volvo. For example, the 2003 XC70 Owners Manual states: " •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. "

That still doesn't change what I learned after changing and selling tires for 7 years. I'm still going to rotate and cross my tires.
My owners manual also says I can put ATF in my power steering...

[JRL]

Knock yourself out, it's WRONG..... on these cars

[dcandmc]

That still doesn't change what I learned after changing and selling tires for 7 years. I'm still going to rotate and cross my tires.
My owners manual also says I can put ATF in my power steering...

Why would you do something that the owner's manual says explicitly not to do?

[RockitShip]

The thought I had was that I would introduce them into rotation only on one side of the car (left or right). My logic being that the wear on those 3 tires would be of minor difference (from the 2 wheel side) not to interfere with the AWD system, yet it would keep them relatively the same size as well as getting usage out of the tire, while having a real spare tire that could go over 50 MPH for longer than 50 miles. just thinking out loud!

I wouldn't cross-rotate for fear of AWD (Haldex) damage. However, I see the logic of non-directional tires, but I still wouldn't do it on an AWD car. Non-AWD sure, I'd consider cross-rotation.

[Astro14]

My owners manual also says I can put ATF in my power steering...

Using ATF will get you the joy of a new steering rack. And the fun of removing the subframe to wrestle the beast out...

The spec was superseded, you want to use the Pentosin.

I have followed Volvo's recommendation on rotation and kept the tires on the same side. They have worn very evenly. I have driven the car over 80,000 miles now, and gone through the Michelins that came on it, a set of Yokohamas, and a set of Nokians.

No cupping, no noise, nothing but nice even wear.

Looks like what you learned in 7 years of changing and selling tires doesn't apply to this car.

[I_am_perfect]

Using ATF will get you the joy of a new steering rack. And the fun of removing the subframe to wrestle the beast out...

The spec was superseded, you want to use the Pentosin.

I have followed Volvo's recommendation on rotation and kept the tires on the same side. They have worn very evenly. I have driven the car over 80,000 miles now, and gone through the Michelins that came on it, a set of Yokohamas, and a set of Nokians.

No cupping, no noise, nothing but nice even wear.

Looks like what you learned in 7 years of changing and selling tires doesn't apply to this car.

I was just making a point that everything in the owners manual isn't always right.
I still know more about tires than you. I will still rotate the way I know is best.

[mapper]

Just stumbled across all these posts. OK, I understand why AWD is picky about tires being similar size and tread pattern...differences in rotation being tough of the differentials etc.

But someone please tell me why on earth we shouldn't cross rotate tires? If the diffs are so weak the can't overcome a minor directional difference in tire wear then I shouldn't be driving this car on anything but a perfectly paved road much less, God forbid, mounting snow/traction tires.

Unless I find out why cross rotation is so terrible, I'm with "perfect" on this one. To keep my tires running the longest, every season when I changeover, the best tread depths will go on the front...where it wears the fastest. I understand why shops want the best on the rear but you'll never get full life out of a set that way.

[Astro14]

I hesitate to speak...since there is clearly a member that knows more than me...

But here's the TireRack article on rotation: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=43

It's a decent overview.

First, if you have directional tread, you should NEVER cross-rotate, you should keep the correct rotation direction. In some cases, to correct for cupping and/or pull, you will have to dismount the tires and remount them to get them on the other side of the vehicle.

Now, on conventional tires, I cross rotate tires on every vehicle, EXCEPT on those vehicles where the owner's manual stipulates front-rear rotation only. The OM on my Mercedes S600 says the same thing as the OM on my XC, specifically, it states, "front to rear only" and "rotation direction must be maintained"...can't tell you precisely why, though...

In the old days (the 70s), a change in rotation direction (which causes a change in the stress direction) was thought to be the root cause of radial tire belt failures. Radial tires were new then. In particular, the Firestone 500s (one of the first radials after the Michelin X) had this issue...so, I suspect that in high speed environments, that caution still exists, even though tire technology has improved dramatically since then.

But again, I_am_perfect should really be the one answering your question...since he knows more than me...or Volvo...or Mercedes...

[mapper]

I should have also stipulated that I understand the directional bit. However, as far as I know the P2 XC70s came with Pirelli Scorpions which are a non-directional tire.

A number of high-performance cars come equipped with differently sized high performance tires. As indicated in rotation pattern E (TireRack link). Non-directional tires would be swapped to a different side.

Patterns A, B, C, F and G (TireRack link) all involve a variation of a traditional cross rotation. Which has been the standard method for rotation non-directional radial tires for as long as I've been involved with cars. Including 2 years working at a BMW factory service facility in the early 2000s.

So, still I'm curious what the logic is behind Volvo, and apparently MBs, instruction to rotate front to back only. My hypothesis, at this point, is that they wanted to "cover their respective asses" because many people use directional tires. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the owner's manuals in question were written to cover some vehicles that may have been shipped with directional tires, pattern D (TireRack link)....thereby suggesting front to back rotation is sufficient Certainly any tire company manufacturing tires with a directional tread believes front to back rotation is sufficient.

[Astro14]

Mapper - you may be right about the CYA logic...as an example, lots of MBs came with Michelin Pilot Sport all-seasons (great tires...but not cheap)...which have a highly directional tread...so, to ensure that no one got it wrong, regardless of the multitude of factory fitted tires, and the tires fitted later by tire shops, they stipulate F-R rotation only...