[Jeffdel1965]

Readers to this forum may have read about my tire wear woes but this one is a joke - my Continental 4X4 Contacts are down to the tread-wear bars after 10,000 miles (with no sign of alignment issues). This car goes right back to Volvo after my lease is up. My guess is the my wife's in town driving coupled with Volvo's AWD and the weight are the main culprits in the premature tire wear.

 

[1sttimevolvo]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (Jeffdel1965)

That's amazing!

I don't see how the car can be 100% (or even half) the culprit.

We replaced our Michelin Synchrones at about 44k, with Yokohamas.

 

[tric]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (Jeffdel1965)

Agreed. my 2004 T6 coming off warranty in a few months and this Volvo is going to some new owner who can deal with the issues. My tires went at 14,000 miles and the tire wear can't be fixed. (uneven too). Had three alignments. Too bad - Volvo got about 80% right - just reliability and all the little issues. Love the safety, looks, comfort. Hate the issues, gas mileage, transmission and service dept.

 

[ig_mb]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (1sttimevolvo)

I wonder if there is any correlation between tire wear and wheel size. After a very unscientific poll of two people, it seems that 17" wheels yield longer tire longevity. May be it's time to start a poll? (not!)

FWIW, I have the OEMs 18" Pilot MXM4 and they are ready to be changed after only 23K.

 

[finnvolvo]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (ig_mb)

I changed my OEM 18" Michelins after 56,000 miles.

 

[Jeffdel1965]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (ig_mb)

FYI - I have the standard 17" tires

Back to my theory on the reasons for excess tire wear:

Volvo's AWD system + weight + suspension issues + around town (not highway) driving + maybe North East Road surfaces = TIRE EATER!!!

Also, note my new car choice below instead of the S80 AWD - no contest - Volvo is falling behind in the luxury sedan category.

Modified by Jeffdel1965 at 8:42 AM 3-10-2006

 

[coachhomer]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (Jeffdel1965)

Aint a northeast issue, and it aint a rim issue as far as I see it. My 2 rear synchrones are almost bald at 13K. They were rotated once at 6.5K. The Volvo dealership here in Florida has been far from cooperative and helpful in solving this issue.

Scott

 

[Volvo_Captain]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (Jeffdel1965)

I'd blame the problem to cheap tires that Volvo put on. Our SUV (not a Volvo) ate the first set of tires in 15k miles. The second set is Goodyear. The SUV is over 50k miles now, and the tires are still good.

Yes, Volvo safety is excellent. Reliability,....hmm... I don't want to make anyone upset, you be the judge.

 

[1sttimevolvo]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (Volvo_Captain)

I'd go with the cheap tire issue if people were experiencing the same problem across the board. However, the range of tire wear seems to be somewhat broad.
I recall a year or so ago on this board the first few posters having tire wear problems had the Pirellis. But then folks with the Michelin Synchrones posted similar premature wear. But as more and more people started reporting in it seemed to range from around 20k to nearly 50k.
As I had noted earlier, we got 44k out of our Michelin Synchrones and they were the factory tires.

 

[ig_mb]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (coachhomer)

Quote, originally posted by coachhomer »

...aint a rim issue as far as I see it. My 2 rear synchrones ...

Ok, I'll admit it: I phrased the "question" incorrectly. My thought was towards the specific tire package used by Volvo in the different models and/or rim sizes. For example, you got Michelin Synchrones but I got Michelin Pilot HX MXM4. As far as I can tell, the synchrones are not available on 235/60/18.

The MXM4 have a horrible 300 wear index vs 380 for the synchrones.

There is also the differences in weight for the different models (eg, the 3rd row adds a lot of weight -- chances are that engine differences also add/subtract).

These kind of details make it a bit hard to compare cases with higher tire wear.

BTW, I just noticed one detail: the 235/65/17 synchrones have a load factor of 104H (1984 lbs) vs 102V (1874 lbs) on the 235/60/18 MXM4s. Mmm....

----
[Sources]
Michelin Synchrones (235/65/17):
* Tirerack website: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...hrone
* Michelin website: http://www.michelinman.com/ass...e.pdf

Michelin HX MXM4 (235/60/18):
* Tirerack website: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...+MXM4
* Michelin website: http://www.michelinman.com/ass...4.pdf

[edit to add michelin's info on MXM4]

Modified by ig_mb at 5:10 PM 3-10-2006

 

[jib]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (ig_mb)

Two things - First, there has to be something wrong to see the varience in miles folks are getting out of tires. We have th pilot MxM4 and are not seeing excessive wear.

Quote, originally posted by ig_mb »

The MXM4 have a horrible 300 wear index vs 380 for the synchrones.

Horrible is in the eyes of the beholder. We have tires on our car to provide traction for starting, stopping and turning. Sticky tires do these functions much better than hard ones do. While the wear index is not an actual indicator of tire traction, it does correlate. High wear indicies will typically not grip the road nearly as well as lower wear index tires. Personally, I don't want 50k tires. They just don't stick. Conversely, and back to the thread, 15k out of a set of tires is just wrong. Something, alignment, sticking brake calipers, something is keeping those tires from rolling well and causing excessive wear.

How have your brake pads held up? Do you drive mostly in cities with lots of stop and go? Do you use your right foot for gas and your left for brake? What kind of gas mileage do you get? Driving style aside, there has to be some issue with the vehicle to get 15k miles to a set of tires.

Jack

 

[Rick_Auricchio]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (jib)

Quote, originally posted by jib »

Something, alignment, sticking brake calipers, something is keeping those tires from rolling well... Do you use your right foot for gas and your left for brake?

Why would dragging brakes affect tire wear? As long as the tires aren't scuffing, they don't "care" whether you burn extra fuel due to dragging brakes.

Alignment, yes. Lots of low-speed maneuvering turns, yes (because the alignment goes to hell when you do a U-turn.) High-speed turns where the tires are struggling to maintain traction.

 

[ig_mb]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (Rick_Auricchio)

Quote, originally posted by Rick_Auricchio »

Why would dragging brakes affect tire wear?

If it were to happen to all brakes, you would get less mileage out of your brakes.

But it one or two brakes stick or don't fully release, the tires would not rotate freely, possibly leaving a bit of rubber all over the road.

FWIW, this _might_ explain the extra wear I've been observing on my rear right hand tire. In my car, whichever tire is in the RR position seems to wear a lot quicker than any of the other three tires. Of course, I don't have any actual measurements, just the impression.

But, according to my dealer, my brake pads are in good condition: I still have several mm (I don't have the docs with me) in all four corners.

 

[tric]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (ig_mb)

I have the 17" wheels. I am sure much of the issue is with Pirelli - horrible tires for wear and noise. Wish there were more choices - and sounds like there are a few. Problem is vehicle has wear issue in back right tire which is commonly known.

 

[doug b]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (Jeffdel1965)

Michelin, Continental, Pirelli, all good tires. Volvo does not put 'cheap' tires on their cars. I can see how it would be possible that you would have a defective tire, but not four of them.

There is a problem, I'm assuming that the dealer isn't responsive, and that's why you posted your complaint.

I would contact VCNA directly, and also the tire manufacturer. I think you could get some positive action.

 

[Rick_Auricchio]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (ig_mb)

Quote, originally posted by ig_mb »

But it one or two brakes stick or don't fully release, the tires would not rotate freely, possibly leaving a bit of rubber all over the road.

Yes, a lockup that causes tire scuffing would of course tear up a tire. But the original post implied that brakes simply not fully released could cause tire wear. That situation will just eat up your pads and discs, because the tires still roll against the road.

My right-front tire wears on its outer edge because of the 90-degree left turn into my garage and the 90-degree turn after backing out. These maneuvers are almost full-lock turns, and I can often feel the front tires scuffing due to the AWD/limited slip. (Try a U-turn in a 4wd vehicle with the front hubs engaged and you'll see this happen.)

My RR tire shows the same wear, because it was rotated at 7500 after wearing. Now the tire shop swapped left-right sides to wear the tires more evenly. Of course, when I replace the tires, I'll probably have directional ones and this won't be an option.

 

[jib]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (Rick_Auricchio)

Quote, originally posted by Rick_Auricchio »

Why would dragging brakes affect tire wear? As long as the tires aren't scuffing, they don't "care" whether you burn extra fuel due to dragging brakes..

Because if individual or sets of brakes are dragging you will be putting a greater load on the other tires. They have to push harder against the road surface to provide the same forward force.

Consider a two wheel drive vehicle where the front brakes are locked. The rear tires will do a lot more work and wear out faster. The power to the wheels in the XC90 varies between the front and rear wheels, so I believe this could be a possible contributor. Obviously this is an extreme example, but it demostrates the point.

All of this said, however, 15k on a set of tires is highly unusual and something must be wrong.

jib

 

[myxc90]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (Jeffdel1965)

2004 2.5T awd , Michelins 32K, probably at least good for 40K total or so

 

[alj]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (myxc90)

I have written about this before on the forum. I replaced my Synchrones at 15K and now my Michelin Alpine snow tires will be replaced after this season with 10K. Both sets of tires wore fairly evenly. I drive a lot in curvy/hilly mountain roads and I think this is part of the problem. I notice that the front tires tend to slip on an easy standstill uphill start on paved roads, especially if you are turning when starting. The front tires tend to slip starting from a standstill on flat pavement, when turning.

Also, I had to replace my front brake pads at 24k. My past cars went 90K before I needed to change pads. This vehicle is heavy, however, there is something strange about the suspension/drive train that seems to be a poor design as it relates to tire and brake wear. http://********************/smile/emthdown.gif

 

[NASTY]

Re: Tire Wear - Ridiculous (alj)

We had the bald 18 inch Syncrones on our T6 replaced at around 23k with Pireli A/T and those are still good after 6k. Brake pads and rotors trashed around 20k iirc (rotors out of pocket). Lots of stop and go and CO mountains equal not good for this heavy awd suv. We will also be saying bye bye to the XC90 at the end of our lease. Less than 14 mpg doesn't help. Agree there may be something to the drivetrain/suspension design as there are other heavier suvs that don't have these premature wear issues. And none of our previous suvs had near the wear issues of the XC90 with the same commute, roads and people driving.