V70: Wheels/Brakes V70 tramlining

[tommyweaves]

Originally Posted by Thassos

I'd agree with andy N, first place id be looking is worn front wishbone bushes and the mileage is about right for this..

Really? At 46k miles? Mine's done 56k and I've repeatedly asked the dealer to look at those on mine as a possible cause for my car drifting to the left, but they say they're ok. I'm thinking of getting them both changed anyway, any idea of cost?

[Thassos]

I replaced mine at 70k, and they were well shot, so i would think if theyve had a hard life (non motorway, potholes etc) that they could be the culprit, not sure if the later cars have the same suspension setup as the P2 cars, post a pic of yours, you can use a pry bar between the subframe and the wishbone to see how much movement is possible, also the gap each side, attached a pic of a worn bush, and a new/improved OEM bush so you can see the difference. You'll notice a dead zone in the steering response when straight ahead (ie small movements of the steering wheel result in no response), with new bushes this disappears and any movement translates into steering response. How does yours compare in this area? Cost wise to replace depends how you do it, anything from sub £100 replacing the bush only (no labour), to probably £400 ish + if you visit a dealer and they replace the wishbones complete ?

[tommyweaves]

Originally Posted by Thassos

I replaced mine at 70k, and they were well shot, so i would think if theyve had a hard life (non motorway, potholes etc) that they could be the culprit, not sure if the later cars have the same suspension setup as the P2 cars, post a pic of yours, you can use a pry bar between the subframe and the wishbone to see how much movement is possible, also the gap each side, attached a pic of a worn bush, and a new/improved OEM bush so you can see the difference. You'll notice a dead zone in the steering response when straight ahead (ie small movements of the steering wheel result in no response), with new bushes this disappears and any movement translates into steering response. How does yours compare in this area? Cost wise to replace depends how you do it, anything from sub £100 replacing the bush only (no labour), to probably £400 ish + if you visit a dealer and they replace the wishbones complete ?

Now THAT is why I love this forum, excellent post, thank you.

Most of my miles are gentle motorway and I take care to avoid potholes so I'd be genuinely gobsmacked if mine are worn. Nonetheless I'll have a look at them and see what I can find. In fairness to my local main dealer they replaced my trailing arm bushes under warranty the other week: I could barely make out the delamination when they allowed me in the workshop to have a look and showed me the parts they'd removed (as posted elsewhere) but they felt they were worth replacing, so for them to miss knackered wishbone bushes would seem odd, especially as I'd asked them to look at them specifically.

[Ryu]

Thanks for the offer tommy. The car doesn't suffer too badly from tram lining probably due to only 20k on the clock i do intend to get to 100k in the car so will be interesting to see if it starts to get worse over time/mileage

[BarentsBlue09]

First, a big "thank you" to those who have taken the trouble to write responses to my original thread - it shows the real value of this forum and the ideas have been very useful in identifying possible causes. I also e-mailed five Volvo dealers to get their opinions and one, Doves of Horsham in Sussex, has been outstanding in the way they have tackled - and resolved - the problem. Here's the story, which may be of interest to anyone with a similar problem.

Shortly after buying the car, the dual mass flywheel started to cause a vibration which was fixed under warranty by the supplying dealer, who will remain nameless. Apparently when this type of work is done the subframe has to be lowered and then re-fitted correctly using a special Volvo tool which has to pass through the subframe and body so that they completely line up.

When I mentioned to Doves on road test that the flywheel had been changed their master technician said that one of the first things he'd check was this alignment - it's a two minute job with the car in the air on a ramp. Sure enough, the tool did not pass through completely. In effect, what I had was a car which had a marginally shorter wheelbase on the left hand side than on the right.

Although I had previously had a four-wheel alignment check carried out by another dealer and the geometry re-set, it seems it can still show the correct readings even with a subframe that is out of alignment. As well as re-aligning the subframe I have also had the two front lower wishbones replaced, as suggested in an earlier post, as the bushes were beginning to split (also carried out under warranty).

As you can imagine, the difference in road behaviour is significant. The tramlining has gone, in all but extreme conditions, and the car now tracks straight.

As well as identifying and fixing my problem, the team at Doves of Horsham have proved to be both friendly and extremely professional. I cannot recommend them highly enough. No prizes for guessing who I will be going to in the future.

[A16X]

My p2 had Pirelli p zero tyres on the front when we got it,my wife hated it.
It would. Tramline worse than any car I've ever owned.
Recently I changed to michelin pilot sports and its like another car.....so different event he wife noticed.
I honestly would never have expected such a change!