I recently had the snow tires removed and changed for the summer tires on our 99 V70R AWD (I know it's pretty late but I never had the time and we actually had snow fall last weekend and last night). The thing that I thought was odd is that the garage insisted on putting the tires with the deepest thread on the rear wheels and the 'baldest' tires on the front. I would have thought it would make more sense to put the tires with the most thread on the front (and I'll ask next time I go to the dealership for service) but I was wondering what your opinion was.

Let me know,

Mike

WARNING!

Volvo has specifically stated in their mailing to all their AWD customers that the tires with the least amount of wear (largest circumference) must be mounted on the front. You will have no leg to stand on if your front diff starts to leak or fails with the setup you now have. Change your tires around!

Doug

Thanks for all the updates, I'll have the dealership change them around when I go in (I have to go in sometime this week).

I'm not too concerned about causing damage to the AWD - it's only maybe 1/16" difference in depth between the rears and the fronts (probably less than that even). Volvo's system can't be that fragile (you can easily pick up a rock in the threads that will add more than that).

Mike

Mike;

Don't take this issue too lightly. There is a Service Bulletin (4460005 of 01/01) that addresses the topic of tire size on the V70 AWD. It says in part "Caution! Failure to always drive on properly inflated, identical tires of correct dimensions may result in a circumference difference betwee tires on the front and rear axeles. This will cause excessive wear and may damage the transmission and all wheel drive system."

It also says to "Always drive on tires of identical brand, size, construction (radial), tread pattern, load-, speed-, traction-, temperature-, and treadwear rating." It also warns not to use the temp spare for more than 50 miles.

Now, previous to being a V70 XC owner, I would not have believed this.

But reading threads about the damage caused by mismatched tires and then reading the service bulletin, I'm convinced enough not to take any chances - where are you going to put your money?

Ray

Thanks for the warning, I'll take it in as soon as I can get an appointment.

Mike

I remember an article in Car & Driver a few years ago that said you should put the freshest tires on the rear. I can't explain it, though.

I have always put the most tread up front on AWD cars also. The power split is something like 90/10 most of the time unless a tire starts to spin. This logic could be wrong though.