A crazy thought...

I was reading an article at VClassics about changing out the rear axle from an 1800 to get rear disk brakes. While that woulld be a nice addition to my 1967 122, I was more intruiged by a mention of how the wheel-stud arrangements were modified to use 140 and later bolt pattern wheels. The author went to a machine/race shop and had the old studs machined off. Then new bolt studs were installed on a "modern" pattern allowing the use of more readily available volvo wheels.

Does anyone know anything more about this modification? Compared to finding someone to "widen" my wheels, or trying to find some other car's alloy wheels that will fit on my Amazon, this sounds like a much more promising alternative.
P1800s (of any flavor) are as common as moonrocks around here.

Ideally, I'd like to used the alloy wheels from my 940 or the stock alloy wheels from my 740 GLE, which I believe is the same tire and bolt pattern used on volvos from the early 140 to the late 900 series.

Thoughts, Concerns, Emphatic Warnings?

Another question would be if one could use later style volvo rotors (240/700) and fit them to the front of an amazon?

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You mean Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?

Acutally there are probably more neat wheels available with the 4.5" bolt
circle than 4¼"

And if you start reading about rotor warpage in MANY, MANY posts you will
NEVER see a 122 rotor mentioned, no matter how tight the lugs are tightened,
etc. This seems to be a very common problem with later models.

122 brakes are pretty good. If you get later calipers with dual path
and a valid booster they are even better. I would NOT go to something
that has as many problems as the later models when the early ones are
clearly a LOT more trouble-free!
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George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

There are dozens of aftermarket wheels with the 5 on 4-1/2" pattern your 122 uses.
I used 6X15 American Racing Torq-Thrust D wheels on my 544(with 122 front brakes); they fit fine, as they do on a 122. The offset isn't quite the same as stock(3-1/2" backspacing =1/2" offset instead of the stock ~1"), but it's close enough. Going much wider is when the complications set in.
I've made adapters going both ways(4-1/2" to 108mm and 108mm to 4-1/2") for others; I'd never do it for myself.

Thanks George.
I checked into new wheels with the 114.5 mm bolt pattern and they are not too uncommon. Most rice-mobiles use the small bolt pattern as well as the Dodge Dakota. I'm also concerned with the offset and such. When I ask about it, the responses start to get really complicated. I really just want to know what model and year I should call the junkyard and ask about. "Old Ford" doesn't tell me much.

Still, I'd really like some volvo wheels, but maybe it's just not meant to be. That fellow at IPD with the red 122 has some great looking wheels, but I think those are the ridiculously expensive wheels I've seen only once on twice.

I suppose "upgrading" the rotors wouldn't be a good idea, as you suggest. What's your opinion on the machining new studs into the old hub and rotors? Too much of a risk if I don't have spares?




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You mean Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?

I don't know just how they do that. The stud centers have to be 1/8" closer
to the hub center, but whether they use eccentric studs or redrill the holes in
the hub I'm not sure. Neither one sounds very good to me.
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George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

I don't have any experience with this, but it sounds very expensive. And I can't believe it would be as strong as what you started with.
Also, I was under the understanding that there are several aluminum wheels available in the original bolt pattern. Maybe someone else will can add more.
Tom

Changing the bolt pattern on a car is done by the use of adapters or by redrilling the hub/rotor/axle to the desired bolt pattern. I have gone so far as to weld up the existing holes, machine the hub true and redrill a different pattern. In that case the hubs started out as a four bolt and I needed to change them to a five bolt. On the 122, it is not necessary to weld up the old holes. All that is required is to have a competent machine shop drill the new pattern in your hubs, rotors and axles. In every application that I have ever seen there has been no loss of strength through this proceedure. At least not enough to cause any problems. A competent machine shop is a must though.

That being said, if you can't find wheels that fit your car, your either not trying hard enough or talking to the wrong people. Ford, Chrysler, AMC, Nissan Toyota Jeep and others all have sold millions of cars and trucks with the 5x4 1/2" (5x114.3) bolt pattern with offsets that will work on the Volvo. Make a pattern off of your original Volvo bolt pattern out of cardboard. Take this and go down to the wrecking yard with a tape measure and a straight edge. Start measuring wheels. Find ones with the same bolt pattern first then check the backspacing. The backspacing should be in the 3 3/4" to 4 1/4" for a 7" wide wheel. If your looking at a 6" wide wheel, the backspacing can range from 3" to 4 1/4".

Here's a list of cars and trucks that came in the 5x4 1/2" (5x114.3) bolt pattern. Not every vehicle on this list has the perfect backspacing but the should all be pretty close. You will have to do your own measuring or research to determine if a particular wheel will fit your car. Some of these wheels may just be too wide to fit within the wheelwells of the Volvo.

Ford:
91-up Crown Victoria
64-73 Mustang, Maverick
57-72, 79-96 Fullsize car (Crown Victoria, Custom, Galaxie, T-Bird, LTD, Etc.)
85-97 Aerostar van
82-90 Bronco II
90-up Explorer
81-up Ranger PU
68-84 1/2 ton Van
65-84 Ranchero
80-85 1/2 ton 2WD PU

Dodge:
77-up Fullsize (Coronet, Monaco, Polara)
87-90 Dakota PU
75-85 Ramcharger PU 2WD
49-85 1/2 ton trucks and vans

Jeep:
80-up Cherokee, Wrangler
80-93 Commanche, Cheif
93-98 Grand Cherokee

Mazda:
93-up B-2500, B-3000, B-4000
90-up Navajo

Nissan:
84-96 300ZX

Lexus:
95-up LS400, LS430
01-up GS430

Mercury:
78-79 Cougar
91-96 XR-7
68-78 Lynx
95-up Marauder, Marquis, Meteor

Toyota:
80-95 2WD PU

Lincoln:
68-72 Continental, Mark III
88-up LSC
84-92 Mark VII
82-up Town Car

Take a gander at a post I made up the line about disc brakes on a 220. All the stock Jeep wheels I've tried do not fit withut spacers as the spider hits your front caliper.

Offset vs steering or bearings is not much of an issue. If it fits in the wheel well and you can turn the wheels lock to lock without rubbing it will not significantly affect the components insofar as wear is concerned.

Having to flare wheel wells or put on fat spacers are another story...

Low profile or fat tires affect steering/bearing components far more than wheel width (but why get wider wheels anyway if you are going to run stock rubber, eh?). Bad alignment double ditto!

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Mike!

It's not that I haven't found any at all, it's just they they are damn pricey and this offset thing is more of an issue that I expected (Vclassics says that wrong offset will trash your steering components).

I found a partial listing on eBay, but your list is much better. I'll print it out and take it with me to the next junkyard I visit.

Actually I have a spare wheel hub. While kind of heavy it might be more reliable than a cardboard cutout.


So, what is better? 6 or 7 inch wide wheels?
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You mean Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?