1995 Volvo 850 1995 850 T5-R: My car shakes terribly, &

KAJ2003SA

MEMBER
1995 VOLVO 850

Shakes or Wobbles problem
1995 Volvo 850 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive 146000 miles

I just put my summer wheels back on my 850t5-r and I've been getting TERRIBLE vibration from all 4 ends. I've taken my car back to get my wheels balanced 3 times in a row now, and each time it gets worse. This last time, I stood and watched the guys do it, and they took their time making sure the weights stuck. As soon as I drove it away from the shop I got vibration. This makes me worry that it's not the wheels.

What could possibly be causing this vibration? It's not the tires. They're not cupped, they're practically brand new. It's not the engine mounts, I don't think. The vibration increases in intensity as the speed goes up. It doesn't let off when I back off the accelerator. Also, I just had my axles and tie rods replaced last summer. (And it comes from both the front and the back of the car) My alignment was also done this past summer. The car still tracks dead on straight.

At slower 30-45 mph speeds I can feel the car slightly pulsating. Above 50 mph it's noticable in the steering wheel. Above 55 mph it's shaking the whole car. I can't push past 70 because the vibration is killer!

Could it be the hubs are warped from overtorquing? Could it be that somehow I damaged them with my winter rims? Come to think of it, I had just bought them off a person with a v70 this winter. Maybe my winter rims bent the hubs? And the guys at the shop did say they had a rough time trying to get the winter rims to fit flush with my hubs when they worked on the car a couple months ago. When I took them off a couple weeks ago to switch back to summers, they were stuck hard and fast to the hubs (in the rear), and I had to give the fronts a couple good whacks to get them off the hubs.

When I step on the brakes at about 60-70 mph, I can feel the vibration through the pedal until my speed gets down below 50 mph.

And, to add to all of this, I have a sticky rear parking brake pad that gives off a low pitched squeal only for the first 1/2 mile or so after I take off first thing in the morning.

Anyone have any thoughts? Cause it REALLY sucks not to be able to drive faster than 55 mph!

3 Replies

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

Sounds like you have cast wheels if they were that hard to remove. Jack the car up so you can run it in gear. Remove the wheels and look at the rotor. Ideally, it would be best to run the car in gear with a dial indicator riding on the hub / rotor. If the rotors are loose, (not held on with two screws), hold them tight with the lugnuts and some large washers. If you have Harbor Tools-type cheap tool store around, they have one for about 10 bucks. If the dial indicator shows a lot of sideways runout, check for corrosion that broke loose from the wheels and fell behind that rotor. That will prevent the rotors from sitting flush, and the wheels will wobble too. If the hub and rotor are true, look at the back of the wheel for built up debris on the mounting surface. That surface does not make full contact with the plate on all wheel balancers, otherwise it would show up when getting them balanced.

Do the same with the dial indicator on the outer lip of the wheel. On Dodge trucks with cast wheels, .045" runout is enough to be noticeable. The way you described your vibration, you're going to find WAY more than that. In fact, you should see the tire wobble when looking from the front or back as it spins.

Caradiodoc

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Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 AT 3:12 PM

KAJ2003SA

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Yeah, so I put my winter rims back on the front just to rule out a wheel problem, and the vibrations in the front went away.

I took a close look at the summer rims/tires on the back, and there was a noticeable flat spot where the tire was resting on the ground. Same when I looked at the front summer tires. As I spun the wheel and watched it in comparison to a fixed point behind it, the tire was about 1/4" flatter in that spot. Now this development is a bit wierd, because I didn't store my tires over the winter on their tread. I kept them flat and stacked on each other.

Any ideas what caused this and how I can keep from this happening again? These are practically brand new summer tires bought last summer. I gotta admit, I went cheap and got Barum Bavarus from Discount Tire. Is that it? Just a set of cheap tires?

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Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 AT 6:32 PM

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

There's really no such thing as a "cheap" tire. They are made by a major manufacturer for the mass merchandisers.

There used to be problems many years ago when radial tires were new where the tires would develop flat spots from sitting overnight. The thumping usually went away after a couple of miles. If possible, let the car sit overnight jacked up, then recheck the tread in the morning. If the flat spot is gone, haul them to the shop off the car to have them rebalanced. It would be my guess the flat spots were still in the tires when they balanced them. That would create an imbalance that they tried to remove with weights. Once the flat spot cleared up, the balance changed.

If I'm right, once they are rebalanced this way, you will have a thumping at first, but the balance should be fine after a couple of miles. You might inquire where you bought the tires to see if there are known problems or a recall. They also might be able to trade them in for a higher quality set. That will depend on the store's policy.

Caradiodoc

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Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 AT 7:03 PM