Watch out, Jack !
 

Came out this frosty a.m. to find out Front N/S tyre had gone flat on V70 D5 2008 ....( turned out to be "beading" leak ), so on the front drive proceeded to fit Space Saver tyre but ...

....... on releasing wheel nuts with Socket wrench ( from Volvo Kit and for only its second time of use since new, ) the wrench itself succeeded in "rounding" the internal faces of the socket, on only the second nut .... and with only minimal pressure....thus useless. Checked on handle of "Volvo" wrench to find it read "FoMoCo" with a part number ........Question answered about Volvo quality!

Fortunately, being at home, I had a wrench and socket from another tool kit and easily removed the other nuts and then discovered Space Saver Tyre had only 38 psi pressure ... but ... I made it tyre fitters half a mile away!

Tyre fitters confirmed that Space Saver tyre should have (had) 60 psi ( obviously not checked on Service(s)...or by me for about 6 months !.... and seemed surprised that I had expected more from a manufacturers Car Wrench ... apparently a common problem with "new" cars these days... at least those that even have such tools supplied.... and in their opinion, built of substandard material

A lesson for me... dread to think what could have happened on our Smart motorways... and I now carry a quality wrench and promised myself more checks on Space Saver tyre... you might want to do the same.

Topper

That's a good warning, and I can say from my experience the supplied Volvo [FoMoCo] wrench is junk.

Mine didn't look all that used, but the socket was more like a 20mm as opposed to the 19mm it was supposed to be. I binned it straight away.

And also by coincidence, one of the wheels on my 2008 V70 has fairly bad corrosion on the inside of the bead and the tyre fitters had to smear a special
orange coloured sealant on the rim to prevent air leaking. It worked well.

I'm after a spare wheel at the moment for my V70 so thanks for the heads up on the wheel brace issue. I'll get my own.

Car manufacturers save every penny (or in this case öre) they can in production. Simpler tools cost less. I never use mine.

Its the "Ford Effect" again ! Lots of Volvo bits are/ were made to the Lower Ford spec when they bought Volvo out some years ago . Ford bean counters interfered with every aspect of the Volvo design . Not only Volvo affected either ! My Jaguar has lots of Ford bits and similar problems. A really annoying thing is that identical parts shared by Ford and Volvo cost vast different amounts so do a cross check when buying any spares. Will things improve with new/latest parent company ?

Don't forget it is illegal to change a car tyre on the motorway now, as are any repairs, unless they prevent the vehicle from being rescued.

I was naughty once and replaced a blow-out, but got away with it as we pulled the car into some cones that were blocking a lane off already.

Hi
Have the rules changed?
I understand it is dangerous to change a tyre on the hard shoulder but didn't realise if is now illegal.

Do you have the reference?
Just curious

Iain

Got lumbered with a new Sierra company car in the nineties, brake discs needed changing every 3k due to warping, after the third set I asked the main dealer why? sh!t material was the reply.
Rear light cluster failed after 3 months, so badly corroded they could not get the edge connector off and had to cut cables, why - sh!t materials and design.
3 diff overhauls in 3 months, ditto, 2 prop shafts in three months.
2 shockers in 6 months all for same basic reason.
I wonder how much the bean counters saved on that car (there were more probs but I wont go there, too traumatic)

I learned a long time ago never to trust the crap tools supplied and every time I change vehicles my father's trusty 15" Britool E79 breaker bar which is 55 years old goes into my latest purchase along with an appropriately sized six side impact socket

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/attac...1&d=1518105351

Along with decent quality 2ft breaker bar and six sided socket I also carry a torque wrench to put the wheel back on. A bottle jack under the suspension arm or axil is also preferable to the windy devise the car comes with under the body.

I was unaware changing a wheel was illegal on motorways, was this not the idea of the triangle 50 yds down the road. Obviously pull as far to the left as possible on the hard shoulder. I would have it changed and be on my way before the wombles arrived.

Paul.