The Morbidmobile Blog

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Obviously you'll need tyres (ideally 195/65/15) so these might be a better bet :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-940...0/273484973791

They're in Bristol as well. Would keep you going for quite a while before you had to renew the tyres at which point, 195/65/15 would be a nice choice. Both are standard sizes so it's personal choice really but i've always found both on my 740s and the current 760, it's much quieter, smoother and more comfortable on 195s - they're also usually cheaper!

As regards appearance, just my opinion....I reckon Omegas are serious looking wheels for the 700/900, and look even better on the 240. More exotic appearance suits a lot of people. To state the obvious, getting a good grip on the road is the prime consideration in my priorities.

I got my full set of five Omegas for winter tyres from Tofufi's 960 (thanks) in better condition and price than that £150 link for four wheels. I haven't tried to assess the tyres with those £150 wheels. Four wheels is not a set in my opinion....

If say Omegas suit you Tom. You could find a full set of five for fair price and fit a premium brand of 195 65 15.

I have two sets of Omegas, winter and summer. If I was starting now I might have one set and ft Michelin Cross Climate although I don't know if they are good enough for your use all year round? Are they officially approved for snow?

I'm cogitating that with your plans, you might want some proper snow approved grade tyres in case you are driving on the continent in the winter.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

As regards appearance, just my opinion....I reckon Omegas are serious looking wheels for the 700/900, and look even better on the 240. More exotic appearance suits a lot of people. To state the obvious, getting a good grip on the road is the prime consideration in my priorities.

I got my full set of five Omegas for winter tyres from Tofufi's 960 (thanks) in better condition and price than that £150 link for four wheels. I haven't tried to assess the tyres with those £150 wheels. Four wheels is not a set in my opinion....

If say Omegas suit you Tom. You could find a full set of five for fair price and fit a premium brand of 195 65 15.

I have two sets of Omegas, winter and summer. If I was starting now I might have one set and ft Michelin Cross Climate although I don't know if they are good enough for your use all year round? Are they officially approved for snow?

I'm cogitating that with your plans, you might want some proper snow approved grade tyres in case you are driving on the continent in the winter.

The reason i was suggesting putting 15s back on Toms car stephen is because he's currently experiencing roadholding problems, probably a lot of that is down to the horrendous coil-over shock set-up that's on there. Not that there's anything wrong with coil-overs, it seems the installation on his hearse was horrendous.

Also the tyres are excessively wide, so may well cause clearance problems and could also be contributing to the roadholding problems. Counter-intuitive as that sounds, it is entirely possible.

As for Michelin tyres, each to their own but i've never had a good experience with Michelin tyres, even going back to when i was a kid with a push bike. I've had further bad experiences with them on cars since i started driving on both old and new tyres.
As such i wouldn't even think about fitting Michelins.

All that's a long way off - he's got to move house first!

[tofufi]

Just read through the whole thread again - good stuff. Glad I could help with the front struts. My car was IRS, so I can't help on the rear suspension bits... (and have sold them anyway)

[Stephen Edwin]

The point is David that if Tom decides to use 15" wheels, they in general and Omegas in particular do suit some people and Omegas can be got in a sensible condition at a good price.

I wish th seller of that "set" of four wheels good luck at getting their desired "full" price.....I reckon by the way that some of the tried and trusted Volvo alloys have a typical second hand price that is below their value....they are well made init....go figure.



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[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

The point is David that if Tom decides to use 15" wheels, they in general and Omegas in particular do suit some people and Omegas can be got in a sensible condition at a good price.

I wish th seller of that "set" of four wheels good luck at getting their desired "full" price.....I reckon by the way that some of the tried and trusted Volvo alloys have a typical second hand price that is below their value....they are well made init....go figure.



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No, the point is Stevo that you've failed to grasp the fact he's running something along the lines of stretched 245/45/17 tyres on banded steel wheels.
It's a current trend that is dangerous IMHO and i suspect will cause the actual tread of the tyre to not have as good a grip on the road as it would with a narrower rim.

Some may wish to prove me wrong, indeed that would be welcomed but i digress - the point is a standard size wheel/tyre combination is always going to give the best possible roadholding with the standard suspension set-up. Going up one or two width sizes may be advantageous but remember in the 80s, people were fitting 205s to Cortinas, Capris and such like but because of the tyre technology and the suspension set-up on those, it wasn't always successful in increasing roadholding.

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

No, the point is Stevo that you've failed to grasp the fact he's running something along the lines of stretched 245/45/17 tyres on banded steel wheels.
It's a current trend that is dangerous.

David I suspect you are CORRECT about the trend and danger.

However.

Please be so kind as not to tell me I have "failed to grasp" anything.

For your information David, that was just an aspect that I refrained from commenting upon. Do you understand that?

The point of my post like wot you replied to was, and is, the availability &c. of Omegas.

Oh and Tom you might want winter tyres for your intended use.





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[Laird Scooby]

Really???

Promise???

[TomSaintJames]

Thanks for all the advice guys, unfortunately after the suspension is sorted (the bill is increasing...) the spending on the hearse will have to be frozen - pending disaster, or other necessitated spend.

We spent nearly ALL of our savings last night on the deposit, solicitors fees, stamp duty, land registry, general survey, asbestos survey and all the other little fees/bills concerning a house purchase that add up surprisingly quickly.

Regarding the wheels, I like what is on there at the moment, as we are unlikely to be doing mega miles in the car I hope the tyres last a while! I don't think the wheels are banded, they are just standard 17" steels for a large car, but they look like that kind of 'scene'. I do like hydra's though, they look absolutely ace on the earlier more angular cars

With traction, there have only been two times where I've had to check my pants afterwards, once in a muddy field where I was being a bit silly (trying to do donuts in a auto with big road tyres = much wheelspin and no sideways) and the other time going down a hill with a LOT of surface water and aquaplaning at 60 mph! In the dry there's no problem, it's not powerful or quick enough to come unstuck without some serious effort. I expect standard suspension will make it even gripper, as others have already mentioned.

I'm secretly hoping it'll be back for the weekend, but probably not as we are still missing the rear upper spring mounts - but the mechanic thinks he can source them.

Winter tyres, again a brilliant idea, but restricted by price. We knew it was going to be tight, buying a second house, but only now is realisation actually sinking in I think!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

We knew it was going to be tight, buying a second house, but only now is realisation actually sinking in I think!

A second house? Is that so you both have somewhere to live after a domestic or is it a rental investment/holiday home or something?

That would dry the coffers up somewhat though. I thought you were just moving to a new house, not keeping the old one as well!

As for winter tyres, ideally you want "tall and skinny" so if you got hold of some old 140/240 series 15" steel wheels and fitted 165SR15 tyres to them, either M&S (Not Marks and Spencer - mud & snow, not S&M tyres either!) or dedicated winter tyres then you shold be fine.

Less chance of aquaplaning as well, being skinny they don't build a "wall of water" in front of them like the extra-wide ones do.

I know it's a cliche but Rome wasn't built in a day and you won't get your hearse perfect in a short time.

That said, you've come on in leaps and bounds and so has the car since you've owned it - keep it up!

[TomSaintJames]

It's turned into an investment, our current house is a flat above four garages - a coach house, and as keen gardners/outdoorsy people we are struggling in a housing estate without a garden. So new house is in a little village with a big garden, but needs lots of work (hence it being cheap and affordable - just!).

We wanted to move anyway, but realised it was hardly worth selling our coach house and we could afford a second mortgage as the first was quite small. Once we have the coach house rented out things will be fine, but until then it's beans on toast for dinner! It'll be worth it in the long run, the coach house will be a pension asset for us.

I'll keep the winter tyre advice in mind, we may well need them for the Kia in the new house, the roads in the village will almost certainly not be gritted, i'll be cycling to work too - so may need some for my bike!