VOLVO CAR

SERVICE AND PARTS BUSINESS

Technical Journal
TITLE:

Vibrations due to wheel / tire
REF NO:

ISSUING DEPARTMENT:

CAR MARKET:

TJ 32161.3.0

Technical Service

United States and Canada

PARTNER:

ISSUE DATE:

STATUS DATE:

3 US 7510 Volvo Car USA

2017-10-09

2017-10-18

FUNC GROUP:

FUNC DESC:

7726

Summer tire, separate

Page 1 of 4

“Right first time in Time”
Attachment
Vehicle Type
Type

Eng

Eng
Desc

Sales

Body

Gear

234
235
236
238
246
256

Steer

Model Year
2017-9999
2017-9999
2017-9999
2017-9999
2018-9999
2016-9999

Plant

Chassis range
0000001-9999999
0000001-9999999
0000001-9999999
0000001-9999999
0000001-9999999
0000001-9999999

Struc Week
Range
201617-999952
201624-999952
201646-999952
201646-999952
201717-999952
201505-999952

CSC Customer Symptom Codes
Code
V1

Description
Tires/Vibration/out of round

VST Operation Number
VST Operation Number
Gen.Op.

Description
General Operation

DTC Diagnostic Trouble Codes
Rows beginning with * are modified
Note! If using a printed copy of this Technical Journal, first check for the latest online version.
Produced in the USA and available as an electronic document. Hard copy documents are printed in USA on recycled paper containing
a minimum of 50% wastepaper and 10% post-consumer waste.
© 2017 VOLVO CAR USA, LLC

Technical Journal 32161.3.0
Text
DESCRIPTION:
* This journal is re-written in it’s entirety.
If vibrations occur in the car while driving high speed / freeway driving, follow advice under Service.
Vibrations may occur due to several reasons, usually driveline (especially AWD vehicles), or wheels.
Product modifications regarding complete wheels and tires:
•

2016 week 35: Factory acceptance level for tire uniformity on complete wheel was reduced on S90/
V90 with 20” wheels and for the V90CC, more wheels are rejected and has to be reworked at the
wheel supplier before being delivered to Volvo.

•

2017 week 09: A new tire assembly line was introduced at our European wheel supplier, it will
automatically match tire/rim positions for less tire uniformity.

•

2017 week 09: A new cavity reducing foam was introduced on Pirelli tires which are glued better, it
will not get loose so easily.

SERVICE:
Before carry out this TJ, always start with TJ 20803 to sort out if the problem is related to driveline or
wheels.
If the vibrations are caused by driveline, or unknown cause, send a Vehicle Report.
It is more likely that the vibrations are coming from the wheels/tires, then check the steps below:
1. Unbalanced wheel.
It may happen that balance weights are missing, perform a normal wheel balancing, in most cases
this will be enough.
A new process and equipment to install wheel balancing weights will be introduced from 2018 Q2,
(better accuracy and better adhesiveness).
2. Tire pressure.
Too high tire pressure will cause harshness and vibrations.
Check that tire pressure is according to the recommended tire pressure table in the Tire Label
attached at the B-pillar.
3. Tire unevenly mounted on rim flanges.
It may happen occasionally that the tire is unevenly mounted on the rim flanges due to too little
lubrication on the tire during assembly to rim.
Check if tire is installed in the rim correctly all way around rim and correct if needed.
4. R-Design and front spring expanders.
The spring expanders are only used during factory and transport to dealer and must be removed
during PDS.
Check and if needed remove front spring expanders.
Page 2 of 4

2017-10-18

Technical Journal 32161.3.0
5. Heavy vibrations due to loose cavity reducing foam inside tire.
Cavity reducing foam are used on some tires, especially bigger wheel sizes.
Loose foam has primarily been seen only on S90/V90 20” summer tires.
If heavy vibrations occur, dismantle tire from the rim and check the cavity reducing foam.
If the foam is loose then contact tire manufacturer for a replacement tire according to their warranty
procedure.
Note: If foam is loose, then also check if the foam has signs of humidity or water. If this is found,
send a vehicle report with photos.
6. Tire uniformity (force variations out-of-round tires).
If vibrations occur and normal wheel balancing does not solve the issue, then the root cause could be
tire uniformity and/or poor matching of rim and tire.
The best way to detect and solve this is to use a special wheel balancing machine that can measure
force variations in the tire (such as the Hunter GSP9700 or Road Force Elite).
Check SPJ 32993 for more details.
Some Volvo workshops does not have this machine, but it may be possible to contact the tire
manufacturer for a better analyse of the tire, or contact external professional tire workshop.
Note: If measurement is done, please save log files for force variations values and tire pressure in
case it will be needed for further analysis.
7. Flat spotted tires (due to long time parking / storage).
Flat-spotting can be a temporary problem since the tire will round out as driving warms it up. Cold
ambient temperatures make rubber compounds stiffer, increasing their tendency to flatspot.
The longer tires remain stationary, the likely they are going to be flat spotted. Tires on vehicles
stored on the ground for many months can be permanently flat-spotted.
Note that during transport or storage, it is important to keep an higher tire pressure to avoid flat
spots.
Volvo Cars is delivering vehicles from factory using a transport tire pressure at 2.8-3.2 bar.
During storage it is also important to following the storage program, in order to avoid tires being flat
spotted.
Remember to only lower the tire pressure to correct tire pressure during PDS.
In most cases it should be possible to cure flat-spotted tires, but it require to drive the car so that tire
temperature reach the temperature as when the car was parked.
Note: If the car was parked at warm temperatures or if the tire temperature was high when parked,
then it may not be possible to drive the car enough to reach the same temperature during winter /
cold weather conditions. In these cases try to contact a professional tire workshop to check if they
have special equipment or procedure which can remove flat spots.
8. Flat spotted tires (due to hard braking / misuse).
If customer deactivated the ABS system and braked the car with locked wheels, then it can make
permanent flat spots which cannot be cured.
Damaged tires should be replaced.

2017-10-18

Page 3 of 4

Technical Journal 32161.3.0
9. Rim run-out.
New rims are usually not causing any vibrations. However rims damaged due to pot-hole driving
may cause vibrations.
A damaged rim should be detected in the wheel balancing machine, eventually remove tire from rim
before measurement is done to see how severe the damage is.
Damaged rims should be replaced.
10. Snow / ice / mud etc stored in rim (inner side).
Clean rims from snow/ice/mud.
To reduce the risk for having a repeat repair it could be good to apply some rim wax on inner surface
of rim.
Also advice customer to install a mudflap / snow deflector, accessory kit PN 31449094 (use PN
31435991 for XC60), it will reduce the problem for the rear wheels.
VEHICLE REPORT:
Yes, please submit a Vehicle Report if the service solution described in this TJ has no effect and it is
believed that the vibrations are caused by something else than wheels/tires.
Use concern area “Vehicle Report” and sub concern area “Support not needed”, use function group 2185.

Page 4 of 4

2017-10-18