"Tire hop"

You don't mention that you've checked alligment or had the wheels balanced. If the tries have an irregular wear pattern due to bad aligmnet or other issues sometimes it is necessary to replace them - if they aren't true anymore there isn't much you can do.

Get a second opinion from a *good* tire shop.

-K

Eveything that Kelsey said, and:

There is no way I have ever heard to test strut cartridges while they are on the car. The bounce test worked in 1963 but not today. Sure, you can look at them and see whether they are leaking, but if they are weak in compression or rebound dampening any slight out-of-round or imbalance situation with the tires could cause the wheel hop mentioned. Undulations in the road surface (like expansion joints or pavement sections regularly spaced) can cause this situation. At 90k I might suspect that the original cartridges are worn and could use replacement. Since the replacement of them would cost you a lot more than the tires, I am suprised that they didn't recommend that as well.

And if there is a compelling reason to buy tires at the dealer other than _they_ are going to pay for them, I sure would like to hear it!

And how sad is it when a Volvo owner with 90,000 miles on his car to say, "With milege getting up there..."? A 240 would have been just hitting its stride.

__ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvos '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate "Shelby" & "Kate"

If the tires are a different make, perhaps they are at a different level of wear ( thus diameters and rpms) and activating the traction control?

Ron/Champ 6

1963 8E5 Champ (Champ 6) 1995 VW Passat (Vanilla..yuk) 1994 Volvo 850 (Tilley) 1973 Volvo 1800 ES (Hyacinth Bucket)

There are lots of ways to save money - buying "cheap" tires should not be one of them. You can get good quality "inexpensive" tires - but you have to read the full specs and shop carefully.

Jack G.