More Suspension Questions 1988 760GLE

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 18 Aug 2010, 20:15

Hey everyone, my 760 has approx. 135k miles

Got a few questions related to suspension and steering on the 700 series cars. Just a little background, last October, the tie-rod ends were replaced (with alignment) and a short time before that I noticed the steering was loose and seemed to wander; it tightened it up a decent amount, but the wandering has remained. The wandering seems to happen at speeds 70+ MPH and if the wheel is straight, the car wanders from side to side and quickly returns to a straight line, but it can get a little scary sometimes!

I had an inspection done in March and the mechanic said the balljoints looked okay. I've put on 7 or 8 thousand miles the past few months, so I don't know if they could have gone sour in the past few months. Sometimes I notice in the roundabout, while I'm turning, if there are any bumps, the front end will squeak. Also, if there's any more that about 200lbs in the right side, it will squeak. Driving by myself, I never hear anything, save for during the roundabout sometimes.

Tomorrow I'm going to jack up the car tomorrow and see what I can see... I know I can test for balljoints by moving the wheel at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock BUT, does the wheel have to be locked first? Can failing balljoints cause this wandering? Moreover, I plan to tackle the repair by myself, so if it is the balljoints, can they be replaced without having to compress the coil spring (sorry, I've never done this job). I did some of the tie-rod repair, I know how to use the pickle fork

Thanks a lot, sorry for the novel
Darrell

bumpbump57 · Post by **bumpbump57** » 19 Aug 2010, 22:00

I check ball joints by lifting the car so I can get a large pipe under the wheel to see if there is any play up and down...6 oc'lock to 12'oclock ...I would look at the steering gear ...and your squeaks may be coming from the control arm stay bushings

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 20 Aug 2010, 09:29

I took a quick look last night... I put a pry bar underneath the tire and pulled upward while looking at the ball joint. I also put the prybar around the ball joint and tried to move it around a bit to see any play... I couldn't detect any play in the joint. The ball joint boots appear to be intact and not leaking grease. The sway bar endlinks are rusted and the bushings are cracked and look as old as the car. I didn't check the control arm bushings, but will report back my findings.

As far as the steering gear, would that require the steering box to come apart? Or at that point would you just put in a rebuilt rack? I was looking at the prices of the balljoints and endlinks with bushings and it doesn't seem too bad, especially doing your own work.

Let me know what you guys think,
Darrell

Post by **writer100** » 20 Aug 2010, 11:21

I recently did a lot of suspension work in my car, including ball joints, swaybar end links and tie rods. My car had about 175,000 miles on it at that time.

In my experience is difficult to ascertain a worn ball joint. (Yes, I did the whole prybar test, as well.) At a certain point in the mileage -- around where you're at, 135,000 miles or so -- it becomes a reasonable assumption that some if not all of your front end items are worn out.

My ball joints were intact, as well, but when they were replaced, there was a HUGE difference in how they sounded and handled -- same with the swaybar end links.

I would start with what is easiest and cheapest, and replace it.

Regarding the steering rack, the 9 and 12 tests should accurately show any slop in the inner and outer tie rods and in the rack. If the slop is in the rack, the whole thing needs to be replaced.

Front-end work is very satisfying because you can feel the difference every time you drive.

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 21 Aug 2010, 15:17

writer100,

I enjoyed your write-up and pictures of the balljoint and endlink job that you did. Thanks for the guidance!

Which balljoints did you use? FCP has some Karlyn and TRW balljoints. The Karlyn's are approximately 60% of the price of the TRW's. I've never done this job before so I'm not sure which aftermarket brand would be better.

Also, do you happen to know a reference as to the size of the swaybar on the 760? I'd like to replace the split bushings as per your guide as well but there seems to be a few different sizes (21mm, 22mm, 23mm).

I'll have to also do the brake job I've been putting off

Thanks all for your input
Darrell

lummert · Post by **lummert** » 21 Aug 2010, 19:29

I drive a 1988 Volvo 760 Turbo wagon. The original front stabilizer bar diameter was 21mm. I have installed a 19mm rear stabilizer bar from a 1987 760 sedan. I recently replaced the front 21mm stabilizer with a 24mm stabilizer with mounts from a 1992 960 sedan.

You didn't mention whether your 88 760 GLE was a sedan or a wagon. It makes a difference as the rear of the car is completely different on the two versions.

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 21 Aug 2010, 19:50

Sorry about the confusion; it's a sedan. Are the front stabilizer bars uniform in size among the wagon and sedan, with only the rears changing size?

Thanks
Darrell

lummert · Post by **lummert** » 21 Aug 2010, 20:58

The 1988 760 front suspension is the same on the sedan and the wagon. The front suspension is the same on 740/760/780/940 and 92-94 960 with some variations in the diameter of the stabilizer bar and the material of the lower control arms. There were steel lower control arms and aluminum lower control arms. The stabilizer bar end link design is different on the steel lower control arms from the aluminum lower control arms. There are also different manufacturers of steering racks.

Post by **writer100** » 22 Aug 2010, 11:59

In answer to your question, I used Lemfoerder ball joints. They are OEM for BMW and Mercedes, if not others. The originals I removed from the car were stamped TRW.

I agree with some other commentators that what ever decent brand you put on, it will probably outlast the car.

Keep us posted.

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 06 Sep 2010, 07:30

All righty, I've got the new balljoints and endlinks in. One of the endlinks broke in half as I was unbolting it from the swaybar (still have to replace the swaybar bushings, along with some other tune-uppy stuff I bought). Front end is definitely tighter and it would appear that the squeak on the right side has lessened, I don't notice it on the turns that it used to squeak. Tie-rod ends appeared not to have play, but the front end still has a bit of wandering, but it's much better than it was. I sprung for the TRW ones on FCP (and the ones I removed were also TRW) but they sent me Moog, but I'm sure they're on par if not better than TRW.

Ball joints I took off the car could be moved around by hand, so it was definitely not a wasted effort.
Will have to replace the bushings when I tackle the oil pan gasket

Thanks
Darrell