Volvo 940 front end wobble?

correllkp · Post by **correllkp** » 11 May 2011, 06:15

Hello, I have a 1994 940 Volvo with 149K miles. When driving the steering column "wobbles" a bit and the sound from the front tires on the pavement sounds like something is out of round...it is not a steady tire on pavement sound. The tires were recently balanced (used to wobble a lot more). Also, no noticeable adverse wear on tires. There is no grinding/clicking/clunking noise. Also, wobble and noise are speed related, and present while driving straight or turning. Any insight would be appreciated.

Kirby J · Post by **Kirby J** » 11 May 2011, 11:00

Have you ever replaced the ball joints? On my 93 940, 401k miles, I have had to replace front ball joints at 150, 250, and 350k miles. Parts are not that expensive and it is an easy job for your shop to do. Also, check the bushings on the front end. There are a couple of conical shaped bushings that can go bad, but again parts are inexpensive and relatively easy to replace. Or you could have a front wheel out of round.

Kirby J

correllkp · Post by **correllkp** » 11 May 2011, 11:27

Thanks for the quick reply. To my knowledge the ball joints have not been replaced. I will try that and let you know. Thanks again.

Post by **jonesg** » 11 May 2011, 23:15

Consider replacing all wear points on the front end that have not been done.
Ball joints, tie rod ends, cone bushings etc.
If you consider they will all wear out at around your current mileage and how much it costs to get an aligment each time, the aligment costs more than the parts.

Kirby J · Post by **Kirby J** » 12 May 2011, 14:38

So far, believe it or not, the NAPA ball joints seem like the best part.
Kirby J

correllkp · Post by **correllkp** » 30 Sep 2011, 14:34

Ok, replaced the lower ball joints and sway bar links. 95% of wobble gone. I think the remaining wobble, only noticeable at approx 5-15 MPH, may now be due to the tires. Thanks for the advice.

Post by **jonesg** » 01 Oct 2011, 13:17

Try swapping the front wheels with the rear wheels, a slightly out of balance wheel will not be as noticeable on the rear end.

correllkp · Post by **correllkp** » 22 Nov 2011, 09:20

Update: Put newer tires(w/different rims) on but also replaced the engine mounts. Wobble completely gone. The difference between how much I could move the engine with the old mounts and how much I could move it with the new mounts is significant...night and day difference. I suspect that it was because of bad engine mount(s) that wear on the sway bar links and lower ball joints was accelerated. Also gone is that rotational "thumping" leading to one to think that the tires are "out of round" or have a flat spot. True, the thumping could be gone since I put newer tires with different wheels but the old tires/wheels were checked out and balanced at a garage early on. I could put the old tires/wheels back on to really isolate the issue but now that it is gone I'm not that anxious to find out.

Post by **billofdurham** » 22 Nov 2011, 11:54

Thank you for the update.

Bill.