Ball joint/control arm survey

[turbozutek]

My MEYLE-HD arms and end links still look as good as new a year later and are working perfectly.

Chris...

[precopster]

For the '99 V70 I'm rebuilding I went & bought some used '94 model 850 aluminium control arms (the bushes were perfect) and replaced the ball joints with Meyle brand. BTW the Meyle end links are 1mm wider than stock and very well made.

We're fortunate around the suburbs here in Melbourne as the roads rarely have potholes and when we do have them they're pretty shallow. I found 2 sets of aluminium control arms that I will rebuild with ball joints and/or bushings.

Just for the record I have a '95 850 with 82K miles that is still running the original control arms (that's 17 years)

[db130]

i have a set of 93-94 aluminum control arms sitting in the basement with the bushings already having been pressed out

i am waiting for set of powerflex poly bushings to arrive and i will be installing moog ball joints.

[rmmagow]

Bilstein/Febi, Lemforder. I've found these brands to be pertty much OK. I used Lemforder parts on my 85 MB diesel and the parts I put in have been fine for at least the past 100K.

[rmmagow]

OTOH FCP offers lifetime on all their parts right? Buy cheap and do it over every few years.

[writer100]

The OEM ball joints on my 940 were TRW. I replaced them with Lemfoerder. So far no issues.

[precopster]

OTOH FCP offers lifetime on all their parts right? Buy cheap and do it over every few years.

Read the fine print. Warranty only applies when fitted by certified mechanic.

[Jorobles0]

i have a set of 93-94 aluminum control arms sitting in the basement with the bushings already having been pressed out

i am waiting for set of powerflex poly bushings to arrive and i will be installing moog ball joints.

I did the same. My A arms were not rebuildable; went to the wrecking yard and got a set of 93 aluminum A arms. I replaced the bushings (forgot the brand) and ball joints with Moog balljoints. I have used Moog suspension parts on several cars i have owned over the years and they have never let me down. I actually prefer Moog over factory suspension parts; however I am new to Volvo cars. For some reason my 850 had the non-rebuildable A arms, they were OEM. What I noticed about the Moog Volvo balljoints was that the rubber boot was a little thinner and did not have the zerk fittings that the previous Moog balljoints I replaced on other makes had. Still, I am confident that they will last.

[jadnhm]

I'm also interested in this thread. Things seem especially bad for the cars with the newer 4-bolt design like this:


The bushings /are/ available, but so far the best price I've found for them is about $40US/per, so that's $80 to do one side of the car.... and there's still no way to replace the ball joint! It's hardly worth it at that point.

I checked to see if the similarly-shaped front bushing on the P2 cars would fit, but it turns out it's much too large in both dimensions (around the bushing and between the bolt holes).

I considered trying to make a custom control arm with replaceable parts from DOM steel and parts from a controls supplier like Midwest www.midwestcontrol.com/

However, I'm not only NOT a trained welder, but I don't even own or have access to a small hobby welder. There's no way I can do this on my own and when I approached a local shop about it they backed away immediately - I think they were concerned about liability issues.

I envisioned something like the lower control arms pictured here:http://www.trzmotorsports.com/images/315/315set.jpg

They would certainly be more expensive than one set of control arms, but you'd likely never need to replace any of the various joints, and you could design it around a common (GM?) ball joint that would be cheap to replace, so it wouldn't take long to recoup the cost.

I currently have a Deeza from RockAuto.com on my passenger side and I have to say it seemed to be very high quality. We'll see how it holds up I guess.

[m491]

Just had new control arms (OEM) put on a new addition to the family fleet (97 854 GLT) and the car feels like a new car they way it feels. I also subscribe to the school of OEM parts for these cars. The trick is to find the best rates on parts so you can afford OEM over aftermarket. I just put a fresh set of Nivomats on my 96 Platinum wagon and the ride is back to what it ought to be. I have had good luck with prices from Tasca Parts in RI. I got the Nivomats for $214/each which was a huge savings over the local dealer.