96 Volvo wagon control arm replacement

2forty · Post by **2forty** » 25 Dec 2012, 20:06

Merry Christmas. I am looking for the link that provides instructions on how to replace the control arms on a 1996 Volvo 850 Wagon. I tried to search the forum but not having much luck. Appreciate your assistance!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 25 Dec 2012, 22:21

I thought for sure that we had a writeup on control arms but we sure don't. I would like to say that it is just 3 bolts and you are done but it is never that easy. The Haynes manual is pretty good there but I guess I need to do a writeup on the next one that I change. That doesn't help you now.

With all of the fat boiled away it really is a matter of removing three bolts, removing the control arm, and then bolting the replacement back in but there are some "Gotchas" along the way.

Before you even start I would order new hardware unless you are buying a blue box kit, it comes with new hardware. The part numbers for the kits (with hardware) are 271901 for the left and 271902 for the right. If you are buying what they call OEM from FCP or eEuroparts then you will also need to order (per control arm) 2x 965195, 2x 971099, 1x 965186, and 1x 971098.

1 ) Block the rear wheels with a suitable chock block.

2 ) Jack up the car and get a jack-stand underneath the side you are working on.

3 ) Remove the wheel.

4 ) Remove the pinch bolt that holds the ball joint into the steering knuckle. That nut and bolt is really prone to corroding and it can be very difficult to remove, even after the nut is off. If you have an impact wrench this is a very nice time to use it. Get the bolt spinning and tap it from the threaded side until it is flush with the steering knuckle. From there use a punch and beat it the rest of the way out.

5 ) Disconnect the ball joint from the steering knuckle. Some people have the Midas Touch and they can just tap the steering knuckle a few times and the ball joint will fall right out. I must have missed the Midas Touch day in school and I use a pickle fork to separate the ball joint.

6 ) Remove the two bolts that hold the control arm affixed to the sub-frame and pry the control arm out of the tabs that hold it in place.

7 ) Replacement is, in general, the opposite of removal. It is always a bit of a fight to get the holes lined up on the new control arm to mate up with the hole on the sub-frame mounts. Leave the mounting bolts and nuts loose enough that the control arm will travel along the bolt axis without binding up. The ball joint and its pinch bolt go back into the steering knuckle much easier than they came out. A floor jack and a large screwdriver or pry bar is very helpful on both the sub-frame mounts and the ball joint.

8 ) Once all of the bolts are back in you can go ahead and torque the pinch bolt down to 37 ft. lbs.

9 ) Use a jack underneath the control arm, at the ball joint, to jack the control arm up to "normal ride height". That is more or less the point where the center of the hub is lined up with the lower door seam.

10 ) Torque the control arm to sub-frame bolts to 51 ft. lbs. + an additional 120 degrees. Given the clearances, I wind up doing the angle torquing in 3 or 4 steps.

At that point put your wheel back on, remove the jack-stand, and then torque the wheel bolts to 100 ft. lbs. That is more than the book spec for the wheel bolts but I have had trouble with them coming loose when I used the 81 ft. lb. setting.

Don't forget to remove the chock block and then give yourself a good pat on the back.

...Lee

Post by **jreed** » 26 Dec 2012, 05:56

I did the control arm replacement job a couple years ago on my '97 855 GLT (at ~130k miles). The balljoint seals had failed on both sides, allowing corrosion in the joints. I also did the struts, strut seats and anti-sway links at the same time.

There are several threads that discuss the job (but not in the nice detail given above by Ozark Lee)

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... 5&p=263028
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... 7&p=243583

The only things I can think to add are:
1) After doing this job and using one of my nice big screwdrivers to pop the pinch bolts out of the steering knuckles (which ended up snapping off the tip of my screwdriver on the first one), I went out and bought myself a proper prybar for use the next time.
2) I bought myself a big floor jack before tackling this work and it was very helpful for raising the control arm into the proper level position for the final tightening up of the bolts. I haven't used the floor jack much since then but it made this job so much easier and safer -- I'd recommend it.

Good luck.

2forty · Post by **2forty** » 26 Dec 2012, 08:53

Thanks for the detailed instructions. Sounds easy....but nothing I do ends up being easy.
Happy Holidays!

Post by **cn90** » 26 Dec 2012, 08:56

Whatever you do, stay away from aftermarket brands.

Stick to:
- Volvo OEM...or
- TRW...or
- Lemforder.

Post by **erikv11** » 26 Dec 2012, 09:20

Those three brand options are excellent. Over the last few years the Meyle HD control arms have also proven themselves, so you can also trust these, which are much cheaper:

http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-c ... 70-v70-850
http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-c ... -s70-v70-1

Post by **cn90** » 26 Dec 2012, 09:35

Thanks,

I am just curious where Volvo Meyle control arms are made these days.

Many years ago (1990s) when I used Meyle control arms on my BMW, they were made in Turkey, they worked pretty well.

Post by **erikv11** » 26 Dec 2012, 09:55

That is a good question and I do not know, I am going on forum recommendations not personal experience. My 850s are all running Lemforder arms.

Post by **jreed** » 26 Dec 2012, 16:09

At least back in Dec 2010, the Meyle HD arms I bought from FCP and installed were marked Turkey. So far they have been working well -- no issues to report.

2forty · Post by **2forty** » 26 Dec 2012, 19:17

Ozark Lee wrote:I thought for sure that we had a writeup on control arms but we sure don't. I would like to say that it is just 3 bolts and you are done but it is never that easy. The Haynes manual is pretty good there but I guess I need to do a writeup on the next one that I change. That doesn't help you now.

With all of the fat boiled away it really is a matter of removing three bolts, removing the control arm, and then bolting the replacement back in but there are some "Gotchas" along the way.

Before you even start I would order new hardware unless you are buying a blue box kit, it comes with new hardware. The part numbers for the kits (with hardware) are 271901 for the left and 271902 for the right. If you are buying what they call OEM from FCP or eEuroparts then you will also need to order (per control arm) 2x 965195, 2x 971099, 1x 965186, and 1x 971098.

1 ) Block the rear wheels with a suitable chock block.

2 ) Jack up the car and get a jack-stand underneath the side you are working on.

3 ) Remove the wheel.

4 ) Remove the pinch bolt that holds the ball joint into the steering knuckle. That nut and bolt is really prone to corroding and it can be very difficult to remove, even after the nut is off. If you have an impact wrench this is a very nice time to use it. Get the bolt spinning and tap it from the threaded side until it is flush with the steering knuckle. From there use a punch and beat it the rest of the way out.

5 ) Disconnect the ball joint from the steering knuckle. Some people have the Midas Touch and they can just tap the steering knuckle a few times and the ball joint will fall right out. I must have missed the Midas Touch day in school and I use a pickle fork to separate the ball joint.

6 ) Remove the two bolts that hold the control arm affixed to the sub-frame and pry the control arm out of the tabs that hold it in place.

7 ) Replacement is, in general, the opposite of removal. It is always a bit of a fight to get the holes lined up on the new control arm to mate up with the hole on the sub-frame mounts. Leave the mounting bolts and nuts loose enough that the control arm will travel along the bolt axis without binding up. The ball joint and its pinch bolt go back into the steering knuckle much easier than they came out. A floor jack and a large screwdriver or pry bar is very helpful on both the sub-frame mounts and the ball joint.

8 ) Once all of the bolts are back in you can go ahead and torque the pinch bolt down to 37 ft. lbs.

9 ) Use a jack underneath the control arm, at the ball joint, to jack the control arm up to "normal ride height". That is more or less the point where the center of the hub is lined up with the lower door seam.

10 ) Torque the control arm to sub-frame bolts to 51 ft. lbs. + an additional 120 degrees. Given the clearances, I wind up doing the angle torquing in 3 or 4 steps.

At that point put your wheel back on, remove the jack-stand, and then torque the wheel bolts to 100 ft. lbs. That is more than the book spec for the wheel bolts but I have had trouble with them coming loose when I used the 81 ft. lb. setting.

Don't forget to remove the chock block and then give yourself a good pat on the back.

...Lee

Thanks again for the information. Replacing the control arms was fairly easy. The 120 degrees appeared to be about 110 ft lbs of torque, not sure if to much torque is a bad thing.