Volvo Tie-rod play

Post by **mrreilly** » 02 Oct 2006, 13:50

Edited
I just got my car back from the shop to have an aligment done. However I was told the alignment would be useless because the tire rod end of both sides of my car have a some play in them. (Right side: minor, Left side: considerable amount. They said to at least have the left side taken car of.) They gave me a price estimate on the fix. However... they want $149.45 to do it. $88.25 for the parts, and $61.20 for labor. Why in the world is it $88 for parts?! The tie-rod end form eEuroparts.com costs $15. Are there other parts that would be involved in replacing that?

As far as doing the tie-rods myself. Does anyone have a guide to do that? My repair manual doesn't do the best job of explaining and barely has anything about doing it. And are there other parts that should be replaced while doing this?

CarVolvo · Post by **CarVolvo** » 02 Oct 2006, 14:00

why not these at fcpgroton.. ive used the cheaper one and it is still working!

1387860 Front Sway Bar Link fits all models $15.00 each Hamburg Technic
30714686 Front Sway Bar Link fits all models $27.50 each Genuine Volvo

271598 Left Outer Tie Rod End $16.00 Aftermarket
271599 Right Outer Tie Rod End $16.00 Aftermarket

Post by **mrreilly** » 02 Oct 2006, 15:41

Okay, I just called the shop. The guy said that he was charging that much for the tie rod because it comes with warranty and he has to buy parts from a certain dealer. So... all I need to know now is how exactly to change the tie rod myself... I'm not paying that much for a $15 part and maybe and hour or two of my time.
Thanks for any help.

eb2143 · Post by **eb2143** » 02 Oct 2006, 19:15

What I do with my shop is politely hand over the parts THEY WILL BE USING on my my car

They don't like it, but I'm a good customer, give it a try...

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 02 Oct 2006, 20:17

Just do it yourself and then take it for an alignment. That will be the cheapest and easiest thing to do.

If you look at the diagram above, the tire rod end is circled in white. Just lift your car, take your wheel off and put it on a jack stand. You'll need to take the bolt off the bottom of the tie rod and get the tie rod loose from the steering knuckle. You can either bang the heck out of it from below (below the flesh colored dot) or use a puller tool (ball joint puller) that goes over the entire section from below and then you tighten a bolt up through the middle that will separate the joint. You might be able to borrow one from AutoZone or somewhere (see diagram).

You can also use a large pry bar that is forked like a hammer claw and pry it from between the knuckle and tie rod end.

If you measure the threads on the threaded (other end) of the tie rod and put the new one in with the same amount of threads showing, your alignment will be close enough that you can drive to the alignment shop. If tie rods are of different length, you'll want to measure from the steering gear housing (again, see diagram). I would do both sides while you're at it. No sense in going through this twice and alignment twice in a short while. Just be careful of the ABS sensor on the wheel. If you've never done this, I would suspect it would take you an hour on one side and probably 30 minutes on the other (learning curve). Guess that's about it.

Let us know what you decide to do.

Edit: A couple of things I left out...use plenty of PB Blaster on all areas you're going to take loose and let it sit over night. Also, hold the section to the left (in the lower diagram) of the threads with a wrench as you unscrew the tie rod. You want to twist the area that is covered with the boot as little as possible. Good luck!

Post by **mrreilly** » 02 Oct 2006, 20:59

Awsome. That was very well explain. i'll take my wheel off some time this week, with your instructions in hand and go through the steps before performing it this saturday. If i get the tie rods by then. Just ordered them today.
Thanks again. I'll let you know how things turn out when I'm dont.

Post by **matthew1** » 03 Oct 2006, 11:35

brilliant, MIJ. i put your post in the Volvo Repair Database.

jcookeusa · Post by **jcookeusa** » 16 Jan 2007, 21:24

Hi All,

I just wanted to add a small detail to the very helpful post from MadeInJapan above. The absolute best way to get an outer tie-rod end to break free from the steering arm is simply to hit the arm (not the tie-rod or its stud) very hard with a hammer.

I've modified the picture posted above with an arrow showing where to strike:

So, you basically swing the hammer pretty hard and repeatedly strike the piece of the steering arm that surrounds the tie-rod stud. This has never not worked for me. After only one strike or perhaps ten strikes, the tie-rod will eventually break free. Usually, this is obvious, as it will simply pop out. Sometimes, however, you may need to tap very lightly with the hammer on the tie-rod stud end. But only do this lightly. You do not want to hammer with any real force on that stud because it may mushroom and then you could have a real tough time getting it out of the arm.

Also, those wedged separating forks (I forget the proper name) aren't a very good idea since they'll chew up any dust boot on the tie-rod (that may be OK if you're replacing the tie-rod, but not if you're keeping it, so don't bother buying a fork). The hammering-the-arm method always works.

I hope this helps.

-Justin

larryh · Post by **larryh** » 17 Jan 2007, 19:56

i'm ALL for doin' it yourself, but i wouldn't gripe about that quote. you can't really expect a legitimate shop to sell you parts for what you can get em for on the internet! i'm sure they are paying more than that internet price. they have distributors they work with, how do you think they get your car back to you the same day? can you say parts delivery? if a part is defective (which happens) it is taken care of, pronto. you get parts on the internet (i do it) for cheap, but you gotta wait a week, and if there's a defect, your out the labor to change the part.

i'm just sayin....for a legit shop, i think that was a fair quote. they do have overhead and need to make a profit to survive...so they can do our alignments!

good luck with the project!

Post by **luketrash** » 17 Jan 2007, 21:32

Just an FYI, I used a propane torch on the assembly to knock the tierods loose. PB blaster wasn't getting the job done..

So heat plus a BFH took care of it. I heated the area around the red arrow in the above photo.

I paid 30 bucks for both tierods and another 60 for a laser alignment that included caster, camber, and tow. I couldn't be happier...