1997 850 Should i purchase inner tie rod ends as well?

camjohns · Post by **camjohns** » 18 Mar 2014, 05:01

Hello all,

New to this site and finding lots of good information on here! love it.

Just purchased through FcpEuro the meyle control arm, sway bar link, outer tie rod end set which i am really excited about getting installed on the car

I have done some searching around and have been unable to see whether or not i should also replace the inner tie rod end as well? how can you tell when that goes bad?

thanks for the help!

Post by **kahl** » 18 Mar 2014, 07:44

I was told of three things to evaluate from a Volvo tech, inner tire wear, slop in steering in a hard right turn and with the outer tie rod removed does the inner tie remain in a ridig position or flop down.

We have done 4 complete front suspensions on our Volvo over the past 3 years and I have really not given to much thought to the inner tie rod until we had some vibration in one of the S80s. we stumbled upon the inner tie rod on the right side that took care of the problem. We have a 99 V70 coming up in Nov or Dec for a front end rebuild and we will be changing the inner tie rods.

Post by **kahl** » 18 Mar 2014, 07:54

If you do elect to change out the inner tie rods make sure you match the tie rod to what manufacturers rack you have on your car.

camjohns · Post by **camjohns** » 18 Mar 2014, 10:17

ok sounds good!

Ill check it all out tonight and see what happens!

Post by **xHeart** » 18 Mar 2014, 19:25

It is likely a TRW rack. Replace the entire with rebuild from jorgen automotive http://www.jorgenauto.com/rack-pinion/volvo.html . Cost, effort, and risk of failed rack is far greater at this age.

The oem cost of boots and rods are 2/3 of rebuild. Critical repair, do not take it lightly.
Reach out to erikv11 for more!

Post by **jreed** » 19 Mar 2014, 05:14

I replaced the inner and outer tie rod ends on my '97 855 GLT at about 160K miles. The outer tie rod end boots were split so I knew I needed to replace them. Because the car is driven every day I decided to buy in advance all the parts to replace all four ends because I didn't know if the inners were OK or not. I didn't want to risk having to go back in a second time to replace them. During the repair when I removed the original inners I found that they were in pretty good shape and I probably could have left them alone. I went ahead and replaced them anyway while I was doing the outers. Just sharing my thoughts... everybody is going to have their own approach to this situation based on their time, money and desired peace of mind.

camjohns · Post by **camjohns** » 19 Mar 2014, 07:54

This is great!

I may wait on the tie rod replacement, but was going to go a head and do the control arm and sway bar links. Will i need to do an alignment after i do this?

thanks!

Post by **kahl** » 19 Mar 2014, 08:08

I would do an alignment. In addition I would also change the outer tie rod.

Jsibilia · Post by **Jsibilia** » 19 Mar 2014, 11:22

Once, I received a coupon in the mail from a local Volvo/Ford dealership which was for a free 28 point inspection and oil/filter change - Wow, jumped on that. Well, the tech pointed out the left side outer tie rod was worn in my 03 S80. Since my car was closing in on 170 thou miles, I thought I order most of the parts for the front end and they were cheap enough - mail order from three separate companies. I ordered all new ball joints, inner / outer tie rods, control arm bushings (have a 12 ton press from Northern Tool) lateral links for sway bar, steering limiters.

When the parts arrived and the weekend came, I tore it down to find that it was the inner tie rods wore and not so much the outer. If they had of worked on it, they would've pointed it out on the lift and that would increased the cost of dealership repair!!! Since the rack boots were off, I greased the the gear and guides, turkey basted (vacuum) the power steering reservoir and put fresh synthetic ATF. Paid fireStone $129.00 for lifetime alignment. In all, my beauty rides straight down the road with no pull. Next tax return, I'll put new struts and mounts on.

Long story short, I changed them if you are going to keep it awhile and get an alignment - the one thing I can't do in the driveway; why does that tool have to cost $30,000+? . Our Volvos that ride on Terraferma go through he** on the public roads with pot holes, gator skins, and lets not forget - gremlins! Volvo means " I roll." I help her roll straight and smooth. With a brass bell tied to the rear bumper to scare off unwanted pest. Best of luck . . .

camjohns · Post by **camjohns** » 26 Mar 2014, 14:12

Thanks for the info! very helpful!