1995 Volvo 850 rear wheel moves forward and back

[parbar]

1995 Volvo 850 turbo right rear wheel moves forward and back about an inch when pushed hard with your foot. It looks like a stabilizer bar that connects to the frame has a bushing near the frame that is worn out. Is it possible to replace just this bushing? If so where can I get one and how do I do it?

[Ozark Lee]

It sounds like you are describing the trailing arm end link. Yes, they are replaceable and they are a fairly common thing that does fail. It can be a difficult job to replace them without the special tool that is purpose built to extract the old one but I have had good luck just melting them out. There is a long thread (most of which can be ignored) in the repair database and we have had a loaner tool to remove the old ones properly but I am unsure of its current status. It tends to get broken about every other time we loan it out. PM Matt for its status.

That said, they typically present with more of a noise problem from vertical slop rather than actual front to rear movement of the rear wheel(s). That symptom would suggest that the bushings that connect the trailing arms together should be inspected. They too can break and that problem is a bit more serious since the rear of the car will actually steer on its own if they are broken.

The end links are the same on both sides of the car but the bushings are specific to the left side or the right side so be sure to get the correct part. If the bushings are bad you will need to get a 4 wheel alignment after they are replaced since the 850 has rear rear toe in adjustment that is done at the bushings.

The endlinks are item #2 and the bushings are items #6 on this diagram.

850 rear suspension.jpg (56.9 KiB) Viewed 891 times

...Lee