1996, 850 Turbo, Grinding Noise, Rt Frt

Rbaratt · Post by **Rbaratt** » 18 Oct 2015, 06:53

I have a grinding noise which I thought was the front wheel bearing, but after replacing the right front bearing and control arm...the noise returned. The symptoms are similar to a bad wheel bearing, where the noise occurs only when turning left, adding an additional load to the passenger side of the vehicle. I didn't think it was a CV joint because usually they will cause a "clicking" noise when turning. I now see that there is another bearing on this side...the drive shaft carrier bearing. Could this be the culprit? Would a bad carrier bearing show symptoms only when turning or would that grind all the time if it were bad? If I decide to replace are there any aftermarket choices available? The Genuine Volvo part is $160 at FCP.

Post by **erikv11** » 18 Oct 2015, 08:16

I really don't know if the carrier bearing would growl like that, to be honest I wouldn't hesitate to test by swapping in another axle, it is not a difficult job.

People have had tons of problems with aftermarket axles, the vast majority of them are poor quality. JDS60R works in a shop so unlike most of us he sees more than one axle (the one we put on our own car) and has a good perspective, he says that so far they are having good results with the "Import Direct Driveline - CV Axle Shaft" part.

The best way to go is to get the original rebuilt. Raxles.com has always been the best resource for this but the price tag could be up near $160 if they will still do it. There may be other rebuilders who use quality parts.

OK the price you mentioned at FCP is not for the axle-with-bearing, it is for the bearing, I see. The OEM passenger side axle is $423 at FCP. I think before getting another bearing I would first try for the quality rebuild job, or at least replace both CV boots and repack with fresh grease while i had the axle out. Contact Marty at raxles.com see if he will do an 850 axle or if the cores are too scarce. And likely you can get a quality bearing for much, much cheaper but will take some digging.

Post by **RussB** » 18 Oct 2015, 08:28

I replaced the pass. side axle on my 850 with a cheap axle from FCP back in '05 or so. That axle sheared in half and left me stranded. I needed a tow.

I had kept the factory axle because I'm weird like that. I rebuilt it and ran it for another 100k miles.

Post by **erikv11** » 18 Oct 2015, 08:35

erikv11 wrote:... the "Import Direct Driveline - CV Axle Shaft" part ...

Forgot to mention, this is from O'Reilly Auto Parts.

What Russ said, *never* throw away an OEM axle! I wouldn't even give it up as a core. The S70 I got in December has a 1 year old no-name axle, it is badly rusted and a boot is torn, it is a piece of crap axle that must be replaced.

Post by **abscate** » 18 Oct 2015, 10:23

I don't think the carrier bearing would show any change on turning as it doesn't take axial load like the wheel bearing in the hub.

I will say when I did my driver FWB the replacement bearing felt exactly the same as a new one, so it might be hard to diagnose a bad carrier bearing other than by replacing in kind.

Im in the middle of replacing the passenger bearing right now.

Post by **RussB** » 18 Oct 2015, 11:46

Axles are yet another example of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

If one replaces the boots and grease as soon as they become compromised, the axles will last a long time (280k miles on my 850's axles, still good to go!) But what happens is the boots degrade and tear, and they are left that way until the grease oozes out and water and dirt enter & contaminate the bearings which wears them out