Sanity check, control arm, or tie rod?

dorvin · Post by **dorvin** » 21 Mar 2016, 16:48

I had my car up on jack stands last night for an oil change, and figured I'd try the usual test on the front wheels to test the control arms and tie rod ends. You know, if side to side movement, tie rods. If up and down movement, control arms. I've known my alignment has been a bit off for a while now, and I figured one of the two was the cause. Not necessarily to my surprise, I found the following symptom:

However, while I get a fair amount of side to side movement, the tie rods feel tight, and the majority of the movement I see is in the control arm.. Given the amount of movement, I'm leaning towards getting this fixed as soon as possible, but given the video, can anyone provide some insight as to what needs replacing? I apologize in advance for only one side, and the vertical video.. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I unfortunately have a trip planned to Chicago tomorrow, and if this is a clear red flag to stop and fix this immediately, please let me know.

Post by **oragex** » 21 Mar 2016, 16:53

Perhaps the lower ball joint. Indeed, it's quite some play.

Post by **kahl** » 21 Mar 2016, 16:59

The control arm includes the ball joints. If you replace the control arms you are half way to replace the outer tie rods. To me watching your vid the balls joints and control arm bushings look sloppy. What is the mileage on these components?

dorvin · Post by **dorvin** » 21 Mar 2016, 17:12

I just found this invoice in the folder of maintenance records I received when I bought the car. Looks like the left front control arm was replaced in 2005, at 71k on the odometer. The car now has about 180k on it.

As a side note, looking through this folder of records again, the previous owner broke the cup holder and had it replaced three times

Post by **oragex** » 21 Mar 2016, 17:47

The bill is for the control arm, the large horizontal 'triangular' alloy piece that connects the spindle assembly to the chassis. The one in the video that seems to have a play appears to be the lower ball joint (a separate part) which inserts into the extremity of the control arm but usually it's not replaced together with the control arm.

dorvin · Post by **dorvin** » 21 Mar 2016, 17:51

oragex wrote:The bill is for the control arm, the large horizontal 'triangular' alloy piece that connects the spindle assembly to the chassis. The one in the video that seems to have a play appears to be the lower ball joint (a separate part) which inserts into the extremity of the control arm but usually it's not replaced together with the control arm.

Interesting, and good to know. I thought there was a switch at some point where the ball joint was combined into the control arm in the later years of the 850, or am I thinking of of something else?

Post by **kahl** » 21 Mar 2016, 18:39

I think the early 850s like in 1993 had a separate ball joint. On my 94, 96 and 97 850s they all had the ball joint in the control arm.

Post by **tryingbe** » 21 Mar 2016, 19:24

oragex wrote:The bill is for the control arm, the large horizontal 'triangular' alloy piece that connects the spindle assembly to the chassis. The one in the video that seems to have a play appears to be the lower ball joint (a separate part) which inserts into the extremity of the control arm but usually it's not replaced together with the control arm.

Not true with most Volvo 850.

It's on sale! Get it!
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... p80cakt2p2

With that much play, I wouldn't feel safe driving it. I'd rent a car instead.

Post by **scot850** » 21 Mar 2016, 19:44

Ball joint is well goosed as the guys say. Change the control arm ASAP unless you like only 3 wheels on your wagon!

Only 93 and some 94's have the aluminum control arms with the separate ball joint. Not sure but think they changed when the wheels when from 4 to 5 lug nuts.

Neil.

dorvin · Post by **dorvin** » 21 Mar 2016, 19:50

Thank you for the responses, I'm sufficiently scared

Is the quality between Lemforder and Meyle pretty significant?