98 V70 control arms - sub frame bolt orientation Topic is solved

Post by **98v70dad** » 14 Oct 2016, 18:43

I know that it probably doesn't matter much but for the two bolt control arms which way are the bolts supposed to go in...nuts forward, nuts aft or some other orientation? I've taken the control arms loose at the subframe once before and didn't pay attention when I took them off.

Post by **scot850** » 14 Oct 2016, 23:18

I have always fitted the nuts to the rear and Vida shows the bolts fitted from the front and nuts from the rear (although that is not always a 100% proof of point as I have found in the past). I have always done this on the -98 P80's with the 2 bolt control arms. I can't honestly think why it would make a difference as the bolt is only a pivot, but I've just followed convention!

Neil.

Post by **abscate** » 15 Oct 2016, 05:56

The only complicating issue I can think of is to make sure the tire clears the hardware on full lock both ways.

We had a debate on strut bolt/nut placement and it turned out my original struts on the 1999 were bolted differently left/right!

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 15 Oct 2016, 12:54

Something worth considering:
When a car is moving forward, which end do the bugs collect on?

If a bolt head gets covered with crud, it's no big deal.
When a nut and exposed bolt threads get coated with
road debris, it's more of a PITA to get apart. Just sayin'.

Post by **98v70dad** » 15 Oct 2016, 12:58

Installed the the new control arms this morning .... nuts aft. So be it! The new control arms completely fixed my jiggling down the road at 65 to 75 mph. Hurray!

Post by **scot850** » 15 Oct 2016, 19:34

I love to hear when others have successes after being frustrated trying to find the weird cause of a problem. It is always very satisfying when you get something like that figured out. So what next......, a long holiday somewhere warm with a few refreshments to get away from Volvo repairs!!

Neil.

Post by **sleddriver** » 15 Oct 2016, 21:25

98v70dad wrote:Installed the the new control arms this morning .... nuts aft. So be it! The new control arms completely fixed my jiggling down the road at 65 to 75 mph. Hurray!

Great news!
Cheers & Beers to celebrate!

Post by **j-dawg** » 15 Oct 2016, 22:08

BEJinFbk wrote:Something worth considering:
When a car is moving forward, which end do the bugs collect on?

If a bolt head gets covered with crud, it's no big deal.
When a nut and exposed bolt threads get coated with
road debris, it's more of a PITA to get apart. Just sayin'.

In a wheel well, does the crud come only from the front? I'm not sure that the direction of travel is the major influence on road-derived garbage in the wheel well.

But I agree that the best orientation is probably the one that's easiest to remove fifteen years down the line.

Post by **98v70dad** » 16 Oct 2016, 11:32

Installed all of them nuts aft. As I initially indicated I don't see why it would matter much. I. too, thought about the crud from the front. For me it was more of an issue of fitting the wrenches I have in around all of the obstructions in the wheel well. Aft worked best for me.