Newbie bit off more than can chew (suspension trouble)

[GoldCO]

New guy here... just picked up my first Volvo: 2005 V70 T5. Seems like it will be a good car, but pre-sale inspection said control arm bushings need replaced. I'm a DIY'er with limited funds, so decided to do it myself since the shops wanted $750. I'm building a '52 Ford truck, so my experience doesn't include FWD imports.

Got the control arms out without much trouble, then had a shop press out old bushings and press in new bushings. However, I cannot seem to get this sucka back in place and now I've gone and "messed up" the axle shaft it seems. Found a YouTube vid that suggested to put a ratchet strap on the arm to lower it -- I've done that and it is physically as low as it will go, but the ball joint stud is still a good 3/4" below. So I tried to jack up the hub assembly, but every time I did that the whole thing would just go up and out away from wheelwelll (and further from the CA). So I thought by putting the wheel/tire back on I might have better control while jacking.

Turning the wheel and trying to position it, it became wedged, so I tried turning to free it up and that is when I noticed this:

So... what exactly have I done? Is this the CV joint? How do I fix it (does it just slide back together??)

Any tips for getting the control arm to clear the ball joint??

Thanks in advance!

[mrbrian200]

I suspect you used aftermarket bushes. My experience with these (see below) is to disconnect the outer tie rod (makes the whole assembly more maneuverable) support the car lower to the ground on jackstands. Use a long crowbar leveraged between the LCA and subframe. Sit on it (the crowbar, literally). There's only one way to put this together. In this case, yes brute force is the answer.

The inner joint (tripod/propshaft) will pull out like that if you overextend it. Off the car the only thing holding it together is the boot. If you didn't get dirt on anything and didn't lose any appreciable amount of grease all you can probably skip rebuilding the halfshaft and just slide it back in and secure the boot with a new clamp. It's unlikely you damaged anything just pulling it out.

Word of wisdom regarding this specific model. I'm guessing you used 'HD' bushes or some other aftermarket where the front bush is solid or near solid, and the rear bush rubber is thicker. These don't flex easy enough and makes this job tougher than it ought to be. The added stiffness also interferes with suspension travel/tuning and throws off vehicle handling over bumps and potholes, especially in the winter as the rubber becomes even less flexible. My experience is there are two options for the front LCA bush: Volvo OE/Lemforder or a greased poly bush. The rear bush use OE/Lemforder only. Because of the particular geometry of the LCAs/front suspension these cars are very sensitive to this. If this is the case, you get it back together and feel that the front end doesn't seem to behave 'nice' (you may even get loud clunks over sharp objects like rail crossings and manhole covers you didn't have before) these aftermarket bushes are the culprit.

[jonesg]

HAd the same problem when I did mine, I used ratchet straps (2) and then a jack under the brake disk, a jack with some sort of tooth, not a smooth bottle jack. I can't recall exactly but I inserted something in the brake disk like a bolt to prevent the disk from rotating away from the jack.
Its fiddly but not too bad a job. big pry bar is good too, either push the arm down or raise the strut up, .
We used a 36 inch crow bar on my buddy's car, stood on it. It took both of us.
I used the jack when I did mine alone. So much easier with a helper, safer too.

[oragex]

Tell us you didn't use aftermarket bushings. You will be back for the same job more or less 1 year later. Next time go either Lemforder, or even better, check the scrap yards for a used one in good condition - it would surely be an original Volvo replacement.

You need to remove the two lower strut bolts

[abscate]

this is one of the few parts of life where your balls falling off isn't serious. Clean it up, if you find grit, rinse out with solvent until clean, regrets, and put it back together. If it doesn't move smoothly over its range, it isn't back together right. There are right/wrong ways to line up the grooves on a CV joint. I will try to find thread with pictures to show

[GoldCO]

There are right/wrong ways to line up the grooves on a CV joint. I will try to find thread with pictures to show

thanks, that would be appreciated...

[GoldCO]

I used Üro bushings from RockAuto... (no good) ?

Tried both the crowbar and strap method and am fairly sure arm was as low as it could go (making contacting with subframe), though it is hard to tell for sure working by myself. That's when I realized the hub needed to raise up to make the difference, but no matter how I tried it always went up and out away from the wheelwell which is apparently how the propshaft(?) was separated.

Of course today is cold and we're supposed to get snow tomorrow... grrrr. Looks like I now have to take the caliper off, remove the hub, detach from strut, remove axle, clean re-grease axle, then re-assemble just to get back to where I started. Then worry about the driver side.

Sometimes trying to save $$ just bites you in the a$$.

[precopster]

This happens all the time with P2s when the clamp around the boot is not so tight. On the last car I worked on I used a heavy mallet to smack the driveshaft back into the CV cage. It is a triangle formation so before doing this you just need to make sure that it is lined up correctly. You would want to be hitting the shaft when it is at right angles to the cage.
And yes a fairly hard smack!!

I use a 1/2 inch extender bar inserted into the hub and hit the CV shaft with a metal mallet. There is no other way.

[theWIFES_S70]

I used Üro bushings from RockAuto... (no good) ?

Tried both the crowbar and strap method and am fairly sure arm was as low as it could go (making contacting with subframe), though it is hard to tell for sure working by myself. That's when I realized the hub needed to raise up to make the difference, but no matter how I tried it always went up and out away from the wheelwell which is apparently how the propshaft(?) was separated.

Of course today is cold and we're supposed to get snow tomorrow... grrrr. Looks like I now have to take the caliper off, remove the hub, detach from strut, remove axle, clean re-grease axle, then re-assemble just to get back to where I started. Then worry about the driver side.

Sometimes trying to save $$ just bites you in the a$$.

Welcome to our little space on the internet! Sorry to hear about the hiccups. You have to try really hard to break our cars so don't worry too much. Axles are surprisingly weak things. It'll all go back together with little effort!

Uro is one of those parts we by and large stay away from. You went through the work so just get them in there and torque them to spec. Pay attention to any noises from the front end, a clunk or rubbery hesitation, and you should get six-months to 1.5 years out of those bushings. I got two years out of some Febi control arms. Just installed some Meyle HDs, will see how long those last.

[GoldCO]

thanks... so what about the post above that says there is only one way it can go in? i searched around here a bit but didn't see anything that said that specifically. also, how far will those roller bearings (?) go back into the cage? all the way?

This happens all the time with P2s when the clamp around the boot is not so tight. On the last car I worked on I used a heavy mallet to smack the driveshaft back into the CV cage. It is a triangle formation so before doing this you just need to make sure that it is lined up correctly. You would want to be hitting the shaft when it is at right angles to the cage.
And yes a fairly hard smack!!

I use a 1/2 inch extender bar inserted into the hub and hit the CV shaft with a metal mallet. There is no other way.