1996 850 NA Wagon, Struts and Axle Replacement

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 21 May 2017, 21:06

It just crossed my mind that most of the parts that I've bought for this car
are from FCP which means we get free replacements. Timing belt, water
pump, idlers, tensioner, PCV, most of the axle and strut parts, calipers front
and rear.
Ha, we should try to run it to 500K miles.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 29 May 2017, 12:01

PeteB wrote: ↑17 May 2017, 15:56 I'm replacing the front brake lines since they don't look too healthy.

Front caliper boots look like they've been torn for some time so I'm going
to get Cardone rebuilds from FCP, probably the coated ones. Anyone
tried these, is the coating done well?

These arrived and look very nice, BUT the calipers are VERY loose on the
slide pins. The amount of motion allowed is huge, both are the same.
I don't ever remember calipers being this loose and am going to check
the guide pin diameter. I'll use the original brackets if that is the problem.
Is there a bushing that might be missing?

Anyone else notice this?

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 16 Jul 2017, 12:02

I roughly measured the originals off the car and they are about the same,
seems it is normal to be so loose, installed them and they seem fine.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 16 Jul 2017, 12:05

Doing the passenger side axle and everything was going fine but when I
removed the inside joint, one of the races for the needle bearings came
off and the needles spilled out. About ready to put it back together, anyone
have a count handy for the needles, want to be sure I didn't lose one? I
know, I could count one of the others but that is prone to error.
Any tips for getting it back together?

Edit: I found on this site that someone mentioned "around" 33 but I counted
32, going to try repacking it and see if it looks like it needs one more.
Thought to use a rubber band around them and slip each one in under the band.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 17 Jul 2017, 12:42

Rubber band worked fine, 32 seems to be right. It all went together fairly
easily. All the clamps went on one notch tighter than fully open, had to
shape them a bit to be able to close them that far, once tightened with the
tool they were nearly fully closed. It is messy but a essentially an easy job.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 18 Jul 2017, 06:36

Found these factory instructions after finishing both sides. I did not wipe down
the mating surfaces for the boots with solvent just a rag - hope they don't slip off:
http://www.volvotips.com/index.php/850- ... riveshaft/

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 18 Jul 2017, 11:40

I just found a picture of the driver's side and the two clamps that I could see
were at the outer most setting - hope they don't come off. I mentioned above
that I was able to snap them one notch tighter on the passenger side. It was
probably 60 deg F out when I did the driver's side and now it is in the 90s so
the rubber might have more give now.

Also, for my own notes, the dirver's side axle internals all looked perfect.
The passenger's side had one pitted score about 1/8" diameter in the part
that the balls run in on the outer joint. Otherwise it all also looked perfect.
The passenger side had a bit of grit in there the driver's seemed to be clean.
The outer boots were split for at least 3 years maybe 5 or more. The inner
boots on both sides had no flaws at all.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 19 Jul 2017, 11:39

I mentioned considering Monroe Strut assemblies in the first post here, then mentioned
OEM Sachs for a lot more money (+53$ per side) but ended up using Bilsteins for
another $20 more per side over the Sachs. This was after considering how many
lifetime parts we have from FCP and how I don't like redoing work 2 years down the road.
The rest of the parts used were:
OEM XC90 strut mount
Febi (claimed made in Germany) bump stops
Reused OEM bellows since they were both in fine condition
Did not change strut mount - they seem fine

Ate front brake hoses
Cardone coated calipers (swapped original pin guides since they looked harder)
Used new bolts on sale at FCP for struts and caliper mounts.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 19 Jul 2017, 11:42

Double post, how to delete this?

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 19 Jul 2017, 14:48

Here is a picture showing how I torqued the top Bilstein strut bolt, socket Allen
on the center, offset O2 sensor socket on the nut. That socket is a bit large
on the nut so I used vice grips to keep it from expanding any more. I would
not put much pressure on it with the vice grips since it would probably crack.
It worked fine and the center Allen keeps the force off the internals.

: STRUT-TORQUE.jpg (477.42 KiB) Viewed 1470 times

1996 850 NA Wagon, Struts and Axle Replacement

Re: 1996 850 NA Wagon, Struts and Axle Replacement