Volvo 850 Suspension

[scot850]

They are talking of the rubber spring seat. It is a well known weak spot and the center bush tents to push through on cheaper brands. Volvo now use the XC90 version for all cars as it was an 'HD' version due to the weight of the XC90.

Lemforder control arms I believe are still available for the 2 bolt front control arms, but are no longer available at last check I did for the 4 bolt used mainly on the AWD versions. TRW have bought Lemforder from what I have been told so there is some doubt if the Lemforder name will be going forward or if the parts will be re-branded as TRW. TRW do supply a 4 bolt front control arm. I decided due to the unknown quality of the new TRW parts (not known if they are just re-branded Lemforder) and the fact the 4 bolt versions are more of a hassle to replace due to the engine/trans having to be raised to replace the bolts, I have gone for the Volvo ones. Same issue at the rear with the delta links. I know FCP had a clearance on the Lemforder parts so I bought a pair for my stash for the future if needed.

Neil.

[Messerschmitt101]

Thank you all for the replies!
I am going to take WhatAmIDoing's advice and have some mechanics take a look at it.
There is a Volvo Mechanic near where I live that I can take it to.

Hopefully there is nothing seriously wrong down there!

[akwon]

@Messerschmitt101 - How'd it go?

I just rebuilt the front suspension on my 96 855. The bump stops were non-existent. The spring seats were destroyed; the rubber around the center bushings were shredded so the strut post wasn't even attached to the spring stop anymore.

I got the car in 2013 and I don't think the original owners ever did anything to the front end. I changed the control arms/sway bar end links/tie rods back in 2015.

Pulling the front suspension isn't as bad as it seems. If it hasn't been done in awhile, breaking the bolts are the hardest part. Patience, penetrating oil, a torch, and an impact wrench are your best friends. I got Rein spring seats so hopefully they last a couple years. I didn't replace the springs or struts because I was trying to save money. I just need it to pass a safety inspection and they both seemed like they had some life left.

TO THE POINT:
Now that I've got the car back on the road I'm getting a very distinct noise when driving at high speeds. It's not quite a rumble, more like a high pitched whine. It sounds like it's coming from the passenger side. My suspicion is that when I rebuilt the strut assembly I didn't compress the spring enough so it's putting pressure on the control arm/CV axle. The noise sort of goes away when I veer/turn right.

I actually pulled the suspension again and put it back together, trying to compress the springs more this time, but the sound is still there. Is there a spec for the height of the strut assembly when it's back together? When the strut detaches from the knuckle, I shouldn't see the wheel hub go down several inches, should I?

Anybody else come across this problem with a front suspension rebuild?

Any help appreciated!

[scot850]

Turning the wheel loads up the suspension on the RHS when turning left and LHS when turning left. IF the noise gets louder, when turning it usually points to a wheel bearing starting to go bad on the loaded side.

If you have wound the star nut fully down the thread at the top of the strut, then the strut is compressed as much as it can go. I seem to recall the compressed spring is 300mm from lower spring plate to the top of the spring.

I would suggest your issue is more likely either a wheel bearing, and if the noise is from the RHS when turning left it could also be the support bearing on the axle. I pulled 2 Volvo OE RH axles from PnP and both had bad support bearings.

Neil.

[akwon]

Neil - thanks for the advice! As always, everyone on here is super helpful.

I definitely didn't take the star nut down as far as it could go. Would pulling the suspension off then cause the wheel bearing or support bearings to start making that noise?

Also, I re-read my post and I should correct myself. Of course, the knuckle/wheel hub will go down once detached from the strut. What I meant was the wheel hub seems to sit too low when I jack the car up.

I came across Jim Peisker's 850 blog and he shows an image of compressed spring length (11.81 inches) This is what I suspected so I guess I'll be pulling the struts off a third time.

https://volvo850wagon.wordpress.com/201 ... placement/

[erikv11]

@akwon: I used to pay very close attention to the 11.81 inches too, until I thought about it. Once you loosen the spring compressors, the spring expands. Then you put the assembly into the car and it doesn't matter where it was before. The final ride height in the car is a function of the spring stiffness and the weight of the car, the 11.81 inches doesn't play into that at all. The 11.81 is called for just to ensure the spring is compressed enough so the cross nut can be easily threaded down all the way, while the assembly is out of the car.

The point is, you don't need to pull the struts to fix the degree of cross nut tightening (are you really sure they are not screwed in all the way?). You can leave them in the car, pull the top nut off the strut tower, pull the big washer, tighten the cross nut down some more thereby pulling the truth shaft up a few millimeters, then put it back together.

[scot850]

Thanks for that recommendation erik, I should have added that too that the star nut can be tightened with the weight of the car on the suspension, removing the top nut and tightening the star nut all the way. As usual we can rely on erik to clean up behind me!

The wheel bearing can be under some stress removing the axle splines from the bearing. I know I had to use a large 3 legged puller to get the axle out pulling on the outer flange of the bearing. No damage ensued, but they can be a devil to remove. Noises from the axle area during turning is usually a good pointer to the wheel bearing failing.

Neil.

[akwon]

Thanks Erik and Neil. I'll try that instead of pulling the whole strut off again. Really hope it's not the wheel bearing because I'm getting sick of jacking the car up! Haha.

Erik, I see what you're saying about the compressed spring length not being important once it's under load. I screwed up my first try at the rebuild by releasing the compressor before I had put everything back on (see below). When I did it the second time I only compressed the spring enough to relieve the pressure off the spring seat and dismantle the strut assembly. I suspect I didn't re-compress the spring to or past 11.81" the first time so my "baseline" compression isn't short enough to bottom out the cross nut. I didn't take a measurement of how much of the threaded post goes above the nut but I feel it's not as wound down as it used to be.

To anyone doing a suspension rebuild! Don't cheap out on the spring compressor! I did and the claws slid along the spring and the whole thing got twisted. I had to run out in the middle of the job to buy another set!

Al

[scot850]

I hear you on the spring compressor issue. I had a thread on here a few weeks back on the very subject. I was trying to disassemble an old set of 'free' front struts and the short spring compressors I had were just about good enough to remove the spring from the strut, but were not long enough then to extend sufficiently to de-compress the spring. I re-assembled with a struggle. I was torn between paying up for a 'good' set, or buying a cheaper longer set. I don't plan to do this too often and a good spring compressor is something I may look at when we down-size our house in a couple of years to a smaller house and bigger garage!

The cheaper set I liked as they were long enough to compress the all of the spring that was accessible, but it was still a pain at the 'pig-tail' at the top end at the rubber spring seat keeps elongating as fast as compressing the rest. The other issue was the hooks either end are not really deep enough so the body of the arms jams against the next coil and makes the spring compress un-evenly and also the radius of the arms is not really correct for the diameter of the Volvo coils and doesn't sit snug on the coil on both ends of the hook either end.

They were sufficient for what I needed to do and just long enough to extend enough to decompress the spring completely and safely for a 1 time use. It is not a job I plan to do too often if at all again for a while so that is OK.

Neil.

[abscate]

It's cheaper to buy a good one but I've been taking my strut parts to an indie with the threaded wall tool compressor for assembly. It's cost me $50 in cash if I leave it, $100 while I wait