Inevitable category repair. Front strut/spring mount.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 13 Oct 2009, 16:20

Welcome to MVS,

You don't need the Stealership to get the camber kits, you can pick them up at any auto parts store and then use your favorite tire shop to do the alignment. These cars do have adjustable toe on the rear wheels (Most of the alignment monkeys don't know that) so it is important to get a "4 wheel" alignment. The order is important as well;

1. Rear toe
2. Front camber
3. Front toe

If they try it in any other order they will just chase their tail.

...Lee

57buzzard · Post by **57buzzard** » 13 Oct 2009, 17:03

Did this about two months ago.
The cross nut is not a challenge. All you need is a 5mm punch and some light taps with a hammer, in the right direction.
It helps immensely if you have access to a torque gun, electric or air, to remove the top nuts on the spring seat.
Do remove the strut as it is much easier to align the spring in the bottom plate and the seat itself. The torque gun also comes in handy when compressing and decompressing the spring.
Get replacement bolts and nuts for the strut. You may find some wear on the top bolt from previous installation that did not tighten properly or loosened from poor roads.
The XC90 seats are the better choice, and 5$ cheaper at that.
-Do you find the inevitable questions from the parts clerk to be moot? "It doesn't matter what model...it's for a Pkfz 5 and I need 16 of them."
An alignment shouldn't be necessary unless bushings or tie rod ends have been replaced.

Steve
Selma, Nova Scotia

850 Turbo1 · Post by **850 Turbo1** » 13 Oct 2009, 17:10

Hi Guys,
First off I can't say enough about the very dedicated Volvo scholars on this forum...Those most deserving of thanks are: Ozark Lee, vegasjetskier, MadeInJapan, DeRail, billofdurham...THANK YOU ALLL

!

So here is my dilemma,
I drove in to my tire shop recently to have my tires rotated for free(since I bought them there.)...Sure enough...there's a million problems with my car and it's going to cost around $2,000 work to fix it up with CHEAP Chinese parts(no offense Chinese people..we can surely agree on the quality issues). Sorry I'll pass

. They did bring up 2 valid points though. My steering fluid was leaking(I've been told it's just a gasket for the hose by a mechanic friend who looked at it during the night)...the monkeys say it's the steering rack (and control arm ball joint which was replaced 6 months ago) and it's completely destroyed the inner parts of the 2 front tires(put on less than 8,000 miles ago).The truth of the matter, the tires' inner areas are worn quite bad...but I don't believe my steering rack is the problem. In-fact I believe it's an alignment issue. I told them that for me to drive straight I have to hold the steering wheel at 30 degrees...They completely ignored this...and didn't comment at all on the alignment. The charge for an alignment is 40 dollars ! I don't understand what a camber kit is and if I should buy one and take it in with me to the tire/alignment shop. Please let me know...oh and my front struts are completely new...the mounts,seats(xc90...I'm soo glad), and ofcourse the struts(Sachs). The rear tires are in top notch shape.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 13 Oct 2009, 19:14

You just need to jack the car up yourself and see what is bad. 6 months on a control arm is brutal but it isn't really unexpected if either:

a) It was a Scan Tech part in the first place or

b) The preload wasn't set correctly when the control arms were torqued down. The control arm bolts through the frame should not be torqued down until they are at the normal ride height. I use a floor jack and jack them up to the point where the wheel hub is centered on the lower door seam when I replace mine.

How bad is the rack leaking? I was able top successfully able to cure my leak in the Platinum with a flush with Valvoline High Mileage Automatic Transmission Stop Leak in the power steering system. It may or may not work but it can't hurt anything but a few bucks worth of fluid to try it.

Your steering wheel being off says that the alignment isn't correct for sure.

...Lee

850 Turbo1 · Post by **850 Turbo1** » 14 Oct 2009, 17:25

Hey Lee,
Is the alignment on this car different from any other...special tools required? I will try your suggestion on steering fluid..and report back!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 14 Oct 2009, 18:51

Is the alignment on this car different from any other...special tools required?

It is different than most, no special tools are required but special knowledge is required. The rear toe is adjusted by loosening the bushings between the two delta link trailing arms and tweaking them into shape. Often times they are more or less welded into place by corrosion but if your alignment guy or gal really goes after it they can pop the links loose and get things right. Pay attention to the before and after on the rear wheel toe specification before you accept the job.

...Lee

57buzzard · Post by **57buzzard** » 16 Oct 2009, 12:54

Was the alignment done at the same place you bought your tires?
It may be time to take it elsewhere and have that alignment checked. After you replace the ball joint.
Sounds like the ball joint may not have been installed correctly from the start. The ScanTech parts are suspect.
You may want to try and source the new part from a company that is located in Ontario, Auto Parts Way. They sell OEM specific parts and there is no duty as the parts are from their warehouse on site.

Steve
Nova Scotia

C@lvin · Post by **C@lvin** » 16 Oct 2009, 13:39

With regards to the upper spring seat (98 S70 186K).......

I replaced the right upper spring seat two years ago with a febi Bilstein part from eearuoparts. Recently, the left spring seat is failing and the colder it gets outside the louder it gets.

My question is, can you mix and match the spring seats? More specificatlly can I use an XC90 spring seat on the left or should I match what I used on the right?

Thanks,

Post by **Brucebo** » 16 Oct 2009, 18:39

C@lvin wrote:My question is, can you mix and match the spring seats? More specificatlly can I use an XC90 spring seat on the left or should I match what I used on the right?

Thanks,

That's what I did. Last week I replaced my left one. The new part was from IPD. I bought two just in case, but unless the shocks were bad I wasn't about to pull the right one. The left shock was okay. I'm sure the right seat isn't from IPD. I haven't noticed any problems and I don't see why it would make a difference.

-Bruce

C@lvin · Post by **C@lvin** » 16 Oct 2009, 20:31

Thanks Bruce, let me know if you change your mind in the next month or so

Inevitable category repair. Front strut/spring mount.

Re: Inevitable category repair. Front strut/spring mount.