1998 s70 Turbo Noobie Needs Guidance on Steering Procedures Topic is solved

[Swamy]

s70 GLT 124K mileage
Chilton's manual 1990-98 coupes/sedans/wagons from library

Dear Volvo folks,

I'm very grateful that this site exists and it's proved to be a real blessing. I'm new to Volvo and the use of forums please let me know if I'm doing it all wrong (I did read the rules and watch the video on how to post)

A little backstory here:

I started having some rather serious health problems. Driving a corolla with 38" legs at 6'1" was not doing me any favors and causing a lot of further pain/problem. I needed to make a change. I prayed. I knew it would be about finding a comfortable seat. Found a beautiful S70GLT on CL right in my neighborhood and test drove it. (1st Volvo I ever sat in) Now I know what you good people are talking about!! I am astounded and blessed to say I bought this car a month later after doing all the homework that I could on Volvos and trying out other models as well. (I would have liked a wagon but have had less than positive experiences with AWDs). I did get a carfax, talked to the previous owner who bought this for his son. Obtained a buyers inspection from a really nice volvo guy here in town. (I was blown away that he drove the same model and felt more at ease immediately). He mentioned the following:

1. Tie rod on drivers side is bad or broken (he shook the wheel while on the lift and my heart dropped), "yup that'll kill ya" he said

2. Lower Engine pad is broken

3. Battery is at 50-60% charge

from what I found on maintenance records 90,000mile maintenance was done at dealership. I know I'm making an assumption but I believe that refers to the checklist of maintenance items in the owner's manual. The print out only says 90,000 mile service performed.

Honestly, I don't know much about cars at all (beyond suck, bang, push). I know that if the engine and transmission are up to spec, and if your willing to have a go, deal with setback and perhaps a bit of frustration and frozen fingers then it's possible to do much of the maintenance oneself on Volvos. I must get this car up to spec and SAFE, stat. I got it fairly inexpensively and I feel that's a blessing as well. (more $ I can apply to repairs/maintenance) It needs to serve to take me and my dear old dad down and back from Chicago in the same day for my health appointments. 300mile RT, pretty frequently, in the winter in Wisconsin. When I recover a bit I'd like to really "get into" Volvos more and I hope to give my dad this one, get something similar and keep them up to spec myself. in the short term I need any and all advice/suggestion/tips/ tricks/recommendations that you good folks may have. I am very grateful in advance. I have to do this an inexpensively as possible, as I'm unable to work at at this point. However, I'm all for quality parts for a quality product. The corolla will sell and I'll dump that $ back into keeping the s70 going long as I can.

There are no symptoms that I can notice at this point, but I'm a newbie and my judgement can't be relied upon. There is no pulling or noise, but all the same I have avoided hwy driving till I get that tie-rod done.

Here's my plan:

That mechanic told me about FCP/Groton and showed me how I could save a lot by getting aftermarket parts suggested 1. Left tie rod end. 2. Left control arm

the previous owner told me to change the front struts soon.

I nearly pulled the trigger and ordered the BIG suspension and control arm and tie rod kit" ($475) today. However I recall from my hockey days that cheaper parts can mean low quality or low grade steel (like in $400 goalie skates made in Thailand!! thanks a lot Bauer:( ) Learned my lesson and bit the bullet and rather than getting the kit, wary of aftermarket parts on something as fundamental as steering/ suspension.

I bought all OEM, inner and outer tie rods for both sides along with steering rack boots, the s70 Haynes maual. e5 torx, and 7mm hex socket.


I've checked underneath a few times,Chiltons and pictures from you folks here in hand. Identified various parts, checked bolt sizes and condition to the best of my ability. The Drivers side steering rack boot is broken but metal parts are intact.

My intention is to do the following. replace everything that would have come in that kit (it was missing inner tie rods and steering rack boots BTW) with OEM struts, control arms, tie rods etc.

My concern:

Can I fix what's broken (tie rod L side, and do the other side to be kosher) and do the control arms and front struts later (perhaps a month) and still be OK? the car is so low that it's pretty hard to slide that floor jack to the front lift point (same point on front where they put the lift pads at the dealership) I see a lot of pictures of guys having enough room to slip a block of wood over the top of their floor jacks and proceed to lift on the frame. Is this b/c my front suspension is that bad? what do i do to ascertain that? I read the procedure for front strut replacement and have every intention of doing that and the control arms, but can I just replace (both) tie rods, feel safe enough to get her highway worthy then do the suspension and control arms at a future point?

I also need to know if I'm killing the car by jacking one side......getting a stand in there. Than lifting the other side. I have to try to take as good car of this car as I can, it's going to have to be a lifesaver (mine). I'm preparing as best I can for the procedure, getting the right stuff to make the job easier/ more efficient/ I'd appreciate any advice you all may have to help me out. I could have swung getting that kit, but something inside told me not to and instead go full OEM and not have a future worry or create a weak link in a solid chain.

I'm sorry I wrote so much here, but sometimes when folks understand the circumstance the better advice they can give. I'll bottom-line it from now on with better formatting.


To reiterate. Is that wheel shaking thing JUST the drivers side tie rod, or could it be the control arm (ball joint) as well? and if so, should I replace the control arm as well?

Trying to remedy my ignorance everyday, while I am a desperate man, it's still proving to be very interesting. I'm sure the doing aspect will be even better.

very grateful for all your help in advance.

Will never write this much again, if your read it all, my thanks

[vjaneczko]

First, welcome to the forum!

The '98 is pretty much the same as the 850's so you can follow most repair writeups with ease for either series
.

That mechanic told me about FCP/Groton

That's a good mechanic. FCP is a big supporter of MVS and we return the favor.

Can I fix what's broken (tie rod L side, and do the other side to be kosher) and do the control arms and front struts later (perhaps a month) and still be OK?

You can, but remember when you alter suspension parts, you'll need an alignment. Best to take a long weekend to do everything at once. That way, you only need to pay for one alignment. Also, it's a good idea to swap inner and outer tie rods at the same time.

the car is so low that it's pretty hard to slide that floor jack to the front lift point (same point on front where they put the lift pads at the dealership) I see a lot of pictures of guys having enough room to slip a block of wood over the top of their floor jacks and proceed to lift on the frame. Is this b/c my front suspension is that bad?

Doubt it. Odds are pretty good that you're looking at a huge floorjack, or pics of someone that jacked the car, slid in the wood, then jacked it up some more.

one thing to check; depending on the tires & wheels you have, you should be able to get one or two fingers between the top of the tire and the fender. If not, then you probably do have a serious problem with suspension.

I also need to know if I'm killing the car by jacking one side......getting a stand in there. Than lifting the other side.

No, not a problem at all. That's how we do it!

[jblackburn]

Welcome to the site.

My jack barely fits under my car. The turbo models sit low. I always jack it straight from the middle of the subframe though rather than one side at a time. I'd be worried it might fall off the jack stand or something that way.

As far as suspension parts, I've been told you can get away with (good) aftermarket parts for the tie rods (Meyle, Moog, etc). As for the control arms, driving those distances, I would only go with OEM ones. Mine have been good for well over 100K, and with the miles you will be driving on what are probably terrible roads up there, you'll eat through lesser ball joints pretty fast and have to keep changing control arms.

Some places here have an alignment policy for 6 months or so. If you can't afford to do everything at once, you could go with one of those plans and bring it back in a month or so.

[Swamy]

Gentlemen,

Thank you both very much for your welcome input and suggestions. It's better than I would have hoped. Based on your recommendations i will change the approach and go full out on the suspension/steering system replacement, then get the alignment done. I may have inaccurately stated that I cannot afford to do things properly, this is not the case. What I intended to state was essentially, "whatever has to be done, I'd prefer to do myself and avoid the dealership and euro garage if at all possible." I assume that sentiment we all share here on the forum. Thank you again for being so welcoming and generous with your expertise.

As promised less rhetoric from me, I appreciate your tolerance for my opening thread.

Suffice it to say your input/ advice/ tips on the following are welcome.

Objective:
Full replacement of:
Inner Tie Rods, Outer Tie Rods, Steering Rack boots (already ordered OEM from FCP)---- control arms (2 bolt type), and Macpherson Struts. prefer OEM level or better (if that is even possible) I'm new to the brand and it's amazing, I'm sure it was off the line in 98 as well, what was good enough then remains exceeding my expectations. Nothing fancy needed would like a nice soft ride (for health reasons), I-90 tollway roads are complete rubbish. At least 6 sets of "wake-up" strips preceding toll stops as well.


Desired Outcome:
Smooth Stable Safe Ride, fully addressing the wheel shaking issue that mechanic showed me while on lift.

Noobie Concerns:

1, Is there anything I'm leaving out related to suspension/steering? (shall I do the sway bars as well then?)
2. is there an "order of operations" step i'm overlooking again? Or other items I should be attending to while down there with the wheel off replacing suspension and steering? (e.g. alignment having to be done 2x in my previous thought of only replacing tie rods for now, then control arms and struts at future point)
3. Who made the OEM struts in 98? Have you found something better/more comfortable in your experience? Tell me what to get and I'll do it and be very content not relying solely on my 1 week of experience with Volvo.

[vjaneczko]

When you replace all these parts, that pretty much takes care of all the suspension bits. When you’re doing the struts, make sure you replace the strut mount and spring seat on each side. Going one step further; get the heavy duty spring seats as they are a weak link.

I’d suggest that when you get the alignment, also ask them to balance the tires as they can cause a shimmy in the steering if they’re off.

If you have the 'standard' 15-inch wheels, the factory Sachs shocks & struts will give you a very comfortable, smooth ride as you rip down I-90 - I've done it many times myself! I redid the suspension (using the big FCP suspension kit) last summer, then this summer I got some 17-inch wheels and the ride became noticeably more firm because of the reduced sidewall size.

It's be good to replace the swaybar links at the same time. Unless the swaybar itself is broken, you can probably leave it alone, but I’d inspect the swaybar mounts and replace if they have any play. I’d also take a peek at the Stage 0 page and see what repairs you can check off/attack on your own.

And a suggestion: if you’re driving through Illinois, get yourself an iPass so you can save some time and $$ at our nasty tollbooths.

[Swamy]

Thanks very much, that addresses all my concerns. I'm looking forward to getting it done. Much appreciated. No offense to IL toll system! It's gonna be a pleasure in my Volvo! it's my fault for not getting one sooner

[Swamy]

Gentlemen,

I'm in the middle of the above mentioned project. I have successfully replaced driver's side tie rod and control arm. I'm moving on to suspension now. However I've hit a snag on removal of the anti-roll bar end links. I'm using a 15mm socket to remove the bolt as mentioned in many of the DIY strut pages as well as Haynes manual but the entire bolt is turning. I have removed the plastic cover (opposite to the bolt head) with chisel to look for squared off grab point as mentioned in a great step by step tutorial that I found on this site. Problem is that the end link does not have the squared off ends. I cut away the rubber seal to have a better look and indeed no squared off point to attach a channel lock or wrench. Any recommendations or tips? I have new struts, all related bolts nuts and washers, and new end links to replace them with. Please advise STAT if possible. Need to get this done today if possible and get started on the passengers side. Thanks very much in advance for your help. It's been a great project thus far and I'm learning a lot, deeper appreciation for Volvo engineering and quality with each new step!

[jblackburn]

You loosened the bolts; now you need a hex key (it's metric, but can't remember the size) to hold the inside of the stud while you turn the nut with a closed-end box wrench. It's a slow process, but that's how you go about it.

Make sure when you replace the new ones to stick a jack under the control arm and jack that side to ride height. Then torque the bolts down as much as you can get them or they'll just come loose again.

[vjaneczko]

I got stumped for the very same thing, so you're not alone. Look at the tip of bolt. It may have a Torx or hex notch in it. If not, then grab your favorite grinding tool (you have one, right?! ) and hack the bolt off. If you have some thing Vice Grips, maybe you can clamp onto the bolt behind the nut so it doesn't move - if there isn't enough room on the backside of the nut, grab the tip of it and just be careful you don't squash the threads to prevent the nut from spinning off.

[Swamy]

Gentlemen, thank you both very much for the quick reply. Will proceed with the hex or the Torx method. If I may ask as well, what does the "angle tightening" term refer to? (Haynes manual 10-7 "tighten the control arm inner mountings to the specified torque using a torque wrench, the further, through the specified angle using an angle-tightening gauge")