1995 850 Front suspension issues - wandering SOLVED Topic is solved

Post by **hausmeister** » 17 Jul 2014, 07:57

Question about suspension:

I have already replaced:
control arms, inner+outer tie rods
added the IPD Subframe Inserts + oem strut brace.

I still have an issue that the car wanders a bit... hard to describe... over uneven road it wants to steer itself and you have to actively counter it more than you should. It is not play in the steering, but that it wants to follow the road too much.
I had a similar issue with badly worn control arms on my s70, which was fixed with new parts. But as they are already new that can't be the reason.
The strut brace helped a lot with this, the bushing inserts helped a bit. But it is still there.

What should I be looking at?

Post by **abscate** » 17 Jul 2014, 09:02

If they used cheap control arm/ball joint parts and they are more than six months old - believe it or not - you may need new control arms. Pull your receipt and see what they used, and what you paid for the parts. If it isn't 150 USD for the part, they are the bad ones.

Post by **matthew1** » 17 Jul 2014, 09:21

^ Yep. I was just going to say control arm bushings. Even with relatively new control arms (and thus, c.a. bushings) if you installed and tightened them without first leveling the control arms while the car is in the air, immediately the bushings will be under an enormous twisting load. I'm talking about the two subframe mount ones. Ask me how I know

.

Post by **abscate** » 17 Jul 2014, 10:22

Do you level and tighten, or do you drop car and tighten on ground - or, does it make a difference.

remember its faster if the bolts face backwards, too...

Post by **erikv11** » 17 Jul 2014, 12:35

abscate wrote:Do you level and tighten, or do you drop car and tighten on ground - or, does it make a difference. ...

I've done both, it doesn't seem to make a difference. Except access is much harder if you drop car on the ground (I've dropped it on ramps, still a pain).

Post by **hausmeister** » 17 Jul 2014, 13:01

The control arms are original Volvo, though not bought from the dealer, but a good volvo parts dealer that sells originals and aftermarket (skandix). Maybe 6 months old.
I did not put the car down to tighten them, but I did measure the distance from wheel to housing and jacked the wheel up using an additional jack to the same heigt to tighten them.

No, they should be ok. It is not that this is reoccurring, it just never went away completely. I hoped that the ipd inserts would cure it (and it got better) but it is still there. Not very bad, but you can feel it.

I know that the rear control-arm(?)-thingie is not in top shape and will need replacement sometime. I also plan on replacing the anti roll bar and connections (in fact I have the parts already) when I have the time.

It is not a big issue, but my s70 on the other hand feels like a new car (since i also replaced about hte same parts) so I'm a bit confused why I cant get it near that level.

cmarcoux · Post by **cmarcoux** » 17 Jul 2014, 13:34

this may sound dumb but are you sure they did a alignment when they did the work I did mine with parts straight from the dealer ship and it shook like crazy till I took it to a dealership and had them align line the work I had done.

Post by **precopster** » 17 Jul 2014, 13:39

Sometimes it's all to do with alignment and/or the particular guy at the shop doing the alignment.

After going through 3 or 4 different shops I think I found a shop with some guys that genuinely know what they're doing. My new tires haven't begun to scrub out after 5,000 kms. They're all speedway racing enthusiasts and run a car every couple of weeks at the track.

Having said all this my 2000 V70 will never steer and track as well as my wife's low mileage '95 850. The self centreing and stability of the 850 as well as weighting of the steering is far superior on the 850. Chassis flex on the higher mileage car ??

Post by **hausmeister** » 17 Jul 2014, 14:11

Ok, like I said it is not a big issue (thats why I originally didn't open an extra thread). When I drive the 850 for some time I hardly notice it, but when I drive my s70 and then switch it is noticable.

Yes, I got an alignment done - it feels ok to me. But I can get another one sometime. And like I said, the strut bar helped a lot for this issue - so it is not like what I did didn't help.

I was just wondering If there is something I overlooked.

Post by **abscate** » 17 Jul 2014, 16:11

Thanks for thinking of us but it's actually better to open a new thread ...they are cheap, and the discussion can stay OT easier.