1996 850 Bent CV's axles from Volvo?

[wjkjr]

I just finished replacing the inner and outer tie rods with genuine Volvo parts on my daughters 96' 850 and sent her to get an alignment. After picking up her car she called me and told me there was a noise coming from the front end and she was going back to see what it was. Her struts are worn out on the passenger side and I expect replacements in the next few days. (I'm sure it is causing some of the noise) and the sway bar link on the driver side is shot because I had to put one of the old ones back on after one of the new Meyle HD links broke after 60 days (Genuine Volvo parts on the way too). The worn sway bar link could also cause noise. Anyway she told me they said her CV axles were bent. Not just one but both. I just purchased genuine Volvo CV axles from Euro and had them installed 2 months ago. She told me they showed her that there was run out on the shafts on both sides. They told her this was common and that they see it alot and it didn't matter if it was factory or aftermarket. I was beside myself in disbelief when I talked to the mechanic myself this afternoon and he said the same thing. One of the mechanics she spoke to said her car wasn't safe to drive and she needed to park it until repairs were made. Needless to say she was very upset upon hearing the doom and gloom since she depends on her car daily for work. When she got home and told me the story, I drove her car and there was absolutely no vibration that I would expect from a bent shaft. It drove smooth and I drove at normal street speeds and highway speed to 70. Drove fine. The mechanic who called me told me that most likely they were either delivered bent or bent during installation. My question to him was "How?" He couldn't tell me. When I told him the car drove smooth he said that was because they were balanced from the factory. The whole thing smells and I was invited to bring tha car back and he would show me the run out on both axles.

Has anyone ever heard of CV's being bent from the factory, especially Volvo? I would appreciate your thoughts.

Jack

[tryingbe]

First time I heard of it.

[northernlights]

These guys are either trying to sell you parts or don't understand how CV joints work. CV joints were invented to allow for a constant shaft velocity (hense the name) with misaligned drive and driven members. Otherwise, we'd be using U-joints. The shaft velocity doesn't change, but eventually runs out of articulation at which point it is at the limit of travel. At this point bad things can happen, but by design steering and suspension limits prevent it when installed. So, think about how much the angle of the front wheels vary just during a simple turn, and compare that to whatever they claimed was excessive runout.

A little runout will just make it a little more misaligned, assuming it doesn't look like a banana. Sticking a dial indicator on an installed halfshaft and pointing to the bouncing needle is not a valid test, which sounds like about what they are doing. It's not like a bent driveshaft which can vibrate like crazy, or anything with u-joints.

Run away.

[cn90]

Get 2nd opinion.

[FLXC90]

think of it like a wheel rim, if the assembly has a minor variation (runout) but it balances with the addition of a small weight, you use it , right? Did you know aircraft propellers are balanced that way too? Think of those stresses. So for them to say "It's balanced by the factory" and then to say it is unacceptable/needs to line my wallet-ed: aka be replaced, question who?

[wjkjr]

Would a straight edge be a more valid test for checking the shaft as a first step?

[rspi]

I wonder if this tech was trained to come to that conclusion or dreamed that up on his own. The places that plot a plan of action to crush people's wallet won't back down because they think that you don't know as much as they do so the stick to "their opinion" and try to convince you to do what they want. Just imagine how many people they get with that garbage.

Sad to say that I once had a Volvo dealer try that with me. I dropped my car off because it had a vacuum leak behind the dash. By the time I got back to the dealer, I needed a new car. My ignition system was shot (I had just replaced it myself just 4 days prior), my suspension had issues, bla, bla, bla, bla, the list went on and on. The main problem was, they had never seen the car before, and it had over 300,000 miles on it. Well, after 400,000 I gave the GOOD RUNNING car to a single mom. That's why I started doing a lot of work myself. Low down thieves.

[Matty Moo]

Simple answer..... Get your car out of that shop and never go there again.

[wjkjr]

I plan on taking her car back to the mechanic who installed her axles and get his opinion. I anticipate that he will echo everything said so far from you guys.

[precopster]

If there's no vibration there is absolutley no issues with the CV axles.