1998 V70 Sway Bar Links & Control Arm Question

charleskennedy23 · Post by **charleskennedy23** » 19 Jan 2016, 00:21

Hi friends!

Thanks so much for all the help in the past. I love this forum and am so grateful for everyone who responds to my questions and the questions of others. I love learning about my car and I love being in the Volvo community!

Now to my question…

I am about the replace the sway bar links and the control arms. I may or may not be able to do these at the same time. If I am unable to do these at the same time my plan is to do the sway bar links first then the control arms. here are my questions…

1) If I just do sway bar links is it necessary to do an alignment afterwards?

2) After the control arms I understand that it is advisable to get an alignment when that project is complete. Is this accurate?

obviously if I have to get the alignment after the sway bar links I'll do both at the same time so I don't have to get the car aligned twice.

thanks for any response I get. If this question has been answered in the blog my apologies for not catching it.

cheers!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 19 Jan 2016, 00:54

With the sway bar end links you won't need an alignment at all. With the control arm you might need an alignment but it isn't absolutely necessary. I've changed a dozen or so and I have not done an alignment just for that. I save the alignment for the next set of tires. If it pulls to one side or the other if you take your hand off the wheel or you start to notice uneven tire wear then go ahead and get it aligned. It will always pull when you accelerate since it is a FWD car and they all torque steer but on a highway and a steady pace it should track fairly straight.

...Lee

charleskennedy23 · Post by **charleskennedy23** » 19 Jan 2016, 08:08

Thanks Lee!

Post by **scot850** » 19 Jan 2016, 16:52

Theoretically, if you had the steering set up for the original lower control arms when they were new, replacing them shouldn't need adjustment. But as we all know, the other parts can also wear which may affect the alignment. If you are planning to replace your tires anytime soon, the I'd wait until then. If you have recently done the tires, you may want to at least consider it. At least with a FWD you only have to replace 2 tires if the alignment is bad!

Neil.