Broke lower Shock stud - seeking info on delta link/trailing arm

[smacknab]

Hi everyone,

I had a mostly successful weekend refreshing my entire suspension (front/rear springs, shocks & struts, plus all the hardware), it really was rewarding. However, i botched one of the lower shock stud nuts and it broke it off the bolt. I currently have the car ziptied together (lol) and I was thinking just to weld a new nut/bolt on the existing one. Other threads here i've read says replacing the trailing arm if the way to go, but i cant find more info about anyone who has done that, or info about taking it apart, or, more importantly for replacing it, making sure i have the right part. I found some on Car-part.com but i want to be sure i'm getting the exact part if i were to go pull it from a junkyard. Does anyone know if the rear trailing arms are transferable between years? i have a 99 s70 na fwd m56. If anyone has ever seen a DIY for replacing this also, that would be very cool to see the process.

Thanks as always, photo is for laughs but i've added 2-3 more zipties to this, so about 5-6 total.

[erikv11]

A couple years ago I swapped both trailing arms on an 850 in the driveway after someone hit my parked car from the back. Grabbed them from a parts car and moved them over. The hardest parts were

(1) Getting the brake lines off. This was actually not that hard with lots of penetrating oil and patience. The fasteners are hard to access on top of the trailing arm.

(2) holding up the arm for reinstall. A couple well placed jacks will get you through this part.

That's it really. I didn't have any videos or DIYs to follow which is normally how I would do things, I just started by removing the shocks and springs and then taking off what made sense etc. It wasn't many fasteners and both trailing arms dropped right down. It was not hard, took maybe two hours and I do not work quickly. I don't know if you can do them one at a time, I suppose so. This would be a good time to put in a factory rear sway bar if your car doesn't have one. And consider replacing the TA bushings which are mostly shot in all P80 cars but are much easier with the TA on the garage floor in front of you.

I know the rear sway bars are all the same for 94-00 P80 FWD cars so I am pretty sure the trailing arms are too. I know "pretty sure" is not the same as sure ... maybe try the exploded parts diagrams at volvopartswebstore etc to compare part numbers?

[Chuck W]

I'm pretty sure there's a DIY for replacing the Delta Link bushings (inner and outer) on this site, which pretty much gets you to the point of removing them (aside from popping brake lines and ABS wiring out of their clips).

You can probably remove the brake calipers/lines from the arms and just carefully hang them up out of the way, to avoid breaking open the system. You'll need to swap the rear hubs/bearings, unless the ones on your replacements are good.

You'll probably want to look at the Delta Link bushings themselves. Now would be a good time to replace them, since everything is all apart. The inners are nested into the arms and require spreading the arms apart from each other to get them out.

On donor parts, I'm pretty sure all of the P80 FWD rear arms are the same EXCEPT for the 01-04 C70 Convertibles. Those are wider (I can't say for sure about the 98-00 ones).

[smacknab]

Hey guys thanks for the response. This repair is pricing out to be a bit expensive, but I guess replacing bushings and wheel hubs will improve the ride.. could be a good time to replace some of my rusted brake line hardware too. Thanks for the heads up on other parts that may require replacement

Volvo parts webstore seems to indicate that the trailing arm is the same, including the c70 line, but I'll keep an eye out for that.

[abscate]

I’m harvesting the rear suspension off the 1998. Stay tuned

[erikv11]

Personally I would definitely go junkyard on this. OK I see you are anyway, I was distracted (!) by the price up there on the new part.

And wouldn't touch the rear bearings unless they are obviously bad. Worry about the bearings later anyway, that is super easy on the car if one goes bad. And they only rarely do in the rear.

[smacknab]

I found a nearby junk yard with trailing arms for $30 each side I just have to go pull them, so overall this could be manageable! I might still end up doing the bushings though

[abscate]

Have you evaluated those delta links? If they are still good, a welder will give you a new stud for $20

That trailing arm replacement will be 10-15 hours of nasty labor If you have to delta links. Remember you need the delta links as well as the bolt links on the other end of the trailing arm too.

Just cut the brake lines on the donor car, upstream of the brake Union on the axle. Once it is off the car , it’s much easier to separate/ replace the hard brake lines.

[smacknab]

Was quoted $45 for welding a threaded length on the end but the welder is unsure if the existing bolt is hardened

[wizechatmgr]

Was quoted $45 for welding a threaded length on the end but the welder is unsure if the existing bolt is hardened

Good part is the bolt (threaded length) doesn't actually do anything but tension the bushing on the end of the shock and keep it in place...