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240 Suspension Woes[ALL/1988] posted by Richard Langis Jr. on
Tuesday, 24 February 1998, at 11:06 a.m.
Hey Everyone,
First, a story - then a question.
I own a 1981 242 DL. This is my first Volvo, and I've had it for about 5 years now. It's been through many trials and tribulations, one of which was impacting a curb about a month after I bought it. Needless to say the front (passenger side) control arm was toast, so being young and stupid I replaced ONLY that part. Time goes by and I eventually replace the shocks/struts on all four corners. THEN I find IPD. D-oh! Well those crappy struts eventually fail and I replace them with Boge Turbo Gas - however for one reason or another I don't get the top nut on the struts fully seated, and they rattle around for a while until I get an air wrench to tighten it down. Well it still rattles for some reason and I don't have the time (or the gumption) to look at it for a couple of months - so whenever the car goes above 45 the front end shakes violently. I finally look at it and resolve that it's the steering rack. I replace that, and while I'm doing so realize that the nut that holds the strut down has come loose. I fix that and everything looks fine. Still got a little wobble but I figure it's the tire being out of balance, so I go about swapping front to rear last night. THEN I realize the wheel bearing is a bit loose. Remember - all of this wouldn't have been necessary if I'd replaced it all 5 years ago when I hit that curb. I tighten that up (just enough so it doesn't wobble) and put the tire on and it's STILL wobbly! I get under the car and look at it - the shaking that has been going on has elongated the hole the control arm mounts to. ACK!
So! Question Time - How do I fix this short of replacing the (what do you call that thing...?) motor mount holder/suspension point under-car thingy (technical term)?
Thanks,
-Richard
rlangis@ichips.intel.com
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Re: 240 Suspension Woes[ALL/1988] posted by Randy on
Tuesday, 24 February 1998, at 5:14 p.m.
>I get under the car and look at it - the shaking that has been going on has >elongated the hole the control arm mounts to. ACK!
Richard,
I'm not sure where the elongated hole is from your description. If you look at your control arm as a triangle two of the three points are connected to the car via rubber bushings while the third is attached to a ball joint that is in turn attached to the bottom of the strut. If the problem is with one of the bushings (and I would guess that it is) it will need to be replaced. You can detach the strut from the control arm by removing the four bolts. The front control arm attachment is with one bolt through the bushing into the crossmember and the rear is taken loose by removing the three bolts that hold the assembly to the chassis and the two pieces are separated after removing from the car. The bushings are pressed out and new ones pressed in. If one side is that bad it is probably a good idea to do both sides if you are able.
Randy
Re: 240 Suspension Woes[ALL/1988] posted by Richard Langis Jr. on
Tuesday, 24 February 1998, at 5:49 p.m.
> I'm not sure where the elongated hole is from your description.
It's the front hole attached to the crossmember (couldn't for the life of me remember what that was called).
>If the problem is with one of the bushings (and I would guess that
>it is) it will need to be replaced.
I don't think it's the bushings. I've replaced the control arm before and from what I remember it was a hole in the front and back of the crossmember, bolt goes through them and the bushing IN the control arm.
>If one side is that bad it is probably a good idea to do both
>sides if you are able.
I've been thinking about it. However I'll have to tear into it to see what the problem is before I get that far. Providing the bushings are the problem, I WILL do both sides. :)
Thanks,
-Richard