Recently began hearing a clunk from the rear of my 850 Turbo wagon (175K miles) when going over dips in the road. No difference if the engine is under load or if I'm braking. I lifted each corner of the car up to see if the wheel was tight and spun freely. Everything looked OK. I just finished jacking the car up and checking the rear springs (OK), checked if the rear shocks were loose (they weren't; replaces 30K miles ago) and checked the exhuast for clearance (OK) and if anything was loose (everything appears tight).

What's the next thing to check? Do the rear shocks have any kind of rubber mount that can go bad? Any other rear suspension parts to check?

Thanks in advance.

Almost all the 94's are starting to have problems with the outside trailing arm bushings. If you kneel down and look at where the trailing arm bolts to the frame (just in front and inside of the rear wheel) you will see the bushing. If you have someone slowly drive up and down the driveway and brake, it will move up and down and clunk on the underside of the car if its worn out. Part is 260.00 at Volvo and 2.5 hours to install.

Here is a picture.

http://www.alloemautoparts.com/ShopByVehicle.epc?q=&yearid=1994@@1994&makeid=VO@@VO@@X&modelid=850%2D%2D001@@850&catid=L@@Suspension&subcatid=L2030@@Control+Arm+Bushing&applicationid=000852604&mode=PA

I've also seen the Trailing Arm Link to be the cause. It is like a ball joint. Good news is that you can likely see if the rubber bushing is worn out by just looking at it with the wheels on the car and comparing one side top the other (it is just in front of the rear wheels). Bad news is that it is difficult to replace.

Take a look at the torsion bars, their mounts have been known to break.

Check this thread:

http://www.brickboard.com/AWD/volvo/1376557/850/picture_broken_delta_link_aluminum_failed_fyi.html

Klaus

--
Proud owner of a 1967 220S. If I had more room, I would have more Volvos.

The top shock mount separates from the shock. You have to remove the floor behind the rear seat to expose the shock mount. No jacking of the rear end is necessary.
You can order new rear shock mounts from Euro parts .com or IPD or others if you choose. It's an easy change over.
Good luck RK

Thanks RK! I'll check this tomorrow.

Just a follow-up to this problem... now solved.

I did a review of the rear end suspension and could find nothing wrong. Next, I began 'loading' the four corners of the car by bouncing them up and down as hard as possible and discovered that the noise was in fact coming from the FRONT right end, where I had recently done a major rebuild of the suspension. The noise could only be repeated after loading the front LEFT corner, then bouncing on the front RIGHT corner.

Further inspection found that the top nut holding the torsion bar link was loose... not very loose but certainly not to torque. Maybe I forgot to give this a final wrenching but after tightening to spec the noise was eliminated. I've driven the car for a month now and still no noise.

I've learned now that noises that appear to be coming from the rear end of the car may in fact be coming from the front. I won't forget this experience!

You may wont to check your e brake...
My hardware had rotted away in the 855 and was knocking against the rotor over bumps.

Good luck,

greendrerad