Hey Guys,
Just bought my 4th Volvo, it's '96 850 wagon with 206,000km on the odometer.
The old lady I bought it from didn't do much maintenance other than oil changes and timing belts etc, but I noticed the front tires had excessive wear on the inner wheel side, while the outside looked like new.

What do I need to aling or replace to fix this wear on new wheels.
I'm replacing strut assembly, and rear shocks as well, do you know of any good products.... not too crazy, just good quality.

thanks for your advice!

I would take it to a trustworthy local shop for an inspection before you do anything. I have a great suspension shop that will look everything over for about $15. If you are not 100% sure what all needs replaced, that's well worth it. You avoid replacing something you don't need to and / or to avoid not replacing something and taking it in for alignment only to find out you have to replace X for them to do the alignment. If you don't know a good suspension shop, I'd suggest calling your police or city transportation department and finding out where they get their work done.

you're right. I had a mechanic friend on my street jack up the front for a quick inspection and he said that the struts are fine, may just need an alignment and maybe a ball joint. Our regional police and fire have their own mechanics and shops. thanks for the pointers though.

Hopefully your ball joints, control arm bushings, tie rods, and control arm links are not originals, but if they are, you should replace all that too. Your alignment guy won't be able to do the alignment after the struts are replaced if the other front suspension parts are overly worn. I believe the ball joints are part of the A-arm that you buy in one peice for the 96. Comes with new bushings.

I recommend sticking with Boge shocks and struts. The bilstiens are really rough (heavy duty)

You can try jacking the front up and trying to wiggle the front tires to check for any gross bushing wear or looseness. Or you can take it to an reputable alignment shop and see what they find. I believe inside wear means the tire are turned outwards too much or maybe the shocks are shot and the front end is sagging. Any clunking type noises coming from the front end when you turn or go over speed bumps?

yes, lots of noises that's why I figured I need to change.
So in summary, I should change front strut assembly, then do an alignment?
I was going to attempt myself with the aid of mechanic on the street.

Should I look at changing anything else while I have it apart... any usual issues with 850 front ends with 200k (kms)on it?

m

An alignment is required AFTER you replace the struts. If you go OEM, you can scribe or outline the current strut position before you remove the 2 bolts, so that when the new ones go on it will be real close.
The ABS sensor holder is either screwed on to the strut or held on with a plastic clamp. The plastic clamp has a small pin in the center, push it out to release the clamp.

Think about replacing the sway bar end links while you are at it.

Use new OEM strut bolts and nuts. Tremendous torque involved.

Klaus

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

Before you order new shocks for the rear, check and see if the optional Nivomats were installed. Nivomats cannot be replaced by conventional shocks without a LOT of work.

OEM struts and XC90 upper spring seats will work quite nicely for your car. If you replace the rear shocks, you will need new shock mounts also.

Your PCV system will need to be looked at...

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

not nivomats, so OEM should be good?

thanks for the information, why do you think I need to check my PVC... mileage?

Still wondering about the wear on front tires, and what would or could have caused the inner edge wear?

michael

A couple of potholes to knock the alighment out will do the trick. Having dealer records is nice, but then you also dealers do little in long term care. The cabin filter needs to be changed, or installed. A little old lady will not drive the engine hard, so the pcv will be partially clogged and there will be sludge in the engine.

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