Thought I would come to the board to solve a problem with the front end vibration in my 760 136k, estate/station wagon, rather than me just chucking money at it hoping to solve it.
looking in the forums it seems that the 700 series are prone to this, never had any of these problems with my trusty 240 wagon.
The car,had previously not been run with any TLC whatsoever, by its previous owners, just used and abused.
The problem really started to show itself after I replaced the steering rack tie rod assemblies,mostly on left lock when pulling out of my local petrol station ,which I put down to the tracking being out,correcting it didnt solve it.
Manouvering in car parks with full lock can really highlight it, but not always.( maybe damaged steering rack?)
Recently I fitted new cone bushings, and a strut mount bearing that strangely made matters worse,now at 60 mph there is lot of steering wheel shake feeling like out of balance wheels.
The anti roll bar/ Sway bar bushes are definately perished and splitting,could this be the cause.
Strut inserts are new KYB.
Would given the mileage, and the fact that its been used for towing a caravan be advisable just to rebush the the rest of the front end?

Those sway bar bushings will cause what you mentioned, but there might be something else and I am not a proffesional. When you check the sway bar bushings connected to the frame, try to pull the sway bar towards you and check for play, if play, time for replacement. The sway bar link arm bushings probably will need replacing since these are heavy wear items. Good luck!

You may not need to rebush the whole front end. When I did my 1990 740, all that was needed was the outer control arm bushings and sway bar link arm bushings. The control arm bushing connecting the arm to the frame was fine as well as ball joints and sway bar bushings. Good luck again!

Ill go and get the sway bar pins and bushing this weekend.I know what you mean about the bushes on volvo not always being shot.
Another volvo enthusiast I know, recently spent a small fortune on new genuine volvo bushes for his 240,most of them turned out to be fine.
Certainly the sway bar link bushes, where they attach to to the suspension arm are badly perished.Would upgrading these to poly bushings be an idea.Im sure Ive seen these advertised or mentioned on the board,though Im pretty sure there not available here in the uk.

It is quite possible that you have either warped brake rotors on the front or a stuck (or partially stuck) caliper. Both of those can cause the vibrations you expressed at low and highway speeds. At highway speed, try pressing on the brake gently to see if it accentuates the vibrations. If it does, then it is eather of the problems I expressed previously, or a minor one of those problems together with a bad ball joint.

hi.Ive just replaced the sway bar bushings and sway bar links,but the problem remains.
I know the rotors are not warped.Ive just been out and tried the braking test which does accentuate the vibration at highway speed.
One of the ball joints has been replaced already, so I will now go ahead and do the other one.