I mentioned the problems that I have had with this 940 for the past couple of years with clicks, groans, and rattles in the front end, coupled with a wicked brake shimmy.

This morning I took the struts out, removed the strut stablizers and control arms for a thorough inspection of all the parts and structural members. There were no evident cracks in the crossmember, to my relief, and all of the bolts were tight. I pulled the strut stabilizers last so that they could be moved side to side to check for wear. You cannot believe how much free play was in each side! All of the bushings were changed in this car less than 5000 miles ago along with new tie rod ends and ball joints. The TRW ball joints lasted less than 2000 miles. Apparently the rear stabilizer bushings folded at about the same time (I can make out a "made in Germany" in the rubber).

I took the stabilizers off of the 88 780 along with their bolts, reinstalled everything else back into the 940 and, voila, back to a like new ride!

Regards,

--
Will Dallas, www.willdallas.us, www.willdallas.org, www.willdallas.com, www.dallasprecision.com 86 245 DL 222K miles, 93 940 260K miles, 88 765 GLE 152K miles, 88 780 246K miles, 93 Buick LaSabre 119,000 miles

I've had a good experience with TRW parts.

Meyle parts, made in Germany, have been junk. I just replaced a Meyle ball joint on my car that had only 50,000 miles. It lasted a lot better than the Meyle tie rod ends, which only lasted a year. See the picture below at one year of age, when I was replacing them. The rubber boots had cracked and let water in.

Hi John,

It used to be that TRW was the brand to have when building a strong engine. I've used forged TRW pistons, TRW valves, etc. with no issues. I heard that they went to China and product quality went into the toilet.

The bushing failure surprised me though, since the problem started immediately after replacing everything under the front of the car.

Regards,
--
Will Dallas, www.willdallas.us, www.willdallas.org, www.willdallas.com, www.dallasprecision.com 86 245 DL 222K miles, 93 940 260K miles, 88 765 GLE 152K miles, 88 780 246K miles, 93 Buick LaSabre 119,000 miles