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Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

posted by  fatherted7 on  Tue Sep 3 16:15 CST 2019
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Just fitted new front wheel hubs left and right on my 960 and on testing experienced a serious shuddering when turning steering wheel left or right at slow speeds and at standstill. It was fine before and i cant find anything untoward with the suspension or brakes. The power steering fluid level is normal and fairly clean. Have i missed something or has the pump or rack coincidently broken down. Thanks for any help with this.








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    Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

    posted by  rstarkie on  Wed Oct 2 04:53 CST 2019
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    last visit: Fri Oct 24 10:14 CST 2014
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    I had the same symptoms on a 94 940. It occurred after I have had the front end jacked up and turned the front wheels lock to lock.

    I turned them by grasping the front and rear of the tires with my hands and using my arms to turn them. This turned them very quickly. After that the shudder occurred quite often before diminishing over time. It acted as though there was air in the system

    Randy
    --
    Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal








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    Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

    posted by  pierso on  Tue Sep 24 11:21 CST 2019
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    last visit: Sun Feb 24 06:56 CST 2013
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    I had juddering when I took my last Volvo to the mot a couple of years running. It always was a bit juddery afterwards until I did a bit of full left and right lock (enough to make the power steering squeal a little). It would go away after that - I assume that somehow some air go into the system. Perhaps they did a bit of full locking when it was up in the air for the MOT test with the engine running and dragged some air in or something.

    Just an idea that worked for me. The other posts on this thread seem better informed so maybe it is a torquing problem. . .

    regards








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      wheel balance? 900 1992

      posted by  muskox37 on  Tue Oct 1 07:58 CST 2019
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      last visit: Wed Oct 8 11:54 CST 2014
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      Don't know how relevant this is but my tire guy got rid of an annoying shimmy in the steering wheel at 100 km/hr by simply exchanging the front wheels. Something about 'cupping' of the tires over time.








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    Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

    posted by  dm960 on  Thu Sep 12 08:03 CST 2019
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    last visit: Fri Oct 24 06:41 CST 2014
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    I've noticed that both my 960 and 740 will have the shuddering if car has been lifted with the wheels of the ground more than a couple days. It slowly goes away happening intermittently until it stops. And I flush the ATF fluid for PS every once in a while when it gets a little dark.








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      Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

      posted by  jwalker on  Thu Sep 12 09:41 CST 2019
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      last visit: Fri Jun 6 08:39 CST 2014
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      My 240 also shuddered after being jacked up for awhile. Went away pretty quickly. Never figured what caused it. Maybe has something to do with the design of the front suspension on RWD Volvos of that era?
      --
      Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....








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        Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

        posted by  Dave Stevens on  Mon Sep 30 23:12 CST 2019
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        last visit: Sun Jan 1 02:36 CST 2012
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        The cause of your jacked up wheel balance symptoms is well known. When parked for extended periods, the tires take a certain set and during driving that set gets spread out over the entire tire to eventually try to match the overall wheel balance. When the tires are raised off the ground for an extended period of time it takes on a new set that temporarily upsets the balance. Some tires and state of balancing are more sensitive to this than others. In general, it's probably a hint that your tires are due for a rebalancing after all those miles of wear and tear.
        --
        Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now








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          Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

          posted by  jwalker on  Tue Oct 1 11:34 CST 2019
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          last visit: Fri Jun 6 08:39 CST 2014
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          Don’t think it was the tires. Let me clarify. The 240 was never jacked up for more than 3 or 4 hours. This was quite awhile ago, but as I as recall it was more of a feeling of suspension looseness or weirdness rather than steering wheel shudder from out of balance tires. Interestingly, my 240 was the only car this ever happened to. Neither of my 850’s did this nor any other brand of car I have owned. It was bizarre and little unnerving. Felt somewhat like my front suspension might come apart on the road. Strange indeed!
          --
          Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....








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    Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

    posted by  jwalker on  Tue Sep 3 17:34 CST 2019
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    last visit: Fri Jun 6 08:39 CST 2014
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    Don’t think it is the rack or pump. Is the pump noisy? Any other steering issues? A problem with either should have presented itself before the hub repair. That indeed would be unusually coincidental if another issue suddenly appeared after your hub repair...:)

    A few questions:

    1. Did you apply the correct torque when tightening the hub/wheel bearing assembly?

    2. I’m assuming nothing else was changed. For example, no new tires, wheels or front end parts? Any other recent work? Perhaps the wheels are rubbing somewhere? Steering stop damaged or moved? Or something else near the hub? Defective hubs, maybe??
    --
    Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....








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      Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

      posted by  fatherted7 on  Wed Sep 4 01:00 CST 2019
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      Hi, appreciate your reply to the problem. No other repairs have been undertaken alongside the wheel hubs and the pump sounds sweet. On reflection it is possible that i have overtorqued the 36mm nut that keeps the hub on the stub axle. Could the symptoms i am describing be caused by a under or over torqued nut. I intend to dismantle it all today and start afresh because the more i think on it i have done something silly whilst fitting the hubs.I will get back to you. Regards Dave.








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        Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

        posted by  spook on  Wed Sep 4 07:13 CST 2019
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        last visit: Fri Oct 24 08:06 CST 2014
        [RELATED]

        Dear fatherted7,

        Hope you're well. I doubt you over-torqued the hub's nut. The torque spec is 74 pound/feet and then a 45⁰ angle-tighten.

        As the shuddering occurs when the car is not moving, that suggests a coincidental problem, i.e., one unrelated to hub replacement. For, if the car is not moving - and the shuddering occurs - the hubs' condition, and the condition of the steering rack and pump, should not matter.

        Does the steering wheel vibrate or "twitch", when the shuddering occurs?

        Hope this helps.

        Yours faithfully,

        Spook








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          Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

          posted by  fatherted7 on  Thu Sep 5 06:59 CST 2019
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          Hi spook, as you suggest the steering wheel do's in fact "twitch" rather violently. Its not something i have experienced before and found it quite alarming. I have removed the hubs and rebuilt and the shuddering seems to have stopped. I can only put it down to an overtorquing of the nut as everything else is sweet. Suffice to say a new torque wrench is on its way. Big thanks to you and the other guys who went out of their way to help a fellow Volvo man in trouble. Best regards Fatherted.








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            Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

            posted by  ThisOldBrick on  Tue Oct 1 12:59 CST 2019
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            Had a similar issue on my '93 240 with wheels twitching/shaking violently left/right on turn while standing still or moving slowly.

            Turned out to be over-torqued top nut on the shock/mount. loosened it a bit and shaking stopped.








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          Steering shudder at slow speeds 900 1994

          posted by  Chris Mullet on  Wed Sep 4 12:30 CST 2019
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          last visit: Fri Oct 24 09:08 CST 2014
          [RELATED]

          Are the tires properly inflated?
          Is the P/S pump belt good and snug to assure it’s not slipping?
          Does it stutter even if the wheels are jacked up off the ground?







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