I was leaving for a trip upstate (170 mile drive) on Friday and noticed an annoying clunk when I went over certain bumps. I looked around and did not find anything. I could not jack up the car because of the rain either.

Today, Sunday, was beautiful. So while I was upstate, I was determined to find what it was. What I found was not a happy sight for me to behold:



It looked the same on both sides of the car. No wonder.

Now, I have a few questions here relating to the end links and the bushings as well.

As you can see, there are pretty meaty bushings in there. Those are polyurethanes that I obtained from FCPGroton. There are 4 pieces per side in total, and all 4 are the same type. Do I have the right bushings in there?? I was informed by someone at FCP that there are two types of end links depending on if my control arms are aluminum or steel, and that if I have threads on both sides (looks like I do) then my control arms are aluminum. Are these bushings appropriate for what I have or do I have the wrong ones somehow?

I'm guessing this happened because the end links are old, but I'm not sure, and do not want this to happen again.

Is there something else that would have caused it to snap, such as inappropriate installation (not preloading the swaybars?) If so, I will inform my mechanic of this and have it done properly.

Man, talk about a lousy weekend, my catalytic converter seems to have gone this weekend as well. (rattling sound from inside)

Thanks.


Note: the car was jacked up and the wheel was hanging, thus why there is such a large gap between the snapped ends in the photo.
--
Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

OH BOY!!!

A chance to contribute after siphoning so much info from this board. Please refer to http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=607951, as I had the exact same problem. Matter of fact, I would swear the pictures are from under my brick! FWIW, I mounted my aftermarkets with the threaded portion of the bolt facing downward, as it was much easier to manupilate the wrenches. So far, I am very happy with the product. 20 minutes on the outside to complete and I am somewhat wrenchedly challenged.
--
D.P. Mulvey in Central VA.

I replaced similar four piece link with rubber bushings and have had no problems. The previous rubber bushings lasted 180,000 miles so I figure these will last just as long. I think the rubber has a little more give to them when suspension bounces. As for removing broken links, I used a rotory tool. Put on a metal cutting disc and it cut through the link like butter, bushings usually have to go as well. Good Luck.
Rob Mac

Well, I've replaced both of mine now in the 88... I've got the same control arms you do, and got the same pieces from FCP... The polyurethane bushings were REALLY hard to install. It required a lot of compression of the suspension with a jack to get the first one compressed enough to get the washer and second bushing on. Once together it tightened down fine. Getting there was a pain... also, mine broke one at a time, so I could work against the other side while I did this. I don't know if you will have the same luck since yours is completely disconnected. Also I wonder if the same thing caused both of ours to fail- mine both broke at the top bushing, not in the center. That's going to be tough to remove. You'll probably find that each one will break off, rather than unscrew. Mine did. You'll need vise-grips to grab the link rod.
Have fun!
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '86 244DL- 215K, 87 244DL- 230K, 88 744GLE- 198K, 91 244 180K

How hard does the anti-sway bar turn in the rubber bushings? Is the anti-sway bar gripped so hard that it can't turn easily?

Nope. The bar flops around right now since both of the end links are snapped.

P.S. Thanks for the reply John! :)
--
Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

I wonder if the poly bushings have been tightened to the point there is a bending load imposed on the end links? Do the broken ends move enough to accomodate the slight back and forth movement which is required as the suspension goes up and down.

They didn't seem to move much at all. If that's any indicator, I think you're right and that they might be overtightened.

The bushings were really huge when they put them in which is why I asked if they're all supposed to be identical, or if they're the wrong ones or not.
--
Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'