1990 740 GLE wheel bearing issue?
 

This front end steering wheel wobbling and sometimes outright jerking is really annoying. Only happens at around 45mph, usually decelerating or coasting from a higher speed. Doesn't happen at low speeds, doesn't happen over 55.

Took wheels off, tires are fine. Small amount of play on driver's side front. I guess this means I might have to replace that wheel bearing? Friend keeps insisting it's a warped tire. I just don't see that.

Thanks in advance to anyone with ideas.

I would get the front tires rebalanced just to make sure. Also check the lower ball joints and tie rod ends for play. Also have the brake rotors checked for flatness. The wheel bearing are in the hub assembly and fairly pricey.

when you check the steering tie rods, note that there's another tierod joint UNDER the bellows on the ends of the steering rack. people often replace the outer one and neglect this one (it was never a volvo replacement part, they had you replace the whole steering rack, but they are available aftermarket). its a little messy as there's several different racks that use different inner tie rod joints. we had to replace these inner joints on our 240 when it was around 400K miles, made a WORLD of difference.

that said, speed sensitive wobbles in the steering are almost ALWAYS bad tire balance. the only way to know is to spin balance the tires (well, you could swap the front and rear wheels, see if this problem goes away or changes).

wheel swapping
 

thanks for all that, guys.
one thing, I switched out the wheels and even tried wheels and tires that I have (four extra from a 940 that kicked the bucket right after I got new tires) about 4 or 5 months ago, didn't seem to make a difference, unless ALL of them are out of balance, which seems like a stretch.

I'll switch them out again and see if it makes any difference.

the little bit of play on the driver's side front axle just has me worried.

is that play only at 3 and 9 oclock, or is it the same at 12 and 6? did you feel this play this with the wheel jacked up, or sitting on the ground?

this was when jacked up. checked both sides when changing brake pads, passenger side is solid. Just checked again today and check 3 & 9 is moving: looks like steering arm is going in a little vs 12 & 6 not moving at all. So, maybe it's a steering arm connection inside?

I guess it does happen in the 35mph range, just not as noticeable

ok, next step is to pull the boot off that side of the steering, and do the rocker test again, feeling the inner ball joint for play. if the little shaft is moving, but the steering rack isn't, then for sure you need to replace that inner tie rod piece.

here's what one looks like (this is from a 1987 240),
http://pierce.smugmug.com/By-Date/20...IMG_0071-L.jpg

but to complicate matters, there's at least 2 different steering racks that use different inner ball joins, some have 'innie' threads, others have 'outie' threads. supposedly if your rubber bootie has a small outer end thats directly around the shaft you have one style, and if the outer end of the bootie goes around a rubber disk, you have the other kind, but our 240 had the wrong type for the boot type, which was a big WTF.

http://pierce.smugmug.com/By-Date/20...MG_0052-XL.jpg

when you replace these, you need to readjust your toe-in and re-center the steering (simulataneously). I used the tape measure techique, where I rolled the car 20 feet forward and backwards in a straight line on level ground, then measured the distance between a specific tread groove at the front of the tire, and again as close as you can get to the back of the tire (the body gets in the way). the front should be like 1/8" to 1/4" closer than the back, and the steering wheel should be straight and level when you're going straight forward. adjust either side til its right. over and over.

or get it halfway close, and take it to an alignment shop, where they'll do it on their machine and charge you $80 or whatever. I got it as close as I could, and took it in and it was so close it wasn't worth adjusting.

I took the bellows off (I thought these were called "boots"?) and that is precisely where the play is, at the ball joint where the track rod meets the steering rod. I checked both sides, no play on passenger's side, just a little watery brown slime. So, apparently I need a special tool to get the track rod off, both for inner and outer ball joints. I might be able to rent from O'Reilly (formerly Checker) or Napa.

My friend keeps telling me it's still just tires, so I switched the full spare with it (again) and same thing happens (again). I'll try switching rear to front tomorrow, but I'm almost positive that it will be the same 40-50mph shimmy.

Haynes manual stresses that if I replace the track rod, I must make sure that thread count is equal to other side, but over on other side it is way different, no threads to see, no teeth on steering rod, just solid shiny steel.

Mahalo!

Pierce, I posted the above reply before seeing your pics. It looks slightly different, the steering rod end is more of a cylindrical shape. I should have took pics. You are describing exactly what was moving, the inner track rod.

Now to see if this track rod is at all on this island (highly unlikely) or if I can order it via Amazon. Is TIE rod synonymous with TRACK rod?

Thanks!

the inner joint unscrews with the use of that timeless tool of hacks everywhere, a medium sized pipe wrench. this is about the ONLY place on a Volvo where you might use one of these. first unscrew the shaft from the outer tie rod tip, of course, by loosening the locknut, then using an open end wrench on the flats on the shaft...

the outer joint, you unbolt, and whack it just so with a big hammer and it pops out. or you use a tie rod puller tool. the hammer works better. clue, you do NOT hit the tie rod tip, you hit the side of the loop its bolted to.