More fixes on the 90 Volvo 240 that I purchased for my son to drive ...

I drove the 240 on the Hwy getting up to 55 mph and the front end began to wobble. I don't notice the wobble or shake less than 45 mph, however, I do hear knocks sometimes at low speeding on rougher streets. Note that the struts and shocks all need to be replaced on this car as well - its on my to do list. The ride is rather poor on this 240.

Doing some research on Tie Rods and Ball Joints. I took this video while my son shook the front left tire from side to side. I have never replaced or had a bad tie rod or ball joint on any vehicle that I have owned so not familiar with this repair. I also had him shake the tire front top and bottom but I didnt see any play in the ball joint. Thinking of replacing it anyway for good measure.

1990 Volvo 240 Tierod - YouTube

Do I replace the tie rod? What about the inner tie rod as well?

 

That needs to get fixed. There should be no play in any of those joints.

outer tie rods are pretty simple, If you have the tools for it.

I use a ball joint remover which makes the removal of the pressed joints easy. then you just put the new one and push it up in the spindle and tighten it. before you use the remover, you will want to undo the lock nut on the inner tie rod but leave it as a stop so you don't mess up the toe alignment.

Inner tie rod is few added steps to the above... YOu need to remove the rubber boot. then open the metal locking tab, then you just undo the inner rod from the rack. if you do both inner and out, remove the inner and outer as one piece, so you can re align the new set to match. and hopefully be close to your alignment.

Here is the little tab that gets bent back:


Ball joint requires the removal of the 4 bolts at the bottom of the strut assembly. There is 3 bolts that the ball joint attach to the control arm. I would remove these after you separate the strut tube from ball joint carrier. Then you just use the same ball join remover tool and your install as the tie rod end.

Here is the remover tool I have (not my image, but same tool). You can rent one.



remember to leave the nut at the end of the threads when you use the tool
It give you something to grab on with the tool and also prevents it from snapping out of the spindle.

Here is a reference image for the strut assembly:


You can see the ball joint carrier and 3 bolts that remove the ball joint

 

Thanks TIPSP -

IPD is currently out of the outer tie rod until early next week. I will post an update with some pictures. I'm thinking of trying to replace both tie rods and the ball joint. Never done this repair but willing to give it a go.

I have another issue that came up last night that I will post today.

 

a note, thre's a couple different types of inner tie rods on 240's, and you never know til you get in there which one you've got. some have 'innie' threads, others have 'outie threads'. only some have that bend-a-tab, ours was secured via a punch ***** making a nice little dent on the end of the steering rack where its up against the tie rod socket.

 

Not sure where your located but I use both IPD and eeuro for parts I have found eeuro to be a lot faster and most of the time eeuro has better prices to. Don't get me wrong I love IPD ..just got my sport spings in yesterday (they were ordered right before Christmas).

Take a peek at the eeuro site 1990 Volvo 240 Wagon 2.3L 4 Cyl (8 Valve) Steering Parts - Free and Free Shipping

 

** Update. After the above feedback and getting sidetracked with a broken timing belt I decided to go ahead and replace both the inner and outer tie rod.

We have snow in Portland so I haven't taken the 240 out for a test drive yet but all in all this seems like a rather easy job with the feedback. My son is looking forward to getting the 240 back on the road.

This 240 is keeping my busy with DIY work but this forum is super helpful.

Thanks guys!

 

you'll need a toe-in adjust and recentering of your steering wheel after doing that unless you got it in at exactly the same length as before (good luck).

I've had pretty good luck with tape measure toein adjusts... find a dry flat area, like inside a parking garage, ... drive the car straight forward and backwards 20 feet or so gently adjusting the steering wheel til the car is going totally straight even if the wheel is crooked.

now, take a tape measure and measure the front edge of the tires, I use a center tread groove, as high and forward as you can get. do the same measurement as high and rear on the front tires as you can get. the front measurement should be about 1/8" smaller than the rear measurement, or maybe even almost the same.

if the wheel is crooked, loosen both locknuts, and turn one tierod shaft one way, and the other one the other way the same number of turns, do the back and fore thing, and repeat til the wheel is straight.

now check the toe-in measurement again, and adjust only one side in or out til its 0 to 1/8" smaller on the front edge vs the rear edge. do the front-rear thing again, verify the wheel is centered. repeat all this til you're happy with it, and lock those locknuts without letting the shafts turn (you can put an open end wrench on the flats of the tierod shaft to keep to from turning).

now take it out for a drive, do some half and full stop turns left and right, adn verify that hte car doesn't pull 'out' on a turn, it should gently pull back towards straight if its optimal

congraduations, you just saved a $70 wheel alignment job.

 

A few quick comment's on pierce's method:

A useful tool you can build that will help is just some sort of adjustable stick with two right angels on it. That way you can take your measurement from the center of the tire, not the bottom side. 1/8" halfway up the tire is going to be more toe in (or out) than 1/8" at the center.

Also, it is useful to have somewhat of a frame of reference. When looking down the inside of the front tire, you should be able to see about 2" of tread of the rear tire when you car is aligned correctly. I generally mess around with things until i'm close there, then I start measuring to finalize my alignment.

Here's a diagrams in case that wasn't clear.


Anyway, someone who had been doing alignments for years showed me this, and I thought it was super helpful.

 

Perfect guys. Actually after installing the driver side tie rod (inner and outer) I took the car for a test drive the next day and believe I had the toe in too much. Made a few adjustments tonight and its better but I will follow all the feedback you have given me this weekend and see if I can improve the alignment. Currently the steering wheel while is tilting slightly to the right and with my hands off the wheel the car will slowly pull to left. Vehicle drives okay until I get it going about 40 mph and I wouldn't feel safe taking it over 50 mph. I don't recall any alignment issue before replacing the tie rod but also keep in mind this vehicle is a work in progress. The vehicle desperately needs front struts and maybe springs as it sags a little to the driver side. Did I mention the 240 is a project?

Anyway I will give it a go this weekend. I'm hesitant to take it to an alignment shop yet because I'm going to attempt more front end work including possible struts and ball joints. It's more about time and money at this point.

Thanks!

 

yeah, if hte camber or whatever are off due to loose joints, getting the toe-in just right won't be perfect, or worse if something else is too loose, it won't be consistent.

i'd inspect the spring seats if its sagging, its very possible one is cracked. springs should last virtually forever. the struts job is primarily damping, eg, controlling how fast the spring can rebound from a compression event, but its also the upper pivot of the steering, and if its badly worn, that gets sloppy.

I'd recommend stock shocks, which are either Volvo OEM or Boge/Sachs ... although Boge made the volvo OEM shocks, the word is, the volvo brand ones last a lot longer.

 

I'm about to start on inner and outer tierod replacement and was looking at the inner tierod and did not see any flat areas to get a wrench on to remove the tierod from the rack. Is this an original tierod from Volvo? I have determined that I have a CAM rack and also saw a post on another site that said you need to specify either a male or female thread.

Looking for a little insight on this matter.

Thanks.

MJ

 

Some racks didn't have flat spots. You can get them out using a pipe wrench or a large vice grips. Volvo never listed the inner tie rods as a replaceable item. Instead they would sell you a new rack.

 

Thanks!

 

Evidently I am overlooking a link but for the life of me I cannot find how I can ask a new question. Please help
Jennifer

 

up at the top on the left side on the page where you can see all the various topics, there is a button that says, "New Thread." That is how to ask a new question.