Alignment 88, 245.
 

So I found out that the rear end of the volvo 240 is non-adjustable. Probably a stupid question, but is that pretty common on all makes and models of cars? Not that it really bothers me, I had just never really thought of that and figured you could adjust both the front and rear ends of cars.

My real question is... Is there an easy way to determine what inner tie rod I have on the front end? ZF vs CAM/TRW? It's raining out right now (Irene) so if there's a way to find out without getting under the car I'd love to know so I can order the parts. Also, the right side outer tie rod needs replaced according to the place doing the alignment and only the inner left so I've got 2 more quetsions. 1. Would it be smart to just do the inner and outer on both sides or should I just worry about the stuff that needs done and hope those good parts last a while? And 2. Should I get the OEM outer tie rod or the (less than half in price) aftermarket ones?

The place doing the alignment quoted me over 500 for the parts and labor. Reminded me why I'm still getting under my car in the driveway and doing the work myself! Last but not least question- Anything else that I should replace while I've got the car on jacks and doing the front end anyway?

Thanks for any help!

OK I'll answer the hardest part of the question for everyone and I'm soaked ;), looks like it's a CAM/TRW. Now for the rest of the Q's....

I've had good luck w/ aftermarket inner tie rods. I know there will be conflicting opinions on that.
Of course renewiing both inners and outers at the same time will give the best results, but it is perfectly acceptable to replace only the failing ones now. Shops do it all the time. The shop price isn't horribly out of line but you could buy an entire reman steering rack and install it yourself for half of the price they quoted.
Few traditional rwd cars have/had alignable rear ends.
You can determine the type of steering rack that came with the car by checking the option plate under the hood. I'd guess 75% got the TRW/CAM rack. The ZF was used in the higher end models like the GL and GLT mostly.
Some info here...
VOLVO Parts and Accessoires. VOLVO Parts for VOLVO repair and VOLVO Performance upgrade! www.VLVworld.com sells New and Used VOLVO parts for 240, 850, 740, 760, 940, S70, V70, S40, V40, S80, 140, 122, 164 and More

Great info swiftjustice, thanks.

I've read where some people have bought the male inboard inner tie and needed a female. I'd like to know before I order the parts, but don't want to tear the car apart to find out. Any suggestions?

Also, new boots, or just use the old (they look good to me.)?

Take a very good look at your boots. Bend them every which a way and check for the beginnings of cracks. The only way to change them is when the the parts are off; if they look as if they're about to crack, I'd change 'em. Cheap insurance.
I believe I've heard of the female versions...but never seen them. Thinking that may have been on earlier versions when things were a bit less standardized w/ the ZF versions. I'd go with the appropriate CAM variety and cross your fingers. The real issue is when you buy a car from someone like me. My 80 GT has a ZF rack from an 84, an engine from a 94 940, a transmission from an 86 and the rear end from an 89!

Ha! I'd be cursing you up one side and down the other after I bought parts and found they don't fit because I was too lazy to check for mods beforehand!

I'll go ahead with the male parts and hope they're the right ones. I'll probably just get the boots as well.

re the rear end alignment question... 240s (and 740s and 940s) have live axle rear ends, the back wheels *HAVE* to be parallel unless something is badly bent, and if thats the case, you have worse problems than alignment.

Good to know, I guess that figures that the rear end SHOULDN'T have anything that allows play like the front.

So my other question concerning this is... Why do shops still charge the same amount for aligning 4 vs 2. Isn't that less work? Not trying to be cheap, just wondering.

well, hopefully they are at least checking that the rear end is still square to the front end. it _is_ possible for the rear end to get skewed, I don't know if there is any room to adjust this, more likely it would be a sign of worn pivot bushings on the rear trailing arms.

thanks everyone!
 

Got it all taken apart last night, then put er all back together this morning. Smooth as silk. the car did have the CAM inner rods, with MALE ends, so FCP had the right parts. The boots looked pretty good, but I put new ones on anyway. The new ones from FCP seemed like high quality boots. Hardest part was the right outer rod being froze to the knuckle. I gave it a decent shot of PB blaster and let it sit 15 minutes and it came right out. Used some blue loctite on the inner rods and a pipe wrench to take the inner rods off and put them back on. Good times. Very easy project overall. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone again. Anyone know how many miles the rods can be expected to perform?

Life expectancy has a huge variance. Drive back country washboard roads? Maybe 20k. All highway? As much as 100k or more. City driving? Dallas pot holes will take ya down to 60-80k. However, today's Chinese parts are a new ball game; I don't know yet. I know for a fact that some of their stuff is VERY substandard as to the quality of steel...but that is going to vary from batch to batch and factory to factory. I would think even Chinese aftermarket stuff should easily last 50k. Running unbent wheels and balanced tires will help longevity. So will things like not turning the wheels routinely while sitting still.

our 87 240 has about 400k miles on it (odometer broke at 250K about 15 years ago) and is still on its original steering rack and inner joints. I forget if the outside tie-rod tips were replaced or not. its about due for some front suspension bushings and stuff, but it still drives fine. I replaced all the rear bushings about 6-8 years ago.

I replaced the rear trailing arm bushings about a year ago. That was a serious chore. How many bushings are back there?

more than I realized :)

there's 2 each on the panhard rod and each of the thrust arms. and there's a couple more somewhere but I can't remember where that is. hey, it was years ago :)