I just purchased a 1992 240 wagon and notice the steering not right. The front end has been done with new struts and bushings. The mechanic put it on the rack and notice the rear trailing arm bushings worn and the other bushings also. He states that to replace them a special Volvo tool is required and quoted me 5 hours, which seems really high. Next thing we noticed is the tires are 205 instead of 185 and that could play into the steering issue. So the questions are time to replace all 6 bushing and are the tires going to cause any problems in the future, they are almost new and would hate to replace them. thanks

 

The tires should be fine. Someone probably put a larger rim on the car, like a Hydra. So that changed the aspect ratio. If it's a Volvo wheel for a rear wheel car, it should work regardless. If the bushings are worn, I would not hesitate to replace them. They won't get any better. And the car will track down the road straight. He probably needs to use a bearing press to fit the bushings. 5 hours seems a bit longish to me for a professional shop. 5 hours seems like a good DIY could do for the first time.

 

I think...wagons got 185 at front and 205 at the back right out the factory.

 

NO THEY DID NOT.

anyways, 185 or 205 is meaningless without both the aspect ratio and rim size.

a 240 wagon DID come with a slightly larger tire than a 240 sedan, but it was the same size front and rear. the original tire size is on a sticker on one of the door frames, but if your rims have been changed to a different size, then you get to figure it out from scratch.

sedans typically came with 185/70R14 and wagons take 195/75-14 on the stock 14" rims. A 205/70-14 is a valid substitution on a wagon (and probably fits a sedan oK too)

with 15" rims, you can use 205/60-15 on sedans and 205/65-15 on wagons

wagons have a few 100 lbs higher load spec, so they need a sturdier tire to meet that.

 

Ok, retraction on the different tire size.......

 

btw, re: those bushings, I dunno about Volvo specific tool, but my mechanic *hates* replacing old bushings, they are really a pain to get out, often requiring use of a 5 ton press and multiple tries, with heat and stuff.

yes, worn rear end bushings can cause funny tracking of the car, as well as various clunks and rattles on rough roads. our 87 240 handled 10X better after replacing those, along with the front inner and outer tie rod ends that were badly worn at about 400K miles. I went overboard on my 1992 745T and replaced almost all the bushings front and rear (primarily with Volvo OEM, but I used superpro poly in a few key places). ditto, car drove 10X better after this but I also did IPD sway bars, bilstein shocks, and wagon overload springs at the same time. it rides really nicely when its heavily loaded, its a bit harsh when its empty but man it handles mountain roads great.

 

thanks Pierce good info as always