the front end was making some odd noises, and dipping to one side in braking, so i decided to take it to monro for a free evaluation. come to find out, both lower control arms are bad (technician says bushings are completely wrecked) and the right tie rod end is bad as well. All of these things have been replaced at 2 different local shops (thanks to the previous owner...) One did the left control arm and right tie rod, other did right control arm. these things supposedly have lifetime warranties but labor warranty is only 12 months, which was a while ago. anyone else have this problem with control arms? keep in mind they've already been replaced. Monro says the shocks and struts look like new (but theyre not.) should i go around and complain about these parts to the various shops, or have both control arms and both tie rods done at my trusty independent Volvo dealer?

 

I would have it inspected somewhere else for a second opinion. The control arms are not real common to go bad alot.

 

I have a 98 so this may not apply to a 99... But...

Lower control arms do go on these cars. The Prev owner replaced them with aftermarket. The bushings in those will fail quickly. The 98's do not have replaceable bushings and If I am wrong please, someone correct me. But you have to buy the entire control arm ($172 from the dealer, $100 from Waltrip OEM).

The 99's may have replaceable bushings and you can expect to pay $100 total for them, plus installations costs.

Again I may be wrong but the 98's have the tie rod bushing in it. The 99+ I think you have to buy the tie rod bushing separate. I know that's true on P2's.

Replace them with OEM only for this job. Again, the aftermarket bushings are reported to fail very early.

 

thanks, i'll have the dealer look at it i guess

 

well, the only parts that went bad were the ones that had been replaced before. i'm ordering online since monro is planning to rip me off. does this car have the 2 bolt mounting system? there is a note on fcp groton that says it only fits those. tie rods are 90% cheaper on this site.

 

You will have to look at yours and see which style you have.
There is some that the bolts holding the control arm are horizontal with the sunframe. There is some that the bolts go through the subframe into the control arm.