I am having problems with the steering on my 2006 XC90 T5 AWD. On dry pavement it is fine but once it hits the slightest slippery spot the wheel jumps/jerks. I have been driving in Minnesota for many years and know how vehicles handle on ice/snow/rain and this is not normal. I took it to a Volvo certified technician and they say no problems. Checked the alignment, ball joints, suspension, etc. and nothing. The tires are brand new. Any ideas why this is happening?

 

Update: Just had a winter storm and could barely drive on the slippery roads. The only positive of the storm is it gave my local shop bad roads to test drive on. The tech instantly realized a major problem. He felt it may be a problem with the rack. Upon inspection he found the outer tie rods were severely bent. Cost to replace including an AWD alignment =mid $500 range. Lets hope this works!

 

Good luck, fellow MN XC90 guy! I hope the outer tie rods fix the problem, but I'd be curious to know how someone "Checked the alignment, ball joints, suspension, etc. and [found] nothing." when the tie rod ends were severely bent. The XC is so great in winter driving when everything is working right...

 

Update #2: Picked my vehicle up today and it drives and handles great! The scary driving is gone. They replaced both the outer and inner tie rod ends. The inners were ridiculously bent and the outers were slightly bent. The Tech could not believe the wheels could have driven straight at all. Cost $514 total. The broker I bought it through offered to make it right since he thinks it may have been damaged by the vehicle hauling service that brought it up from Nashville.

vfrdirk thanks for the good luck. I needed it. They told me that if it was the rack it would have cost around $2500. About your comment how they could have not seen it when it was checked earlier...They said that the rods were all tight and secure along with everything else. Usually they would be loose if there was a problem with them so they overlooked the fact that the ends were bent.

 

I'm glad it's fixed now. Interesting note about the hauling company. I frequently haul motorcycles which can have suspension problems when tied down too tightly. I wonder if the car could have been ratcheted down so tightly that it torqued the tie rod ends as it bounced over bumps on the hauling truck.