19 replies to this topic

[bbalicki]

** NOTE - I posted this message here by mistake and re-posted in the maintenance forum **

The driver's side ball joint is gone on my 1997 850. Haynes says that I need to replace the entire lower control arm - so, that's what I'm going to do. A few questions before I start for those who have gone through this before.

1. Is it as easy as it looks?
2. Haynes mentions an "angle tightening method" and stipulates 120 degrees after the initial tightening. I assume this is just cranking the bolt another 1/3 of a turn. Also, it says to use an angle measurement tool - do I really need that?
3. Parts - IPD lists the part for $123.00 on sale, brand unknown. Volvo Parts Direct has a Meyle unit for around $90.00. Has anybody had any experience buying this part from either one of these suppliers?

Thanks in advance for your help.

-Bill

Edited by bbalicki, 06 May 2004 - 12:10 AM.

[AutoX47]

Hi Bill,
I have the scan tech units (75 bucks each from fcpgroton.com) on my car and haven't had any problems.

The install is pretty strait forward. Getting the control arm seperated from the steering knuckle takes some work but a nice pry bar or huge screwdriver works it free in a minute. Go out the day before and spray all the bolts down with PBlaster, then spray em again before doin the job and you shouldn't have any problems.

As to the angle yeah its just 1/3 turn. You can go to auto parts store and purchase an angle meter that goes between your torque wrench and the socket but I don't know how necissary that is if you aren't working on something with extremely high tolerances. I thought 80 ftlbs pretty high but I did their 80 & a bit under 1/3 turn and everythings good

[bbalicki]

Thanks for the tips Andrew. One last question - will I need to get the car aligned after installing the new control arm?

Thanks,

Bill

[tca217]

I just found some lower control arms with the ball joint for $59.95 and free shipping from a place called DEUTSCHEPARTSUSA on E-bay with free shipping and 1 year gaurantee. The ad says exceeds OEM. I just posted a thread to see if anybody has had any experience with them, but sounds like a pretty good deal. I need to replace mine also.

[Owned]

Did you happen to notice this thread is from '04?

[pfeener]

Several of us bought the Scan Tech arms and only got about 20K miles out of them before the bushings failed and caused drivability issues. IMO they are junk. My recommendation would be to only buy the genuine Volvo arms. FCP has them as well as myswedishparts.com. From what I've seen you get what you pay for when it comes to control arms.

[tca217]

Several of us bought the Scan Tech arms and only got about 20K miles out of them before the bushings failed and caused drivability issues. IMO they are junk. My recommendation would be to only buy the genuine Volvo arms. FCP has them as well as myswedishparts.com. From what I've seen you get what you pay for when it comes to control arms.

If you go to Ebay and type in 120065528353 in the search box you can read the ad. It says OEM parts not a cheap knock off. Does not say who makes them though.

Did you happen to notice this thread is from '04?

Still relevant though.

[merlin390]

Several of us bought the Scan Tech arms and only got about 20K miles out of them before the bushings failed and caused drivability issues. IMO they are junk. My recommendation would be to only buy the genuine Volvo arms. FCP has them as well as myswedishparts.com. From what I've seen you get what you pay for when it comes to control arms.

Did you bother to preload the control arm before you torqued it down? Most common mistake is to just throw the new arm in place and torque it down. If you would use a jack and put it at the bottom of the rotor and jack up the suspention till it is at its normal "rest" position. then torque your bolts.

[erikv11]

If you go to Ebay and type in 120065528353 in the search box you can read the ad. It says OEM parts not a cheap knock off. Does not say who makes them though.

It says " Exceeds OEM specifications" on one line and "OEM" on another line, from this I have zero trust that they are selling OEM arms for this price. If I was in the market, I would contact them and find out the manufacturer. There aren't that many for quality, they have all been written about here (TRW and Hamburg-Technic get the OK on this forum). Maybe you found a great deal, or maybe not, knowing the manufacturer is the only way to be sure.

Still relevant though.

Why, because cars still have control arms? You seem to be missing the point as to why bumping a two year old thread is usually a bad idea. In this case, somebody reads it and misses out on all the posts about control arms in between and there were A LOT of them, with a main lesson being the one pfeener described. And yes the forum and pfeener are fully aware of pre-loading the A-arm.

[pfeener]

To Merlin390: your point is well taken. I can't speak for the other members that had issues with the Scan Tech control arms, but mine were installed (tightened while in the loaded position) and torqued correctly with new bolts.

[tca217]

Mistake above^

tca217- send the guy an email and ask him who makes them. Post back if you find anything out.

way ahead of you, sent the guy a E-mail this afternoon, will def. post when and if I get a reply. I would not buy anything either unless I know tthe manufactuer.

[tca217]

Just got a reply from the folks at DEUTSCHEPARTSUSA about their control arms. They said they are made in Germany by the same people who make them for Volvo. Even he said the Scan Tech were no good. They have plenty of positive feedback so I think I will be giving them a try right after xmas when I get some more $$$. Got a 1 year gaurantee, so what the heck.

[tca217]

Did you happen to notice this thread is from '04?

Didn't realize this was a old thread, this morning I was reading another post about control arms and after looking around I must have replied to the wrong post. Sorry for the mix up, but still I think I may have found something good, and people are still posting about control arms, so this can be posted as an update? if that is OK.

[erikv11]

Just got a reply from the folks at DEUTSCHEPARTSUSA about their control arms. They said they are made in Germany by the same people who make them for Volvo. Even he said the Scan Tech were no good. They have plenty of positive feedback so I think I will be giving them a try right after xmas when I get some more $$$. Got a 1 year gaurantee, so what the heck.

hey great, if you do then when they arrive, please check out the packaging and post up like you said, see if you can figure out the manufacturer. I would like to know who manufactures the OEM ones. Hopefully I won't be replacing them again very soon though ...

[T-5Bandit]

Some say TRW maunfacture the factory arms, some say Meyle. Either way for $60 per arm you are NOT getting a control arm from either of those manufacturers. Sounds like he is selling the same Hamburg-Technic arms FCP sells, which in my opinion from using them are crap. HT arms do come with a 1 year warranty, but that doesn't mean dick if you are spending the time to replace them every 6 months to a year.

The only way to go with control arms on these cars is genuine Volvo. It's worth the extra $40 per arm to not need to replace them again for a few years.

[tca217]

Point well taken. Although some people here have posted that they do not have a problem with the Scan Tech and think they are fine. Myself, I don't have experience with any of them beings this is my first Volvo. And you have to take into consideration how the car will be driven. In my case it is just a driver. It is a non turbo with an automatic. I do alot of freeway driving and just want something that is tighter than what I have now. This Wagon will never see a track or high speed mountain racing. Just trying to make a safe fun driver.

[merlin390]

And yes the forum and pfeener are fully aware of pre-loading the A-arm.

To Merlin390: your point is well taken. I can't speak for the other members that had issues with the Scan Tech control arms, but mine were installed (tightened while in the loaded position) and torqued correctly with new bolts.

I was not trying to be insulting when I made my post. The two of you might know about the need to torque the control arms in the loaded position but I will bet money there were members who can say, dang I didn't know you had to do that.

Side note: What became of Slater's control arm bushings?

Edited by merlin390, 24 December 2006 - 02:58 AM.

[erikv11]

I was not trying to be insulting when I made my post. The two of you might know about the need to torque the control arms in the loaded position but I will bet money there were members who can say, dang I didn't know you had to do that.

no insult taken, you are absolutely right, as usual.

I think Slater decided to stop selling the bushings separately, because people were having install issues and therefore problems he could not control. But really I am not sure, did not follow the thread to the end.