jdlc Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 While waiting for my Bilstein TC struts & OEM seats from ipd, I prepped the car and applied pb blaster to the strut fastening nuts & bolts, only to discover that my ball joints are shot. Good timing that fcp have a good deal on HT control arms @ ebay - $116.60 taxed but shipped free for a pair + freebie HT link to boot!The good news is that both work are closely related, I need to jack the car only once.Should I do the arm before the strut or the other way around? Or should I just go ahead and disassemble everything all at once - hopefully speeding up the job. Should I be concerned that the knuckle will be completely free to move around, possibly stratining the axle/boot if I take this route?Thanks for any input.OrleeC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gage Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 While waiting for my Bilstein TC struts & OEM seats from ipd, I prepped the car and applied pb blaster to the strut fastening nuts & bolts, only to discover that my ball joints are shot. Good timing that fcp have a good deal on HT control arms @ ebay - $116.60 taxed but shipped free for a pair + freebie HT link to boot!The good news is that both work are closely related, I need to jack the car only once.Should I do the arm before the strut or the other way around? Or should I just go ahead and disassemble everything all at once - hopefully speeding up the job. Should I be concerned that the knuckle will be completely free to move around, possibly stratining the axle/boot if I take this route?Thanks for any input.OrleeCI did mine all at the same time but really it is not that hard to do them one at a time and if you do use a jack stand or something to hold the knuckle up till the parts come in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlc Posted July 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2007 I'm all set replacing my shocks and struts, Bilstein HD rears & TC fronts. Also replaced front lower control arm. A year-old ipd HD end-links are still good and re-installed, as well as most other hardwares except spring seats. I got to say, WOW, the handling is much improved, even beter when the car was new! Even my wife appreciate the handling. Most suspension noise are gone, except or a tiny weeny creak on driver side at very low speed (under 5mph) when driving thru uneven pavement such as when getting off driveways. Haven't localized the source yet, and it may not even be suspension related. While working on my front suspension, discovered that outer tie-rod ends are wobbly, so wil replace them sometime later before getting alignment. (I know, how did I missed it when I jacked-up the fronts just a few days earlier, grr).Some notes:- ipd sent me Febi-Bilstein spring seats (8646713) - although made in Germany, still a little bit disappointed it's not oem Sachs-Boge which is what was expecting to get, took their word for it saying they 'offer Volvo's improved upper front spring seat'. My original spring seats are still good after 110k, so I hope this one will hold just as long.- bought pair of HT lower control arms from fcp groton with free end-links for $116 shipped from eBay and received parts with no markings of the maker or where it was made, not even on the boxes. Are Hamburg-Technic lower control arms and end-links really like that? How do I know what I got?- searched and got some other folk's suggestion not to dismantle both control arm and strut at the same time - I did not and probably made my job easier: also, strut first is the way to go in my opinion, while it's out, fastening bolts of contol arms can be broken loose with ease with the strut out of the way.- both my rear shocks and front strut are not 'broken' (no leaks and very little slack), but their effectivity may not be optimal anymore. Also, be aware that dealers do not normally stock strut hardware (wanted to replace bump-stop but they don't have it, and they charge almost twice for it compare to fcp) so, in addition to spring seat, order bump stop when servicing struts at the minimum.So ther you have. I'm one happy VS member. Thanks fro all the tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlc Posted July 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Finalized my suspension/steering job - final cost is around $550 b4 alignment. For outer tie-rod ends, called around for prices and decided to go with NAPA replacement parts (US), $43+ each with AAA discount and comes with lifetime warranty. FCP 'after-market' is Taiwan, but they can order original Volvo for $50 each. Cheapest dealer price is $61.Steering is now tight and feels like new - btw, the inner tie-rods are in excellent condition, and so is the rack.Additional note, Bilstein TC in front definitely raised front of the car a bit, I would say about 1cm. I couldn't fit my floor jack before and now can. Could it be that the spring/seat is yet to settle? I'm thinking it could be, so will wait for a couple of weeks before I go to the alignment shop. Will try to remember to do it with half-tank full and some weight on driver side, as somebody here suggested.Ride is a little stiffer than before, even compared to when new, corners with more confidence now, and my wife was amazed how it handled hard braking when a jerk cut us off on our way to the post office. I think she got used to riding on 17", she's not complaining.Finally, isolated the little creak on driver side - not suspension related at all, it was the 'latch' of the folding back rest of the rear seat. - OrleeC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fudge_Brownie Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Curious, how many miles you at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlc Posted July 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 111k, almost 10 years old.Curious, how many miles you at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fudge_Brownie Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 ughThat makes 2 people who needed control arms/ball joints around 100k, and im approaching that mark. Time to make some room in the budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 VII 7 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 how would you know you need control arms and bushings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlc Posted July 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 I have clunking sound from the front, so I investigated it. Jacked up the front, did the 12 & 6 0'clock test by shaking the tire on that position and there was play. (Try to test the tie-rod end too by 3 & 6 o'clock test). To further see the ball-joint play, I removed the tire and I pried between the ball-joint and the knuckle, and there was considerable movement. BTW, for the noise, it was definitely the ball joint and not the usual suspect, which is the spring seat. My seats were all both intact when I replaced the strut (but installed new ones anyway).Ebay/fcp sells the control arms w/ Balljoint for $99 shipped (It's apparently HT, but when I got mine, it was unmarked, not even the box). For tie-rod ends, try eeuroparts, just saw it for $24+ each, Febi/Bilstein brand. Got mine at NAPA before I saw eeuroparts price since they have higher price for struts, I didn't check them out for the rest of my needs. Fun thing to do... how would you know you need control arms and bushings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md850 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 I have clunking sound from the front, so I investigated it. Jacked up the front, did the 12 & 6 0'clock test by shaking the tire on that position and there was play. (Try to test the tie-rod end too by 3 & 6 o'clock test). To further see the ball-joint play, I removed the tire and I pried between the ball-joint and the knuckle, and there was considerable movement. BTW, for the noise, it was definitely the ball joint and not the usual suspect, which is the spring seat. My seats were all both intact when I replaced the strut (but installed new ones anyway).Ebay/fcp sells the control arms w/ Balljoint for $99 shipped (It's apparently HT, but when I got mine, it was unmarked, not even the box). For tie-rod ends, try eeuroparts, just saw it for $24+ each, Febi/Bilstein brand. Got mine at NAPA before I saw eeuroparts price since they have higher price for struts, I didn't check them out for the rest of my needs. Fun thing to do...how sure are you that these control arms aren't from scamtech?, i think parts from ht are normally labelled, not labelled from scamtech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlc Posted July 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 I have no way of knowing man. I guess I have to take fcp's word for it. They said it's HT, the part number they gave is the part number written on the box (271901 & 271902) and that's about it.I'll keep my eye on it, I have a year of warranty.Have anyone ordered any scantech arm/ sway bar links? Or HT? Is it marked with manufacturer's name?In fairness to them, the good fcp folks, the tie-rod ends I got from NAPA is not marked as well, but the guy at the counter said their suspension parts are mada by Dana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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