Hi All,

Not sure if this is a common thing for an XC70….What would cause my 2002 XC70 (at 210,000 mi) to rock on uneven surface? My 98 S70 (at 320,000 mi) is fairly flat on such uneven surface. The rocking feels like I’m driving a truck, or as if my sway bars don’t exist. I also get too much feedback from the road whereby the steering wheel wobbles a bit.

The problem existed from the day I a acquired the car (a month ago). At the time I thought it was as simple as replacing worn shocks. I’ve since replaced all struts/seats/shocks (OEM Sachs), control arms. The front sway bar feels tight, and the mounts appear healthy. Front sway bar end links are tight—I did not replace them as they look to be in good shape with no play in them. The rear sway bar and end links look fine and tight—moving them vertically, they feel tight. However, the sway bar bends rather easily when moved in any other direction other than vertically.

One other thing…. I do this breaking test: I let the car move a little and hit the break to anticipate an even dip and rise of the front/rear of the car. I don’t feel the evenness. It just feels like there is one side of the car’s suspension that is not right. Breaks are perfect, by the way (replaced calipers, rotors, pads, and flushed).

Your inputs are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
-Kef

An XC70 handles the same as an S70. If you can move the rear, I suspect the bushings are gone or the mounts themselves are rusted through.
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My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat

I actually came back to the post to close the issue... Thanks Klaus for inputs anyway.

Interestingly, replacing all four tires removed the uneven rocking motion. Old tires still had some treads left on them, but they were really old and T rated. The other finding was that the stabilizer bar bushings was badly worn out.

The only problem I have now is subtle vibration at take off... I will leave that for another post.