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Dick,
And others,
Job complete, car brakes straight again. This is what I found:
The car pulled left on braking. Previously replaced calipers, reseated rear pads.
Removed right control arm and found the inner sleeves on both bushings had pulled away from the bushing and were floating. Allowed the control arm to move forward/backward on braking. I pressed in new bushings as I have a hydraulic shop press at home. You have to carefully measure the position of both bushings to make sure the control arm will go back in, as there is not much play. The right side was OK but I replaced the bushings there also. Kit from Groton had bushings for both sides along with new bolts. When I did the right side I found it easier to press in one bushing, take the control arm back to the car to line things up, press a bit more for a perfect fit, then do the second bushing.
Why is this not happening to more people?
I have a 93 850 which is the only year that you can replace just the ball joint. After '93 Volvo shifted from the aluminum control arm to a steel one with the ball joint fixed to the control arm. Bushings can still be replaced on the steel control arm.
My bet is most people need to replace the ball joint; hence the whole control arm before the bushing actually fails. In my case I replaced the ball joints last summer when I installed a new clutch so it paid for me to just do the bushings. Having the shop press helps. Next time, who knows, but that should be 10 years from now.
Tim
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