There's a little annoying shudder when braking at higher speeds.
At the inspection the tech said: "sloppy tie rod end on driver side".
I put a new Lemforder Tie rod end, and there's still a little play.
The end link bushings are all cracked and ugly. The sway bar bushings
look worn.

Can I feel wheel slop in the drivers side and jacked up only on
the driver side if the passenger side tie rod end is sloppy?

What parts should be replaced to get the front end up to snuff before realignment?

Thanks in advance, Bill

Hi,

You posted question about front end play as a likely cause of steering wheel shaking/shimmy during high speed braking. After all these years of 940 motoring I could tell that the front suspension of 940 is a complicated setup.

I've replaced ALL outer tie rods, inner tie rods, flying saucer bushings, new control arm stay (which connects flying-saucer bushings to body), new king-pin (or ball joint), new lower arms (which connects ball joint to body) BUT my high speed braking shimmy STILL happens!

It turned out to be warped brake discs! Replaced those discs with Lemforder part (ie. cheap) it all went smoothly ONLY to re-occur after few months time. Replaced it again with ATE part (ie. expensive) it lasted well almost 6 months, only to re-occur off & on now. I haven't tried Volvo OE because thats too expensive per side. So my shimmy was caused by warped discs. All suspension parts are still up to snuff.

Now I've read that sometimes its not all about warped discs. The type of brake pads you use could leave microscopic hard deposits on the disc which translates to uneven surfaces under high speed braking thus causing shimmy. I'm currently using Volvo OE pads (with Rollunds material) and may try other pads eg.Bosch or Akebono if these still happens.

If your high speed braking shimmy goes away by replacing the tie rod ends then its good for you (meaning your discs are still good). If not, you know what to do next.


Regards,
Amarin.

Hi Amarin,

OK on the brake shudder miseries. I was told by several of my local mechanic friends to avoid cheap Chinese rotors and suspension parts. I can add to avoid
cheap Chinese hubs like the plague, while they look great and the machining looks good, the metals are junk, and they must forget to harden the metals in the bearings. Getting quality parts is a big problem.

I found a nice old post by you today on Brickboard where you remarked the the CAM rack is the same as the Koyo. Thanks for that. I ordered the Moog inner tie rod end, and don't want slop play/ in the steering. I think Moog makes good parts, however what happened to Zerk fittings on tie rod ends?
My "new" 940 is almost broken in with 212,000 miles and I have all the service records. There's 28,000 miles on the stay bushings (must be what you call flying saucers. Is it time to replace them?

I have to renew the sway bar and end link bushings and was wondering about poly bushings being a bad idea. The rubber bushings go away with age but they absorb
a lot of shock that might keep the front end together longer? I'm leaning to OEM rubber bushings. Yet the Moog site claims their new end link bushings are fabulous.I'm thinking that maybe they are, but everything around them gets hammered with no shock absorbers in the linkage. What do you think, I want to decide on what to change out when I do the inner tie rod. Flying saucers? are they toast at 28000 miles, which ones work best? That looks easy to change out while I'm in there.

How do you check the lower ball joint on the strut? And do you have a check for a worn upper strut bushing.

Best regards, Bill

Hi again,

Yes getting quality parts is the problem today.


What I could vaguely remember was I ordered an inner tie rod part from eBay and the seller claimed it could fit onto any KOYO & CAM racks. The part arrived and I installed it onto my CAM rack with no issue. Thus my impression at that time was KOYO & CAM parts are the same. Anyway I stand corrected as to what Spook has mentioned in his post.


There's no more Zerk fitting I see on any tie rod end part I ordered. It has been a long time since I last used a grease gun.


Your "flying saucers" bushing should still be good at 28,000 miles. If you don't hear a "clunk" noise coming from the front end when braking hard then they're still good. The noise will repeat itself almost every time when braking hard.


The OEM sway bar bushings have different versions for NA & turbo cars which depends on diameter of your sway bar. If unsure use a vernier caliper to measure the diameter of your sway bar. There are 19mm & 21mm versions for 700 series; 21mm & 23mm for NA 940 and 25mm for 940 turbo. You could install a smaller size bushing like 23mm for your 25mm sway bar (I use 21mm for my 23mm sway bar) but it would be a pain to install. Using smaller size bushing makes the front end rock-steady when braking hard. I use lots of talcum powder as lubricant when installing these bushes (they don't degrade rubber).


About the ball joints, I just go on replace them. Last replaced about 10 years ago and yes they were very worn (loose).


About the upper strut bushing, the same. I replaced them after more than 10 years of age. They're not that critical to influence the car's handling. They're just there to hold the strut rod from getting loose and piercing a hole through your engine hood. I replaced them with Febi part and handling still same as before. While you're at the strut bushing re-lubricate the strut bearings, they could be opened and fresh grease added. Careful not to loose any of the ball bearings while doing so. Your steering should be more effortless after that.


Now IPD is offering an updated front end kit for 700 900 series. The slotted bushing at the base of these struts (ie control arm stay in Volvo's lingo) should improve braking by widening the front end geometry a bit (ie causing more toe out, thus more grip) when braking hard. The slotted bushing is currently used in cars like Audi, BMW.

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/21519/Strut-Rod-Update-Kit-700-900-Rubber-for-Volvo-IPD-6819079-140044

I'm contemplating whether to order these, halfway across the world again, for the car :)


I hope I don't make the front end more complicated than it already is ;)

Regards,
Amarin.

Regarding the zerks fittings. Volvo introduced the elimination of fittings with the 140 series in 1967. Over the years I have seen aftermarket ball joints and/or tie rod ends with them. - Dave

Zerk fittings are about as common now as whooping cranes or honest politicians.

Regarding your query about checking the lower ball joint. I check them 2 ways. With the car jacked up (and proper jack stands placed at the jack points) and the strut hanging I place a lever between the lower control arm and the bottom of the strut and test for play between the two. In addition I also use oversize water pump pliers to squeeze the bottom of the ball joint up against the "foot" of the strut. There should be no play with either method--and both methods should be employed. -- Dave

Don't discount the brake piston being off center or caliper not sliding smoothly.

Check out this site with some good tips on brakes and braking.
Little things can foul up a job.
I wonder how many people use the wrong stuff on the back of the brake pucks and the pins?

https://www.wagnerbrake.com/technical/technical-tips/when-to-use-chemical-compounds.html

There's several sections of interest in their tech tips.

Cheers, Bill

Good point, brake calipers is worth a thread of it's own.

The rotor looks fine, so for now I'm focused on getting the play out of the steering.

Thanks, Bill

Dear B.B.

Hope you're well and stay so. The Koyo and CAM/TRW racks are NOT interchangeable as to tie rods, tie rod ends, and power steering hoses.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Hi Spook,

Thanks for that info! The parts finder at Moog:

https://www.moogparts.com/find-my-part/find-my-part-results.html?type[value]=2&type[label]=Light%20Duty&year[value]=1993&year[label]=1993&make[value]=27&make[label]=Volvo&model[value]=141&model[label]=940

shows three inner tie rod ends for the 1993 940 but does not specifically
call out the Koyo:

EV274 ___ 18mm thread at inner end
EV292 ZF 16mm
EV332 Cam 14mm

Will any of these fit the Koyo (Japan) Rack 6189225-2 LH
The good news is that I can place a hold on the order before the vender is open.

Regards, Bill

Dear B.B.,

Hope you're well and stay so. For the Koyo rack, the "drag link end" - a.k.a. inner tie rod end - is Volvo #271701. It is still available from a U.S.-based Volvo dealer, for about $40. I believe this unit fits either side of the rack.

I do not know the Moog number(s) to which this Volvo part number corresponds.

The ZF rack is different from both Koyo and CAM/TRW racks, so parts for a ZF rack will not fit other racks used on Volvo 940s.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Hi Spook,

Thanks for the timely heads up about the parts snafu.
Today was busy. I cancelled the order of the Moog. Then Moog support could not confirm any tie rod end for the Koyo. Moog did give me part numbers for tie rod ends from Beck Arnley, now a subsidiary of Moog. Then I called the local Volvo
dealer and they said discontinued. Then I searched for the Beck Arnley parts
(a different one for each side) and after shopping around finding many outlets on back order, ordered a set of the Beck-Arnley, L & R. It will be interesting to see if they're almost identical and one is 1/2' longer. These are "greasable tie rod" ends. What do I do, stuff grease around the ball joint before securing the boot? I found out that they have 14mm inner threads the same as the Cam and wonder if the 14MM mystery Moog would have fit?

I asked the Moog rep about their plastic end link bushings and he raved about them
and said that rubber was no good, blah blah. I wonder if the little rubber shock absorbers at the end links are better than hard poly for beating up on the suspension.


Happy motoring, Bill

Dear B.B.,

Hope you're well and stay so. It would be well if you read the site's FAQs, which review common problems and how those are best fixed. See the button in the upper left corner of your screen, next to "BB".

If there's something still unclear, that's the point at which a question might be posted.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

You fix 1 thing & it puts pressure on the next weaker part,,just keep replacing till the shudder goes away,,

On my wife's 96/900 I just replaced the "A" arms and stabilizer struts as a complete kit. New bushing and ball joints come with the "A" arms. Your tyre rod end could also be worn at the power steering rack end. Replacing the "A" arm really tightened the steering.

Bill,

Two things if you haven’t checked them already.

+1 on Inner tie rod.

One other thought. My 90 240 also shuddered some at high speed braking only. Turned out to be the ball joint.

Doubt the end links bushings or sway bar bushings would cause the shudder. Maybe rattling over bumps but they should be replaced if you really want to tighten up that front end.

Jim
--
Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....