Help - Front suspension problem

Hi all,

I have a 1995 900SE 2lt Turbo Coupe and I have a problem that is driving me nuts.

A while ago I had a new set of Michelin pilots fitted and noticed a strange vibration almost immediately afterwards. I took the car back to the tyre suppliers 3 times, they balanced and rebalanced and rerebalanced without any success. They said the tyres were perfect and there was something wrong with my car.

I contacted the Australian rep and told him of my woes. He agreed to replace all of the tyres no charge.

I am still waiting on the tyres but went for a long drive down a local freeway to try out some things. I noticed that when driving under power I got a vibration that felt like a wheel balance problem, but when I depressed the clutch the 'vibration' went away. I did this about 20 times and I am sure that I'm right. I also noticed that moderate acceleration from 120KPH had the same effect ie. a sudden wheel balance vibration which faded away after about 10 seconds.

Has anyone out there had this problem, or does anyone know what might be causing it. I am thinking possibly CV joints or something. There is no noticeable noise from the front end apart from severe creaking from the struts, this is another problem I am going to deal with ASAP.

TIA.

Peter Wallington.

Reply to
Peter Wallington
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I'd say it's likely the inner driver(s). But it's weird that the problem just appeared after changing tires.

John

Reply to
John B

Mine went away when I changed the ball joint on the side with the vibration.

Reply to
Valjean

Can the inner drivers be easily damaged? I.W. is it possible the tyre replacers did some damage when putting the car on the hoist?

Peter W.

Reply to
Peter Wallington

Interesting, the mechs at the Saab dealership said the driver side ball joint was dry (should be self lubing) and I do hear a noise from the driver side when turning the front wheels.

Peter W.

Reply to
Peter Wallington

I had the exact same symptoms in a '96 900. After several re-balances it was obvious that the tyres weren't the cause. In frustration I took it to an independant Saab shop thinking it would be the CV/or inner driver. They found a worn control arm bush and a loose pinch bolt. Cheap and simple fix.

Reply to
ShazWozza

Ball joint replacement is relatively easy to do, and replacing one makes the most difference of any front end part for steering and handling, let alone vibration at speed.

The only strenuous part of replacing one is getting the ball joint spindle free once you've loosened its nut, using the ball joint separator tool you can rent. Otherwise, you just unscrew stuff and put the new one on.

Reply to
Valjean

Thanks everyone for the information. I will be taking my car back my local SAAB dealership and they are going to check it out. But I will make sure that I talk to the head mechanic and get him to look at the items that have been identified. I know it'll hurt going this way but my 'baby' deserves the best. (I might also be able to jag a spin in a Viggen while I'm there).

Cheers,

Peter Wallington.

Reply to
Peter Wallington

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