240 steering

car: 1989 240 wagon, about 240,000 miles problem: play in the steering at right front wheel

Since I've had the car (about 7 years) there's always been some "play" in the right front wheel. When the car is on jackstands, I can grasp the wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock and wobble it about 1/8 inch or so. Initially I thought it was in the tie rod end, but even after replacing that years ago, it's the same. Steering is good, although there's a little tendency to wander. Surprisingly, there's no excessive tread wear!

Looking at it closely, I can tell that the extra "play" is inside the rubber boot, covering the connection to the steering assembly. I'm thinking/hoping that there might be something in there I could tighten easily, but don't want to just dig into it without knowing, since at the very least I'll end up replacing the boot!

Anybody know? I'm sure it's the same on MANY of the 240 years, so SOMEBODY must have checked...

parrot33 at hotmail dot com

On my 765T the boot tore and I didn't notice until symptoms appeared. The only obvious symptom was very scary shaking when braking moderately; lighter or harder braking didn't shake. Oddly, the tire wear was normal and there was no wander or slack in the steering. Chasing the play in the wheels (one wheel on the ground and trying to move the other in a left-right direction) brought me to the same thing you see - the play (about a mm) at the rack. You should be able to pull the boot back over the tie rod to see the ball joint directly and see the play right there. There should be no play at all.

As James says, it's the tie rod that does that. The ZF tie rod is not too bad to replace because it uses a dog washer arrangement, but mine used a cam-gear steering box. On that style the tie rod is staked on by smashing down part of the end of the tie rod, and I didn't see any way to unstake it besides forcing it to turn. :-(

Alignment is mandatory after replacing a tie rod.

Mike

Thanks to both of you for the info! Looks like I'll be tearing into that project, maybe wait for the weather here in Atlanta to cool down a little first, though... The car has been the same for the past 7 years, no sense getting carried away!...

Getting the tie rod end at the local AutoZone wasn't any problem... likely they will have the rest of the tie rod that I need???

Well, just checked the AutoZone website, and they sell what looks like the other end of the tie rod assembly for around $30... Might drop by the local Pull-a-Part lot and take a look at the assembly on a wrecked car before pulling mine apart, just to be sure I know what to expect. Might even be possible to salvage the piece I need, although I would gladly spend the $30 if I thought it would fix the problem!...

again, thanks!

As Michael stated there are 2 different racks that use two different approaches to manufacture. Thus you will have to figure out which rack your particular Volvo has and then get the correct parts...

Replacing the tie rod end made our 1983 240GL Volvo steer much better. Replacing a ball joint OTOH is a real piece of cake in comparison to RR the tie rod end.

After reading this thread I have realized that my 240 may have the same symptoms. Front end rattles, which I can feel through the steering wheel when on irregular road surfaces. Also has a shimmy while braking. Your deduction(s) seems to be that the culprit is the tie rod ends. I will jack it up and check for free play tomorrow. If anyone would like to verify this info and/or add to it, I would sure appreciate it. Tie rod ends? Ball joints? Thanks!