850 front end work

Jul 28, 2003 3 Replies

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Henry 22 years ago

Greetings. Just took my '95 850T in for its 60,000 km service (yes, eight years old and only 36,000 miles). The mechanic is recommending that the tie rod ends be replaced; including the necessary re-alignment afterwards, he's quoting about $250 for the job.

I've already had the front end realigned once, after some very bumpy bad-road driving at about 30K km.

Seems to me that 60,000 km is not very much, to need such a repair. Is this plausible, or is he trying to rip me off? The steering is perfectly straight at the moment.

cheers,

Henry

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Rob Guenther 22 years ago

Not a Volvo, but my 1991 VW Golf needed its tie rods done at around 45000 kms (at 8 years old... it was my dads get to work 5kms away car for the most part of its life) we think it was more of an age thing, the bearings were done at the same time, and of course the alignment.

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Mike F 22 years ago

Tie rod ends last just about forever, as long as they've been properly manufactured and lubricated. If the boot fails, then water and dust get in, and they quickly wear out. From personal experience, this type of part seems to wear out much more quickly on cars that spend long periods sitting.

Replacing tie rod ends requires resetting of the toe, part of a front wheel alignment.

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Henry 22 years ago

Thanks Mike. My car sits motionless from 30 November to 1 April (at least; sometimes even longer, depending on the weather) every year; that may well have something to do with it.

cheers,

Henry

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