Tie Rod Ends, Ball Joints and Steering Rack Boots

Tie rods and ball joints are an often-overlooked piece of the suspension puzzle. Like all other suspension pieces though, they are subject to wear. Whenever you’ve got a wheel off, make a point to inspect them. Inspect the boots on the ball joints and tie rod ends for any signs of cracking or leaking. Also check for any excessive play in any of the components. If you’re noticing the steering acting up or not doing what you just told the steering wheel to do, it may be time to replace these pieces. Timely replacement will save more costly damages done to your vehicle if a tie rod or ball joint fails in service.

1. 4 doors CH #131536, 5 doors CH #37527. Any higher chassis number uses the complete A-arm.

2. 1998-2000 70 series please call for fitment info.

A word of caution. Familiarity with your Volvo is good, but you could be too close to notice the effect worn bushings have on your ride. Bushings wear out gradually over time and can become unsafe somewhere around 100,000 miles. Replace all the bushings in your front or rear suspension with our premium quality bushings and you’ll notice a stable and tight new-car-feel. A truly noticeable difference!

Winter conditions can wreak havoc on your Volvos suspension. Driving on rough snow and ice pack is very hard on shocks, struts and bushings. Jarring jolts to the suspension from rough road surfaces combined with freezing temperatures can cause sudden failure to parts in marginal condition. Ball joints and tie rods in poor condition can be very stubborn in extreme cold as they can fill with water while driving and then be frozen solid as the temperature dips below freezing. When this happens the parts are subjected to 1000’s of pounds of pressure that can casue sever damage in some cases. Sliding into curbs and ditches can also cause extensive damage. See your local Volvo specialist for an expert assessment of your Volvos suspension or inspect it yourself with the help of a good manual.

We’ve had such a positive response to our DVDs, we now offer them as separate parts. We have all 5 titles of our current DVD instructional line-up available for those who would like to purchase the instructional without the associated parts. Whether you would like to “see” what you’re about to dive into, or if you just want to become more aware of what it takes to do the job we can help. We are continually updating and expanding our DVD line-up to include more of the jobs that you, our customers, are requesting! We currently offer DVDs for the following applications: 200 series timing belt, 200 front polyurethane bushing replacement, 200 odometer gear, 850 odometer gearm and 850 / 70 series (1993-98) timing belts. If you have a job that you think would benefit from a DVD instructional, please email us your thoughts and include any specifics that you think are important.