K3FSAR;17890 wroteGenuine? Worth more than my car on its lonesome :P
This weekend I spent some time with my 850. Fixed leaky turbo oil drainback, big arse service and installed new BCS and compressor bypass spring. Also finally got around to doing silicone intake pipes everywhere (thanks
@Ben ). Overall, made a difference with the way power is delivered. Making more in the midrange torque rise but dropped some power up top, so I think I might have a play with the wastegate (Anyone got an adjustment tool I can borrow?) due to a heavier compressor spring put in no doubt.
Also investigated a front end steering/suspension problem. Goes left under acceleration and dives right under brakes..... And my new shock mounts etc. looks like have sped up the destruction of the control arm bushes. Which both on the LHS have shredded themselves. So next on my list! That, and new CV boots and steering tie rods too while I rip everything apart once more.
LCAs will be the cause of your issue for sure, rather failed bushes in them.
Dont replace these with urethane - the feedback through the wheel on R models with low profile tyres is horrible.
For a while we could get press-in bushes that you could use, press old ones out and new ones back in (same with balljoint replacement) . At the moment we cant. Most places will have the arm available as entire assembly.
Since you're there, its probably worth checking swaybar links and tie rod ends too.
It's available as a new part.
Actually there are/were two genuine ones. The first was/is straight and the more common one has the bends in it. Both are aluminium construction with approx 30mm OD. I had the later 'bendy' one.
Bends in a strut brace are not ideal at all, but in the case of the bendy Volvo one, its intended to be one size fits all -
* Clears ABS/TRACS module on MY94 & MY95 cars
* Clears fusebox on MY97 & MY98 cars
* 'Humps' in the top plates clear sheet metal pressings on late '99 and MY00 cars
The genuine volvo straight one is suitable for 1994-1996 models.
I have the ID of the tubing somewhere. I put the drop saw through it and measured it.
Most braces are better than no brace.
The real purpose of a strut brace is keep the distance between the towers the same, as you hook into a corner, the bodyshell tries to compress, with the unloaded (light) front strut trying to 'catch' the loaded one. By fitting a brace between the two points, you're doing the best you can to keep this measurement constant, giving more sure-footed and predictable cornering, not having goofy weight transfer mid corner, etc.
Each bend provides an easier means of compressing the bar, reducing the effectiveness of the brace.
Some positive side effects are -
* Reduces rattles and creaks over normal straight line (fore & aft) bumps and road undulations, more positive feedback through the steering wheel.
* Better pothole absorbing (in theory).
With our brace, a round tube straight bar is a 'must have' but this means compromise in other areas.
* Ideally the bar should be in the same plane (rather than 'forward of' in our case) as the centre of the strut tower.
This isn't achievable with a straight bar because of the master cylinder, etc.
Solution in our case was to have 5mm thick steel top plate and tabs - more solid design makes up for it to a
certain extent.
* This plate design means modifying the ABS/TRACS bracket for MY94 and MY95 cars - this makes it not a 'bolt
on' in those applications.
* This also means modifying the fusebox bracket (very easy mod) for MY97 and MY98 cars too. We can supply the
modified bracket if required.
We also like using rod ends (heim joints) - the pros of this are that you can 'pre load' the bar, which on a track day type of application with sticky tyres makes a very noticable difference when applying steering lock on corner entry. Car feels a LOT tighter and more predictable.
It also means that we use some of the same parts across all the braces we build and helps keep manufacturing costs down.
Anyway, apologies for the threadjack.
Before I got excited and ventured off on a tangent, my point was to replace the LCAs, check the rest and it'll make a huge difference. Avoid urethane LCA bushes.