1996 850R "Brünnhilde"

jamesinc

I did take a peek in the bore of the 850 while I was testing for spark, man that thing needs some seafoam pretty badly!

egads (she/her)

Subaru upper engine cleaner is the easiest seafoam type thing to get here in my experience.

jamesinc

So I rotated the tyres front and back, and failed to notice the rears were wider than the fronts. Whoops! Scrub-a-dub-dub, my guards got a rub.

BUT I did notice on the highway, the mid-range vibration appeared to have left the steering wheel. So my assumption that it was caused by the axle may be faulty - I'm taking it in for a balance one day this week as I'd like it to be resolved before I go to Parkes.

AshDVS

Look, since you're going to all the effort of taking the wheels off, you really should put some big brakes on the front.
;)

CamZH

agreed !

jamesinc

@AshDVS I'm listening.

jamesinc

Check out that ridiculous toe-in!

In terms of balance, the front left wheel was off by 15g and front right by 35g!

jamesinc

Interesting that the camber values are a whole one degree apart. Bent control arm?

AshDVS

Nah, more likely bush, ballpoint and strut mount wear as well as impact movement (potholes, road debris, etc)

Ex850R

Did they check rear alignment? Shops generally just check and say its not adjustable cos took many bolts and they really don't know but there is some leeway in the bolting if I understand correctly .

jamesinc

The shop I use for alignments is very good, and more importantly they tolerate my endless fiddling with suspension settings.

nickm

The 850 has a fair amount of play from the strut to the hub, that could account for the difference.

jamesinc

Between Parkes and Perisher my 850 has evolved into full suspension groan mode. Casualties:

* Strut tops
* Swaybar bushings
* Axles

Everything groans. I might do the ball joints while I'm at it and control arm bushings.

Yay I finally get to spend money on it!

egads (she/her)

All too common but satisfying to fix as you can really tell the difference. Avoid the false economy that is cheaper bits.

jamesinc

I am happy to go with Meyle strut tops

nickm

meyle hd are the way to go,

Are the bottom rubbers on the control arms shot. No point in stuffing round with ball joints on the 850.

Axles or hubs?

edit.... drop links too.

egads (she/her)

I think meyle do the oem, more warning about the cheapest bits.

nickm

Lemforder I think are OEM

jamesinc

I have to jack the car up to confirm if it's the axle or not. Maybe I should do that now...

AshDVS

nickm;30253 wrotemeyle hd are the way to go,

Are the bottom rubbers on the control arms shot. No point in stuffing round with ball joints on the 850.

Axles or hubs?

edit.... drop links too.

egads;30257 wroteI think meyle do the oem, more warning about the cheapest bits.

nickm;30258 wroteLemforder I think are OEM

If strut tops are stuffed, it's likely that spring seats are too.

Lemfjorder, Sachs/Boge, INA and a couple of others all do the oem rubber stuff.
Rubber parts in Volvo 850s (and C70/S70/V70) are places where it is unwise to skimp.

Brands to avoid with swaybar links, bushes and rubber parts are -
* Pro Parts Sweden
* URO (particularly on 850 and onwards models)
* Karlyn

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