Suspension issue

[Roger854]

Hi Everyone,

I need some help figuring out what's going on with the suspension in my 2005 V8 XC90.

The issue is that something moves or changes with a change in power. I can be driving down the road straight, and if I give it a little more power, the car heads towards the right. No pressure on the steering wheel, and the steering wheel does not move, just the direction of the car changes. Likewise, if I ease up on the gas, it goes to the left. It's bad enough that I can hold the wheel straight ahead, and with the gas pedal alone do a normal lane change.

I've been working on this for a while. Eventually I gave up and took it to the dealer for help. The mechanic found a worn ball joint, and gave me the full lecture about using non-Volvo parts. So I had them replace both control arms, both ball joints, check the strut top bushing, and do a full alignment. Everything in the front end is new. The problem remains, unchanged.

I have visually inspected all of the rear bushings. To a visual inspection, all appear to be intact. No torn rubber or obviously bad parts.

I'm not sure what else to check. It's not torque steer - I get that on my 850 FWD, and this is different. It's not just under high power, it's under very slight throttle changes. Braking is fine, the car brakes straight and no pulling at all.

Please let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for what else to check. Thanks!

Roger
'05 XC90 V8 101k miles
'95 854T 271k miles
et al.

[hoonk]

with the gas pedal alone do a normal lane change.

took it to the dealer for help.
I had them replace both control arms, both ball joints, check the strut top bushing, and do a full alignment. Everything in the front end is new.

The problem remains, unchanged.

Usually that is caused by extremely worn/loose front control arm bushings - but now you have new ones!

If your original complaint was you could change lanes with your gas pedal and your service personal changed all those parts $$$$ to fix that problem - but they did not - you could ask them to put your original parts back on - or fix it right the second time for possibly a discounted price for the next stuff they are going to replace to hopefully really fix the problem

[Masscomguru]

there was an update to the rear bolt on the control arms. If you went with aftermarket and they reused the bolt, the hole might be slightly larger than the bolt. It appears tight but will move slightly causing the change in control.

[FREE]

I am having issue with braking, the XC90 pulls slightly to left when braking, spongy feel, but brakes look fine, so anyone have an idea what else to look at?

Thanks,

[hoonk]

pulls slightly to left when braking

Could be worn bushings in the lower control arms - when they get bad enough the car will drift one direction when accelerating, and drift the other way when decelerating

[FREE]

Thanks, will check it out. Strange, never had a car that reacts that way with worn bushings, usually noisy knocking.