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240 Asymmetry in Rear Tire Positioning

Rusty_ratchet

Rusty_ratchet

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2015
Location
Southwest
1985 Volvo 240

I was looking at my rear tires this morning and noticed that the passengers side is somewhat close to the body of the car. There is more clearance for the tire on the drivers side of the car. Any ideas what might cause this?

Passengers side:
IMG4171.jpg


Drivers side:
IMG4172.jpg
 
The panhard rod is not a perfect mechanism for keeping the rear axle centered throughout the range of suspension travel.

If the car is lowered, the panhard rod is no longer level, and that means it's angled, and if it is angled, then it no longer has the same effective length.

Which is why they sell adjustable panhard rods, to compensate for geometry changes in lowered (or raised, why not) cars.
 
JohnMc said:
The panhard rod is not a perfect mechanism for keeping the rear axle centered throughout the range of suspension travel.

If the car is lowered, the panhard rod is no longer level, and that means it's angled, and if it is angled, then it no longer has the same effective length.

Which is why they sell adjustable panhard rods, to compensate for geometry changes in lowered (or raised, why not) cars.
Click to expand...

The car has not been lowered. Could bad bushings cause this? I looked at the bushings recently and didn't notice any issues, but perhaps I should take another look. Is it possible for panhard rods to get bent and cause this sort of thing?
 
From the pics it looks lowered. And even if it isn't, it might not be perfectly centered. It's one of those things that just doesn't really matter all that much, within a reasonable amount.
 
JohnMc said:
From the pics it looks lowered. And even if it isn't, it might not be perfectly centered. It's one of those things that just doesn't really matter all that much, within a reasonable amount.
Click to expand...

Your comment about the car being lowered made me wonder about the rear springs. The IPD product description for rear springs states that the rear springs can sag over time causing geometry issues with the rear. Perhaps that is what is going on.
 
there all offset if you really look 99 percent of them are like that want a centered rear end ,throughout the suspension travel? you need a watts link setup
 
The panhard rod centers the rear side to side your pcts show one wheel closer than the other, worn trailing arm bushings ???
 
283SD said:
The panhard rod centers the rear side to side your pcts show one wheel closer than the other, worn trailing arm bushings ???
Click to expand...

I compared the position of the rear wheels on my car to my mom's 240. The back of her car looks good to me. Both sides of mine are lower than those on my mom's car (equally low on both sides). It looks like the passengers side wheel is further back than the drivers side. I'll check the TABs.
 
Some times the bushings get a memory,they look good but can be off center with no play. A little on all the bushings adds up,now that the cars are getting older.
 
283SD said:
Some times the bushings get a memory,they look good but can be off center with no play. A little on all the bushings adds up,now that the cars are getting older.
Click to expand...

Do you think the movement in the torque rod bushings is acceptable? Do you think it would be a good idea to replace all the bushings back there?
 
The torque rods can't really (unless, perhaps, if they were TOTALLY shelled and the whole axle was cocked at an angle) affect the side to side positioning of the axle.

You should replace them if they are loose enough to clunk and/or they are causing an actual problem (like allowing the axle to rotate too much under torque). Otherwise, you're just fixing things that aren't broken.

As for the axle centering, it really is just one of those things that doesn't matter all that much in the way the car works and drives. Your inspections seems to itndicate there's nothing wrong underneath there with the panhard rod bushings.

If it bothers you from an aesthetic standpoint, then you'll just need to get an adjustable panhard rod: https://www.ipdusa.com/products/4917/109613-adjustable-panhard-bar-200-series-models

Then you can adjust where the axle sits side to side.
 
They may not look bad, but lets face it, those bushings are original and could use replacement. I am going to be going through both my cars this summer.
 
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