240 Off center steering wheel, excessive rear toe

1989 240: Off center steering wheel, excessive rear toe

Hello everyone,

I got some new tires today and got the car aligned, 1989 240. Prior to this I the car would go to the right if I had the wheel straight. After the alignment the car still pulls to the right of I have the wheel straight and I have to keep it turned a bit to the left to keep straight. Probably isn't a huge deal but I had hoped it would be taken care of by the alignment. I'll be taking the car back in on Monday to get checked out again.

The alignment spec sheet I got did show that I had -.67 degrees of toe out on my right rear wheel and a 31 degree rear thrust angle could either be causing the pull to the right? I saw from another thread my steering wheel maybe is just on crooked or the wheel/rack were not centered before my front toe was set.

The car is lowered on Kaplhenke shortened Coilovers up front with the adjustable strut mounts, rear has Kaplhenke adjustable spring perches. 10 inch, 450 lb springs in front and 9.5 in, 300 lb springs in back. Car also has the ipd adj. panhard bar.

Another note, the right rear tire is sightly higher profile, 195.65.r15 and the rest are 195.60.r15. The tire manufacturer shipped out one tire in the wrong size and I have to wait until they ship out the correct one so I'm running one of the old tires. Could this all be due to this tire?

Thanks.

Image of the spec sheet below:

A 240 has a straight axle there is not rear toe setting, any variation there is a result of bent wheels or a bent axle housing.

The first thing you check on a 240 is if the wheels are bent.

Thrust angle can be affected by rear bushings. Thrust angle can affect steering wheel centering.
Many techs do not want to deal with rear bushing replacement because it requires special tools.

Steering wheel off center is a lame Alignment tech or someone has had the steering wheel off and it is not installed straight.
Centering the steering wheel if it has been taken off is not a part of an advertised alignment,
it is an extra and the tech should have axed you if you wanted it fixed. (lame tech, no up sell).

Special thanks to PhotoBoner for the graphic overlay (SuperLame Photo hosting site)

Thanks everyone.
As far as I know the wheels are not bent, tire shop didn't mention anything when the tires went on. But I'm thinking I will dig for my old alignment paperwork I did last year and see what the toe was there, possible I damaged the axle or the bushings need to be replaced.

Local shop (600 miles norde of not-a-volvo-people) that used to charge $39.99 for an alignment(did not include cam adjusting), set steering wheel straight & got the toe-in on spec

No monkey poop

Hi there fellow enthusiast..
Im dealing with same problem for years now.
The car had its geomery aligned at least 8-9 times in last 3 years. In various shops.. no luck,tho. It bothers me.. but i got used to it

This is what happens when you take your car to a shop and ask for an alignment.
Self diagnosis can be hard on the wallet.
Bent wheels are not always caught by tire techs, the machines now days have safety covers.
Vintage Volvo's have more bent wheels than any other car in the US.

8 alignments in 3 years!!!!! Some cars never get an alignment.....
Perhaps you told them to work on the wrong end of the car.

You take the 8 alignment receipts and put them on the shops counter and tell them what the car is doing wrong.
An alignment is not a shotgun fix for everything/anything wrong with steering feel.
An alignment is done with the car standing still and does not account for deflecting bushings.

240's have some large rubber bushings on the rear axle links. This was done for that "luxury" ride and quieting.
As these bushings age they get sloppy and it lets the rear axle move around and the car will drive like both rear tires are low.
Those bushings are a maintenance item.....

I asked the shop alignment expert about this one and he said it looks like the rear axle is bent from accident damage based on your TOTAL TOE and THRUST ANGLE.

If your bushings we're bad, it wouldnt affect TOTAL TOE like that.

why the f would you get your car aligned with two different tires on the rear axle?

Dirty Rick said:

This is what happens when you take your car to a shop and ask for an alignment.
Self diagnosis can be hard on the wallet.
Bent wheels are not always caught by tire techs, the machines now days have safety covers.
Vintage Volvo's have more bent wheels than any other car in the US.

8 alignments in 3 years!!!!! Some cars never get an alignment.....
Perhaps you told them to work on the wrong end of the car.

You take the 8 alignment receipts and put them on the shops counter and tell them what the car is doing wrong.
An alignment is not a shotgun fix for everything/anything wrong with steering feel.
An alignment is done with the car standing still and does not account for deflecting bushings.

240's have some large rubber bushings on the rear axle links. This was done for that "luxury" ride and quieting.
As these bushings age they get sloppy and it lets the rear axle move around and the car will drive like both rear tires are low.
Those bushings are a maintenance item.....

Click to expand...

This, additionally every bushing at the front and rear get worn out.
A proper shop will test this in front of a alignment at minimum with a pry bar.

Maybe the alignment tool isn't tested and calibrated. I've seen several of them. I prever the string and gauge adjustment for that reason.
Will need more time, still very precise.
Good luck, Kay

What steering rack is in the car? CAM? How old?

I chased around a "pull" on my '80 which turned out to be a bad CAM rack, and not an alignment issue.

Chuck W said:

I chased around a "pull" on my '80 which turned out to be a bad CAM rack, and not an alignment issue.

Click to expand...

What was the issue with the rack? Improper balance setting, to where it wanted to crank over to one side on it's own with the front tires up in the air?

12david34 said:

Hi there fellow enthusiast..
Im dealing with same problem for years now.
The car had its geomery aligned at least 8-9 times in last 3 years. In various shops.. no luck,tho. It bothers me.. but i got used to it

Click to expand...

I do my own alignment(via diagrams) there are a few threads on here about it,
or start a thread/ask/show images.