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Old May 20th, 2019, 18:16   #4
Tannaton
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Location: Beverley, East Yorks
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When an XC90 pulls under braking, 99% of the time it is down to one of three causes or a combination of 2 or more...

- Tyres, are they matched? i.e. the same make, variant, tread depth - are they of reasonable quality (i.e. not Chinese ditch finders)

- Brakes, if there is more braking effort on one side of the car then this will cause the pull. Can be caused by sticking caliper, corrosion from storage or poor quality pattern brake discs/pads

- Worn suspension bushes, probably the most common cause, if one or more of the bushes are worn OR not matched on both sides (i.e. only one wishbone changed or non-gen parts) then under braking the wishbone can move back and outwards excessively. As well directly affecting the wheel alignment, it also causes the trackrod on that side to effectively shorten as the whole suspension moves back and this causes the wheel on that side to toe out and hence the car to pull to that side even more.

That fact that it occurs under light braking and then gets better with heavier braking implies exactly what Clan said in that you have un-matched wishbones, but could also be sticking caliper.

First I would check tyres, if they're not matched can you swap front to rear etc, to get a matched pair? Hopefully that is possible without spending any money, but it's probably the least likely cause.

As has been said if you need new wishbones the only ones to get are genuine Volvo - they're about £110 each from Volvo dealers who sell parts at trade prices on ebay.

If it is worn wishbones you usually get a pull in the opposite direction under hard acceleration but the 163 D5 doesn't quite put enough power down to match the forces on the suspension under braking.

The fact that the steering wheel is not "straight ahead" implies that it's had some work done by Bodgeit and Scarper, so make sure you get a full wheel alignment check as well. You should also check carefully the number of turns from straight ahead (or 3:50 as is currently) to full lock on both sides - they should be exactly the same - if not you might get wheel arch rub problems (MOT failure) and it's a further sign of bodgery.

Good luck - you will love it when it's sorted (even if it does empty your wallet in the process...)
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2011 XC90 D5 Executive
2003 C70 T5 GT
2012 Ford Ranger XL SC
1977 Triumph Spitfire 1500
1976 Massey Ferguson 135

Last edited by Tannaton; May 20th, 2019 at 18:23.
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