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These are the ones I have ordered as the charges are listed and so should arrive without the usual extra charges that most things from outside the EU have
Have got the control arms, does the nut and bolt do the same as the allen key bolt?
They will be fitted with a lowering kit, does lowering make it more or less likely that the locking nut will need to be removed to get the adjustment needed?
If the locking nut needs to be removed, is it a good thing to use semi permanent thread locking adhesive, Loctite etc?
Santer, the locking nut by the pivot point ensures the pivot point doesn't rotate during use and in a way, also acts as a second means of locking the adjusting nut down. Granted, the allen bolt should be doing a majority of that.
As for whether you will be able to keep the locking nut in place, because you are lowering, you should be able to. By lowering the car, you will need a slightly longer arm than someone with a normal ride height car. I say give it a try and see what happens. Worst case, when you get the alignment done, they will say that you have a positive camber to the rear wheels and that will tell you that you need to take out the nut (assuming you have the arm adjusted down as far as it will go).
When it comes to Loc-tite, red (permanent) should only be used if you never plan on taking something apart in the future. In this case, the semi-permanent (blue) is what you would want to use. But, I have found that the need for Loc-tite in this application is not needed. On a side note, because I use the red at work, the only way to get things apart once you apply the red is to heat it up with a torch to get the Loc-tite molten again. Can be a real PITA.
santer, yes, the nut/bolt on the side of the arm is the same as the allen bolt that some of us have. The nut I was referring to above is the one down at the joint itself (where it attaches to the car).
Santer, a place wanted how much for the Loc-tite? I think someone is smoking their own product. $15 USD is about right for something like that. All it takes is a drop. So, you will find that the 50ml bottle is going to last you a long, long time. But, atleast it is a lot more useable than the red stuff. So, you can find more places to use it.
Santer, could have fun with your friends and "loc-tite" their lugnuts in place. Watch them fight like hell, wondering what you torqued their lugnuts too. After you let them fight a little bit, you simply take the car for a spin around the block, get the brakes warmed up a little bit and the lugnuts will spin right off. Watch them wonder what the hell you just did.
Not that I am advocating something like this, but it can be funny to watch.
Has anyone figured out how to adjust the front. Is there an arm or anything like that that can be used on the front. Mine is actually wearing the inside edge of the tire bad. Took it to an alignment shop and they said to replace the front struts
springer, unfortunately, there is no adjustment for what you are after short of replacing the struts and possibly the springs (as the springs will cause the tire to lean in on the top as the spring looses its strength and allows the car to ride slightly lower). There are no parts that you can put in to fix what your problem is that are adjustable. I am sure with a little bit of work you could figure out an adjustable coil over setup, but, now you are looking at a lot more dollars than even replacing the coils and struts with high end stuff.
springer: At ~100K miles, the camber on my 2002 X-Type was negative 1.1° & 1.2° in the front and negative 2.4° & 2.6° in the rear. Tires lasted only ~20-25 Kmiles due to premature inner tread wear.
Thanks to Thermo's adjustable upper control arms, the rear is back to the factory spec of negative ~0.7°.
To correct the front camber back to the spec of negative ~0.5°, I elongating the holes in the strut towers and moved the top of the struts ~1/8" (~3 mm) closer to the fender. The struts don't need to be removed. Simply loosen the 3 nuts atop the strut and lower the front suspension a few inches to push the 3 strut bolts below the strut tower. Then use a Dremel w/ carbide tip to elongate the holes.
Moving the top of the strut 1/8" closer to the fender adjusts the camber from negative 1.1-1.2° to negative 0.5-0.6°. It also changes the toe-in, so a full alignment is needed to finish the job.
If the front camber is off by more than 0.5°-1°, the root cause is probably worn bushing in the lower control arm, which likely needs to be replaced (circled yellow in this diagram).
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As for whether you will be able to keep the locking nut in place, because you are lowering, you should be able to. By lowering the car, you will need a slightly longer arm than someone with a normal ride height car. I say give it a try and see what happens. Worst case, when you get the alignment done, they will say that you have a positive camber to the rear wheels and that will tell you that you need to take out the nut (assuming you have the arm adjusted down as far as it will go).
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Hi Thermo,
When I first saw your discovery I didn't think I needed it, but now I've see that the rear tires are wearing on the inside, which is negative camber if I'm right.
I bought the Bilstein / Eibach B12 lowering kit, which will make even more negative camber, so I'm thinking the +5 camber adjustment on these will be of use. But I thought I'd better check with you.
Hi, Thermo - I have a question regarding this mod. My rear tyres lean pretty badly //\\ I replaced lower control arms last year, along with droplinks & ARB bushes, I've also had new springs & shocks but the problem persists (seems to have got a little worse over time also) My X-Type is an early model from 2001 & I'm told there are some subtle differences in suspension compared with 02 03 04 models onwards. Would this mod work for my car? The adjustable volvo arms are difficult to find in the UK, but I came across these: S40/V50 04-12, C30 07-13 PFS Adjustable Upper Rear Suspension Arm-Pair
They look pretty much identical to the arms in your photos, do you think they would suit my 2001 X-Type?
