I’ve been dragging *** for several years now. ;) My dear 1895 Volvo 244GL had the look of my grandparents car when they would go on vacation. You see the stereotype on occasion in an old Buick. The car looks like it has 600lbs of Portland cement in the trunk, and the driver doesn’t look like he has a care in the world.

I just had to get that fixed. So about two years ago I bought the rear bushings from Ipd and installed them. That did wonders for the sag. The rear end lifted about an inch and the ride was noticeably improved. Instead of using the Volvo tool or having the work done at a $$$$dealer$$$$, I used a piece of pipe and four large C-clamps in a manner that I could never explain in words effectively. Suffice it to say it was a series of tiny twists to each clamp to ensure the part was rammed in to the hole straightly.

Next step was to get the 19-year-old rear coil springs replaced. I looked at Ipd's web site and calculated that the overload springs and shipping would come in at around $175. That is almost 1/3 of the bluebook for a 1985 Volvo 244 GL with 200K and minor cosmetic issues.

Instead, I tried my local Advance Auto. These guys used to be Western Auto when I was a kid, then they were just Western Auto car parts, and now they are another non-descript chain auto parts store. In my neck of the woods they seem to be the best at getting foreign car parts. Auto Zone, NAPA, Carquest and O’Rilley all have basics like shocks, water pumps and tune up stuff, but WesternAuto seems to be able to get most of the stuff between a tune up and the dealer’s proprietary parts. Anyway on the off chance I asked about spring and they said no problem. In fact the wagon springs were $10.00 cheaper than the sedan springs at $67 for the pair -WOW!

I regularly use the trunk of the Volvo to haul a bunch of camping gear, the trailer hitch weighs 30 or so pounds and with a bike rack full loaded with 3 bikes and gear I could really use the extra load capacity.

The install was the easiest job I have ever done on the car.
Here is the procedure.
1. Two days before the job I soaked the spring hold down nut and lower shock absorber mounting bolts with PB Blaster (I first heard of this miracle liquid here on the Brickboard.)
2. My son and I put the car on four jack stands, after loosening the lug bolts for the rear tires. – Two jack stands on the rear jack points and two on the front cross bar under the engine.
3. I placed the floor jack under the rear axel pumpkin and applied a gentle lift to take the weight off of the lower shock bolts.
4. I removed the lower shock bolt on the trailing arm.
NOTE: I worked on one spring at a time. I replaced the driver's side before moving to the passenger's side.
6. I removed the spring hold down bolt at the bottom of the coil spring.
7. My son lowered the floor jack. The spring was easy to remove with a little foot pressure applied to the top of the rear disk brake rotor. Reassembly is the reverse of assembly.
8. Then I did the other side. The passenger side has an exhaust pipe that adds a little level of difficulty to the issue. You will need to press down on the end of the axel with some force to get the spring out. It just takes a little twisting and it comes out with in a minute or two.
9. The replacement springs are slightly shorter and the wire is thinner in a side-by-side comparison. The also weigh noticeably more. However, upon removing the car from the jack stands and placing it on its own suspension it is easy two full inches taller at the wheel well.

So there you have it: A 3” lift. My neighbor actually asked if I put a lift kit on the car. Lifting the rear also makes the front look a little taller, which was unexpected.

Now, how does it ride you ask? The early observation is that it rides better (worth the money and effort). As the driver I felt the car to be more taunt and less likely to sink under acceleration. Also it doesn’t lean nearly like it used to in cornering. I made my son test pilot the back seat. He said it is firmer, and it doesn’t lean as much from side to side. I'll let the serious suspension fanatics here take the discussion further. I know I got my money's worth out of this mod.

Thanks to Jarrod and the rest of the Brickboarders for their support.

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1895 244GL - St. Joseph, Missouri