My 850 is all stock. I need to do struts and shocks, so I'm wondering about a couple of things:

1. Are Bilstein HD's too rough? I have 15" tires, standard springs and sway bars. I'm not a soft ride guy, but we do have a few rough roads in my area. I don't want to build a track car, just a reasonably firm ride would be nice.

2. Are the premium grades of struts worth the money? Or should I just go NAPA?

3. Has anyone changed the body mount mount bushings on their car, will it make a difference after 250,000 km on the originals?

4. I'm going to do the whole front end, so any upgrade suggestions would be welcome (sway bar bushings maybe?)

I've used the search button, there are some users who were unhappy with Bilstein, are the the minority?

I'm in Canada, I don't have a lot of strut options, basically just Bilstein, KONI, NAPA, or factory (through the dealer $$). I also have to pay shipping, I really don't want to have to return anything, like a defective strut.

The Bilstein HD's will knock your teeth out. They handle great but the ride is very harsh. Bilstein Touring Class, however, are very nice - Good handling and a good ride. I put Monroe Sensatrack struts on my son's 850. They ride OK but the handling isn't that great. The Koni struts are supposed to be great but they are out of my price range.

Avoid aftermarket spring seats and strut mounts like the plague. You will be doing the job again in 6 months or less. For the spring seats buy the XC90 seats, they are only a couple of dollars more, they fit perfectly, and they are much beefier. Used OEM strut mounts from a junk yard are better than brand new Scan Techs.

The same thing applies to all of the suspension and steering parts, particularly the control arms - go OEM. The prices for Scan Tech and Hamburg Technic is seductive but they will not last. The only place where aftermarket is OK is on the sway bar end links. IPD and Quickbrick motor sports make heavy duty versions but they are expensive.

Unless you have a '93 the sway bar bushings are not replaceable. If they are bad you must change the entire sway bar.

One last tip, when you replace the control arms it is important that the suspension be at its normal resting height before the bolts to the frame are torqued down. With the car on jack stands I use a floor jack to raise the hub to a point where it is centered on the lower door seam and then torque them down.

My 2¢,

...Lee

"One last tip, when you replace the control arms it is important that the suspension be at its normal resting height before the bolts to the frame are torqued down. With the car on jack stands I use a floor jack to raise the hub to a point where it is centered on the lower door seam and then torque them down.

My 2¢,"


That is more than 2 cents... Thanks,

Klaus
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Just driving a 1998 V70R :)

Klaus that's it? No suggestions? :)

I happen to like my Koni sport struts! I still have Nivomats in the rear of my wagon, otherwise they would also be Konis.

Klaus
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Just driving a 1998 V70R :)

Thank$ for the $uggge$tion$.

Will check co$t.

How do I tell if I have the self leveling suspension and need the special struts?

You are mixing metaphores :) Do you have a wagon? Is it turbo? And what year.

There are no struts in the rear, just shocks. Nivomats are large looking shocks and were optional on wagons, except "R" models. Nivomats also had larger shock mounts than regular cars and cannot be replaced with regular shocks.

The product plate near the battery will tell you. It has 2 columns, VOLVO on the left and Made In ... on the right. The 7 digit chassis number next to the bottom has the suspension. The the 4th character is for the rear shocks. M = Nivomat.

If you do not have nivomats, I suggest you look for a package deal, 2 struts and 2 shocks, of the same brand. I looked at shox.com for a reasonable(?) price.

Klaus

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Just driving a 1998 V70R :)

97 850 Turbo.

You are correct, I meant shocks.

Will check code Monday. Thanks.

We have a 98 S70 with 120k, before it, a 93 850 with nearly 300k.
Question 2. I was happy with NAPA's Monroe SensaTracks for the last 100k on the 850 & am happy with them on the S70 for the past 50k.
Question 4. I think the ride & handling will improve so much, just getting new suspension & steering parts replaced, that stock parts will be an upgrade!
I just did the S70; new upper strut mounts, spring seats, sawy bar links, and lower control arms (w/all bushings & ball joints incuded). All for less than $200.00 from Foriegn Car Parts,(FCP Groton) on eBay. They are aftermarket (not Volve OEM) but I have had very good experience with their parts over the years. They also sell OEM parts, ship fast and and are there to answer questions. This was not meant to be a commercial for anyone, just wanted to make you aware of economical solutions for your repairs.

Thank-you for the info.

I was thinking the same thing, that even the cheapy parts would be an upgrade and feel better.

I think you are going to find that most of the people who have done a number of these suspension rebuilds will recommend using the OEM versions of the parts.

I don't know if it is the mediocre quality of the cheapy parts, or the high stresses imposed by the basic 850 design, but if you do a scan on this site you will find numerous admonitions against using the cheapy parts for suspension work.

The problem with the cheapy parts is that they last, literally, a quarter of the life of an OEM part. That is speaking from personal experience. So, if your 850 stayed pretty solid 'till past 100,000, then your car will start sounding like a rattletrap 25,000 miles after that extensive rebuild.

Yeah, it's probably twice the price, but it's worth it.

That's a valid point. One quarter life doesn't sound that bad until you express it in miles. And think about how much work it is. And add on the alignment expense.

In the end you are likely wasting money. Better to do it all and do it right.

That's one reason why I'm thinking Bilstein. Still not sure about splurging on struts.