I am in the process of swapping out factory front struts with a set of Bilsteins. Removal of old units is straight forward with the exception of removing the anti-roll bar connecting link retaining nut. (Chapter 10, section 5 of the Haynes 93-97 850 Manual) The nut spins with the bolt it is on, I removed the plastic grease retainer on the back side of the link and found a bizarre ball-joint which has a female allen-style receiver. This receiver appears to be in need of a Volvo tool. Anyone know the number or where to go to find it? Anyone in Wisconsin with 850s interested in doing tech. day to help each other out and pass knowledge? E-mail me at r11gsa@Yahoo.com or answer here.

The t30 torx is not the tool. A 17mm open-end box wrench slipped in between the rubber boot and the strut unit eventually purchased a hold; had to spin the bolt on nut end until wrench lined up, and it was off. The new units are worth the cash, especially with that ipd 10% off sale. The car handles smoooooooth. Now, it is off for an alignment. Thanks for your help and encouragement. Ciao

Alright thanks for your input. Just got back in the states and am commencing to head back to garage where Phoebe, the GLT, awaits.(The wife likes to name her cars.) So I'll update the progress. Nobody from WI for tech. day?

Are you talking about trying to get the sway bar end-link off? If so, you don't need to dismantle the end-link to get the nut off. Between the end-link and the sway bar is a piece that you should be able to steady with a wrench. Just stick a wrench in there and hold it steady and loosen the nut on the other side with another wrench. If you don't, the nut will just spin and won't loosen. That's really all there is to it, if you are talking about the sway bar end-link, that is.

kevin

The hole in the end of the stud should be a torx #30. You can also grab the back side of the stud with needle nose vice grips.

I think when you say female allen style receiver you are referring to the star-like pattern of the torx driver. It's just another kind of driver like a phillips. You can buy these at most hardware stores.