Thanks all for the encouragement for me to do-it-yourself on the new shocks. The easy ones are done, now on to the front ones. Am awaiting the arrival of new strut tops and ball joints under the premise of "as long as it's apart . . . . "

What I learned -- the OEM shocks for the '93 GLT were made by Sachs and are gas pressured. While the Bilsteins are very firm, they are a noticable improvement over the factory standard (have had the car since new; the ride was never this good). Too bad Volvo cut a corner in the shock department. Wish I'd done this sooner.

Will update everyone once the fronts are done.