Continually tired of my hard-as-a-brick ride, I am coming close to trying a pair of Monroe Sensa-trac's on my 96 850 turbo. I know I will lose a bit of handling performance, but I only drive my car on the highway and around town so it's a sacrifice I am willing to make.

But anyway, here's my question: when having the (front only) struts done (for now), I am thinking about the other components I should have replaced at the same time, since I'm having that area overhauled anyway. Here are some things that I have come across, I am wondering what you all think of this:

1) "Front upper spring mount": IPD sells these, I would think they mean strut mount, right? IPD says this is a weak part of the suspension system, has been upgraded by Volvo, yadda yadda. Should I just go ahead and replace these? BTW, my car only has 55K on it (but I am still fed up with the harsh ride).

2) "Upper Mounting Plate": Dan at volvoparts.com says these are replaced on an as-needed basis only. But is this the same part as the upper strut mount, or is it something entirely different?

3) Bushings: I know that Sin likes the Powerflex bushings, I am wondering if I should replace my current bushings at this time as well. How many bushings would I need?

Keep in mind I know nothing about suspension systems, and I am pretty much just crossing my fingers that the Monroe's will help with the ride quality. Comments about any of this, anyone? Thanks for letting me ramble...