The choices I have so far are the OMP (red), Cherry Turbo, and this one from Steve Bucina. There is one from DVS in Australia that looks very nice, but it is a bit pricey. I'm leaning toward OMP because it's the cheapest of the three. It's made of steel and can be adjusted. Motorspot in California carries OMP stuff, but for the 240 strut brace, they would have to special order it from Europe. That will take about two months or so. I can pick it up and save on S/H fees, so the total for this brace is about $149 after tax. The thing is that I'm not sure if the 240 OMP brace has two configurations, one for Euro models and one for NA models, seeing that the brace itself is not a one-piece design like the CT brace. I have looked around the web and I've read that because it has adjusting parts it's a bit more difficult to install.

I don't know if the Bucina brace is still being offered. I think it was Volvospeed or some website that had his info. His brace, if the info is still current, is $150. It looks nice. Anyone know what it is made of? Is there an advantage to the brace being positioned lower and in front of the strut mounts? Is the brace still being sold?

The CT brace from iPd is the most expensive of the lot, not to mention the oversized shipping fee. I don't think it has no moving parts. The good thing I like about it is that I've heard that it is a perfect fit with no need to modify the brace itself or move things in the engine bay around. (I don't have a flathhood.)

What do you guys recommend? Which brace actually strengthen the car's structure under load and functions as strut bars should? Another important consideration is fit. I don't want a brace where I will have to bend the brace a bit or relocate something in the engine bay.

I'm gonna install my iPd 25mm front sway bar, but I need to order iPd's sway bar kit, as I got the bar with nothing included. I also have a 25mm rear, but if I recall some people don't recommend a 25mm in the rear on a wagon. I asked my Volvo indie and he said it's fine. I've noticed that iPd lists 25mm front/rear setups for lowered cars only. My wagon isn't lowered. Is it okay to have a 25mm front and rear setup for a stock wagon? Thanks.

Hello,

I agree with comments below that the 25/25 setup that it could make the rear of your 245 a little squirley. My old 245 had an LSD that kept things in check.

However, I wouldn't waste money on aftermarket strut braces.

OE Volvo strut tower to firewall braces do the trick just fine for me. Plus there's usually a set to be had from eBay for around 40 bucks.
--
Happy Bricking!!! - Richard - '95 855T 364k, '82 242 GLT 121k

I cannot comment on brace comparisons but the Cherry Turbo upper and lower braces on my 745 16 valve work just fine. I had to bend the upper brace a bit to clear the top of the B234f engine but that is a special case. I found the only noticeable difference was that the braces eliminated the bump steer that occurred when I hit potholes and whatnot.

I have not yet upgraded the anti-sway bars on this wagon as I am not a heavy-footed driver and really don't need to. If I can get the bars cheap I will someday. Heavier rear bars will give you more of a bias to oversteer, as noted by others. One of the downsides to heavier bars in the rear of a wagon is that when you have a heavy load in the wagon, that tendency to oversteer is increased, ie is load dependent. I have toyed with the idea of installing PolyAir Springs (air bags that fit inside the coil springs in the rear)to keep the ride height constant when I have a load. They are adjustable so you can fiddle with under/oversteer a bit, but not without affecting spring rates, unfortunately. They worked fine on my old Taurus wagon, admittedly, not a great benchmark.

Bill

I'm not in any position to recommend one kind of front-end braces vs another (I made my own.), but what has been said about the anti-sway bars increasing oversteer is something I can attest to, and I would like to add that adding the bracing will increase that tendency. In fact, when I put the bars in my "93 wagon I didn't much notice the change in steering characteristics, except for the flatter cornering, but adding the braces, top and bottom, changed the handling of the car dramatically. Under most normal driving circumstances and conditions the car now has perfectly neutral steering and goes around corners as if on rails, but vigorous cornering, particularly if there is some sand on the pavement, will lead to definite oversteer that needs be controlled. I like it that way and have indulged in a few four-wheel drifts when no one was looking. This car, however, seldom goes out in winter and certainly not when there is snow or ice on the roads: I have a 142E with studded tires for that. My wife did take it out last winter for a short trip to the dentist and promptly spun out when a sudden snow squall came along. The car was on all season Michellins, but I'll be making sure it has studded snows on it this winter, just in case . . . Long story, but I thought the warning appropriate.
Bob S.

My personal favorite is the Cherry Turbo brace. IPD has free shipping till 9/1/2006 which should make the cost difference less.

I thought that too.... though they have "fine print" on the over-sized stuff. Not sure why it costs them so much to ship. I get lots of big boxes from FCP for a lot less cost.

-Ryan

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Athens, Ohio
1990 245 DL 130k M47, E-codes
1991 745 GL 280k (Girlfriend-mobile)
Buckeye Volvo Club

The wagon (because of the greater rear weight from the metal and glass) is more neutrally weighted (f/r ratio) and has a more balanced (nearer to neutral) handling than the sedan (which has some understeer).

Adding a heavier front bar alone (i.e., without a heavier rear bar) will add to understeer (which Volvo prefers for safety), but it may be too much understeer. I wouldn't recommend that in a sedan (too much understeer), but in a wagon it might change it to behave more like a sedan, which isn't bad.

On the other hand, adding a bigger rear bar (without a bigger front bar) changes a car toward oversteer. Wagons are typically set up with a smaller rear bar than a sedan (some older wagons didn't even come with a bar) in order to maintain that (safer) understeer characteristic.
Now, in your case, adding a too-stiff 25mm rear bar (even with a bigger front bar, too) to a wagon is predictably going to increase oversteer, perhaps to a point where it arises in unwanted situations.

All in all, you might want to add your 25mm front bar along with a bigger (but nevertheless smaller than 25 mm rear bar -- maybe a "turbo" rear?) to keep the car slightly understeering (but close to neutral), without the danger of an oversteering car.

The Cherry Turbo strut brace is very sturdy and does one hell of a job of strengthening the front end. The braces that have a "nose" sticking out in front of the tower tend to flex too much, not sure if Steve's is one of these or not but I've seen some that were purely for looks, not worth a cra& for keeping things tight. I've been running a standard CT brace on my '88 for years and Herman made a custom one up for my '85 flathood with a B230 intake, close quarters but nothing rubbed, parted the car but kept the brace, just in case.

I've run several 240 wagons with 25/25mm setups, just be careful in corners on slippery stuff, the rear end gets loose fairly easily, even more so with overload springs, and/or if loaded.

--
Dave Shannon
Durango, CO
'63 P-210
'67 1800s
'88-240
'06 F250 Diesel 4X4
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