Has anyone ever installed off-the-shelf non nevomats for 780 models? Are there any off-the-shelf struts that can be installed in place of the nevomats, just installing w/o any modifications. Thanks.

Hi Fred, Andrew, and VolvoSteel, thanks for writing, your replies have been very helpful to me. I was not considering the conversion kit as an option. I looked at my nivomats and they look like any other strut and because I didn't want to pay the $300+ for each strut, I thought I could go cheap and find something other than the nivomat or coversion kit (I didn't want to go through the trouble of modifications). Looks like I'll be putting spacers in the coil springs for a while just to keep me from bottoming out everytime I hit a bump in the road or scraping my fuel tank on my driveway. Thanks again to all. Appreciate your help.

I installed the IPD solution on a 89 760 with mixed results. The biggest negative that I experienced was the car was not able to carry a load in the back without getting pretty low. When I had two folks in the back, and added pretty much any weight to the trunk, such as luggage - it was too much for the springs.
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' Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst. '' (C S Lewis ; on Evil Men) 89 764 (170K), '94 940T (265K), 92 245 (150K)

Are you referring to the IPD conversion kit? I just ordered there conversion for my 89 780 which is why i ask.

Yes.
This was a few years back.
There was a real problem to start with as they had sent the wrong springs unknowingly at the start.
When I first had them installed, the back end was pretty well up there. I called and spoke to the guy at IPD who actually was in charge of that department. He told me to give it some time, and it should settle down. I sent pictures, took measurements and all.
Drove it for a few weeks - the back end did not come down much at all. Finally on calling them, we determined that the wrong springs had been sent - can't recall exactly how.
Anyway, IPD sent me new springs - paid for the re-install. The car set level and good, but as I said - it never could take much of a load in the back. I toyed with the idea of swapping the IPD shocks themselves for the type that has adjustable springs wound about them, but never did.
IPD was good all the way on this as far as standing behind their product. It was just an honest mistake to start with - the springs. Even after the kit was properly installed, I was just OK with it. In addition to the load situation, the ride quality was not that good.
As I read an opinion here after the fact, the Nivomats are just hard to beat on that type of car, and I think I have to agree.

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' Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst. '' (C S Lewis ; on Evil Men) 89 764 (170K), '94 940T (265K), 92 245 (150K)

I've had 2 780s and replaced the Nivomats on both with new Nivomats. I absolutely love them. There is no ride like it. My wife is jealous of the ride and she has a S90.

It's hard for me to see any value in re-engineering your car for an inferior ride.

Patrick

For the 780 IRS nivomat replacements, we are stuck with oem nivomats, and they are available online in various outlets, epay is one of them. IPD has the only off the shelf solution, but only after modification with springs. Mine are finally showing weakness at 235k!
good luck.