I just replaced all the struts on my wife's (formerly my) 1995 945 Volvo.
The car's been riding badly, pulling a bit and has generally showed symptoms of a worn suspension.

I ordered bilsteins from FCP... The jury is out on the choice of the cheaper bilsteins but I'll live with it. In addition to the front and rear shocks, I also wanted to replace the worn-out bump stops and dust covers.

Unfortunately, FCP and *most* of the other suppliers only sell an aftermarket combo stop/dust cover now. They were inexpensive, so that's what I got.

If you've ever done the front struts on a 940, you know how frustrating it can be - with the bearings falling out, and the lack of clearance to get the spring and cap assembly out (even using a set of spring compressors). Additionally, it's been way over 100 F here in St. Louis. Even working under my carport, I was rapidly sweating through my clothes.

After freeing the old struts and getting the assembly levered out of the wheel well, I reassembled the strut with the new parts. After half an hour of frustrating attempts to get the side back together, I realized that the Bump Stop - the *ONLY* one available DOES NOT FIT.

The hole in the stop is too small and the strut does not fit through. This means that the threaded end of the strut will not emerge from the mounting plate - no mater how much force you put on it.

These things are useless junk. They *might* work if I drill the hole out, but that would definitely invalidate the warranty.

Tasca still sell the correct stops at $25.00 each side, but nobody else seems to have the proper parts. So even if I order the pricey parts, I will have to go back out there and take the whole enchilada apart *again* Damn, what a waste of time.

back in October, I rebuilt the front suspension of my 1991 240 with Boge struts and OEM stops and dustcovers from FCP. Now I can't get anything but aftermarket junk.

What the Heck?







I rebuilt the front end on my old 1991 240 with FCP parts back in October and was quite happy

A few years ago I installed Sachs Advantage and KYB bump stops. I don't see the KYB bump stops any more at FCPG. The KYB bump stops did not come with dust covers and I think there were some posts stating Volvo stopped making them and were not necessary.

Tom

As a dumb question, do the cheaper Bilsteins have internal bump stops? I know that the HD's do and I just used the blue dust cover that came with the shocks and chucked the old stops. This is just something that I would check.

Mike

Good call; I was confused at first when I put HDs in my car, I didn't know that Bilstein made them internal, and there was no way that giant piston was going through that bit of rubber. Maybe his are the same thing, as no bump stop would be bad. I don't believe Bilstein would make something incompatible and not have some sort of workaround or replacement.

The Bil TC's are just like any other strut. You reuse the Volvo bump stop.

That said, the original bump stops on the 740 were all chewed up, but totally reusable.

-Ryan
--

Athens, Ohio
1987 245 DL 324k, Dog-mobile, E-codes
1990 245 DL 137k M47, E-codes, GT Sways/Braces, Dracos, A-cam
1990 744GLE 189K 16-valve project
1991 745 GL 304k, Regina, 23/21mm Turbo Sway Bars

Hello,

Just went through the same thing with a 700 series car.

We used the MTC brand of combined stop and boot, but KYB makes them also.

We sprayed with silicone and used piston ring expanding pliers to push the boot down by pushing against a washer retained by the upper strut nut being careful not to scratch the shaft.

BTW, the warranty on your struts might be void if you damage them because you did not install a bump stop.

--
Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502

I put the old stops back on, but they have a very limited life.
Perhaps if I open the hole in the aftermarket stops a little bit with a drill bit, I can get them over the shaft.

I still do not relish opening up the strut again and dealing with that plastic bearing assembly a second time...

For all the warnings about damaging the strut shaft (which are well-taken) I found that when I needed to free an old worn out strut rod from my 240, I couldn't nick the hardened steel shaft with a bi-metal cutting blade on a sawzall when I was trying to.