OK I had every intention of going with a set of lowering spring first. However a pair of IPD swaybars appeared locally and for under $200 - so I got them instead.

These are old IPD bars, not blu, but silver - just like the pair on my 67 Amazon Wagon - the IPD labels are gone, but the quality and style are unmistakeable.

I put the front bar on after work and took the car for a spin. The change in handling was instantaneous. There's still a little dip at braking and on some corners, but all of my turns were *much* flatter. HUGE improvement. Easily worth the cash I paid.

Since My car is a '95 with a live rear axle, I've got a thin rear swaybar in place. Unfortunately my new rear bar lacks any and all mounting hardware so I could not put it on. Hopefully, IPD will sell me a mounting kit for the rear end...

Still planning on doing springs, but wanted to report the initial improvement.

Thanks for tunning in.

That's some great advice guys. Thank you!

Guess some IPD springs are in order. Anti-sways if I can swing it.

Would I lose the normal carry capacity with lowering springs? I do haul with this car on the weekend, but it's a DD weekdays.

I was thinking some overloads in the rear and something else up front. Folks on TB cut springs, but I'm not too excited about doing that.

I don't encounter speed bumps too often, but the roads here can be poor. My 68' 130, with Billy's and Lowering springs was pretty rough, but survivable. Handling was amazing.

Good tires`are definitely key. Bear in mind that if you put in wider sway bars or stiffer springs the handling will be better. The tradeoff is that the ride will be stiffer. I put sport springs in my Jetta and going over speed bumps would jar your fillings loose....:)

re your comment, "...Stock front and rear anti-sway bars...."

This is the first thing I replace, with IPD's stuff, when I upgrade a stock Volvo I've just bought, after addressing the obvious needs such as fluid changes, etc. (full disclosure: I buy 240s, but the concept is the same).

Along with the bars and their mounting bushings (poly), I also upgrade the bars' endlink bushings and links. The car is better balanced and corners flatter, and responds better (faster) to steering inputs. At the risk of sounding like an IPD commercial, IPD antisway bars are the biggest improvement you can make for the dollars spent, and the second biggest improvement in handling at any cost (the biggest, cost-no-object being an upgrade in tires, but most Volvo owners are relative cheapskates* when it comes to tires, so I always find myself upgrading these, too, on a newly purchased car).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* re my statement, "cheapskate" Volvo owners.
Okay, I can rationalize their viewpoint, even if I don't agree and personally can't live with their reasoning. I know that when an ordinary owner of a utilitarian, ~20+ yr old, car sees hundreds of ads, from dozens of makers and discount outlets, for H- or even cheaper S-rated bargain tires, it's hard to swallow hard and buy a set of really sticky (and lower-mile lifespan) W-rated performance tires that may cost $125 per tire, a total investment that's in many cases a large portion of the total market value of the whole car.
But you really do get what you pay for. And given that those tires are really the bottom line in being all that's between you and an accident, you have to think about what it's all worth -- all your fancy springs and shocks, suspension bushings, swaybars, and even brakes won't do much if the tires are subpar, since your tires' traction can be the true weak link in all you do to upgrade handling. Personally, I use summer-only high performance tires for three seasons, and serious snow tires for the fourth season. But that's me.

You do not mention what tires you are running.

What impact do the spacers have on stress and wear in the suspension? Have they moved this transition to a place where you notice it more. Without doing some testing, could the problem be that you are now going somewhat faster?

Can you borrow a set of stock wheels that have performance tires on them - some enthusiast may be interested in a swap as an experiment.

Four or five years ago, Road & Track did a +1, +2, +3 test with a BMW. They did skid pan and lap times on the track. They used the same tires in each case.

The fastest? The stock wheel size! They asked a BMW engineer to explain the strange results - his pragmatic reply - We designed the car with that size wheels in mind.

Road & Track concludes that tire performance was a bigger factor than wheel diameter. Someone gets bigger wheels and better tires and incorrectly credits the bigger wheels for the improvement.

I have some Yokahama Prada Spec 2s on my 855R and they are actually sticky - you would not believe what they look like if I drive across some dirt, they sometimes actually have acorns stuck to them,

R & T also mentioned that many performance tires have poor load ratings - not good for wagons.
--
'96 855R,'64 PV544 driver, '67 P1800 basket case, '95 855, '95 854, the first three are mine, heh, heh, 485,000 miles put on 9 bricks

Shocks are designed to dampen the action of the springs - that's it. They can be stiffer in rebound or compression as one selects them, but the spring is the component that dictates vehicle response.
Sway bars act to transfer some of the force acting on one spring to the other side, usually in compression. So the left spring will be compressed on a left turn. Volvo uses flimsy sway bars to allow weight transfer, which is a good thing in slippery conditions. Stiff bars can make for exciting handling in such conditions.
So that leaves the springs. Stiffer springs, with a lower ride height, will absolutely transform the handling, all else being the same. Stiffer springs usually require better dampening, but you've got that covered. Stiffer springs allow for reduced sway bar stiffness ( in general Euro cars tend to stiffen springs, domestic tend to stiffen sway bars).
I've lowered a few cars with stiffer springs and never been disappointed. IPD springs in an old 142S I had, with Monroe shocks and a marginally stiffer R-sport front bar made a BMW killer out of that car. Incredible.
So from your description, I think you need stiffer springs. And an inch of lowering changes attitude, literally and figuratively...

Well, I guess it depends on what you are looking for, right? As set up from the factory, which is what you have with some minor upgrades, the car is pretty soft. I put the IPD anti sway bars on my 945 years back, it's a really nice improvement in turn in and overall responsiveness, but it's still soft, the front end will dive during braking, etc. For everyday, it's a nice compromise. I don't have any experience with a lower/stiffer 940, but the IPD lowering springs and the Bilstein HD's on my old 240 were awesome. Again, depends on what you want. Good luck.

Mike