I was looking at a 122 crossmember to see if it had the same problem as the 1800 upper shock holes do.

How big is the hole for the upper shock suppose to be? The one I looked at was about an inch wide. Looking at the upper shock hole for the rear, it's a little bigger than the stud for the shock.

How does one go around repairing the crossmember.

Paul

Here's a great write up on repairing the front cross member.

http://www.1800philes.com/suspension_reinforcement.html

So the hole in the front shock top is 5/8-inch in diameter. I thought it would be a smaller hole like the rear shock top one.

I wonder why?

Paul

The reason for the difference is there is supposed to be a special washer for that and other shock bushings in several locations.

The early versions of the front suspension used 2 of the special washers per shock, 1 went on top of the crossmember and the second one goes on top of the lower shock bracket. The later front suspensions used only the 1 on top of the crossmember.

And in the rear, 1 of these special washers goes on top of the shock bracket on the rear end.

The special washers used to come in the stock shock absorber kits from Volvo. The special washers are still available new.
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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502

Just measured the shock hole. The hole has been reamed out to 3/4".

Is that too much to install the special washers now? Is it the same for the 1800s? So if I needed to weld on a reinforcement plate, do I need to make the hole 5/8" and use the special washers, or should I make the hole smaller, and not use the special washer?



Paul

I just measured 1 of the special shock washers and the outer diameter of the locating lip is slightly smaller than 3/4".

And if you need some, we do have them in stock.

FYI, if you are using KYB shocks, the shock bushings that come with the KYB are too large for the Volvo special washer, but you can use the large side of the KYB shock bushings which fits nicely in the 3/4" hole.
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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502

The 5/8 hole allows the weird washer and the stepped bushing to index into the hole. If properly installed this set up should reduce wear on the mounting hole. If you don't have the right bits the threaded section wanders in the hole.
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Patrick, '68 220 , '53 GMC 4104, '97 VW Transporter.