Folks,

Finally got some rear shocks on the 1992 Volvo 240 GL wee green beastie.

Put Bilstein Touring struts on the front about five years ago as part a front suspension rebuild. The thing had actual real Boge Automatics on the rear, and they went click-click like the U.S.S. Enterprise Galaxy class pneumatic doors.

So, while in the Portland area I visited our dear iPd, the shrine, the home office, al centro to all things Volvo ... yet I'm thinking 1989 at times.

Got a set of the Bilstein Touring rear shocks, recalling some folks that complain about some manner of clicking. Nope. Fits like socks on a rooster on the 240.

As firm as you please like the front Bilstein Touring front strut cartridges. Perfectly balanced front to rear. (The rear shocks being three or five years newer, well, slightly more crisp.)

I did not ring things out on a drive this afternoon. yet no clicking.

And, even though I have 1991 240 wagon springs rear, a 23mm bar front, and I think 21 rear, well, these feel like the actual Boge Turbo Gas, the Made in Germany Boge, from like 1984 or so.

No clicking at all. No excessive clearance between the inside diameter of the steel shock mount anchors and the Volvo unibody hardware. A perfect fit. Socks on rooster tootsies.

These Bilstein are superior and firmer to the Boge by Sachs offerings (unless you like a Volvo 240 to have floaty-wallowy ride feel) at the same price. Not as firm or discriminating in the dampening as the Bilsetin HDs (that won't fit into later 1988+ or so 240 strut tubes, without modification, unless that's changed).

About 100$ for the pair, now.

Hope that helps you kind folks.

And now we have the real work to do to preserve this Volvo 240 forever. Even after the sun goes nova. Yet by then, we'll have a nice ride and warp drive and AC. Like modded 1976 Volvo 242 DL with M46 and micro warp drive:



I don't draw too well. Traced the 242 from a photo. Still have the color pencils. Glows under black light, too! Bought this 1976 242 DL in El Granada, CA near Monterey in 1988. Want a 242 Volvo 240 coupe again. With the SF Bay Area's Live 105.3 KITS on the radio.

Thank you.

West "Massive Inflammation MacDuff" Coast(?)
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The Volvo 164: The Mightiest of All Volvo Automobiles in Perpetuity

So, I'll do the bumper bounce to get a feel for the dampener (shock absorber) compression and rebound. Use a foot or knee at the corners and at the center fo the front or rear bumper.

While the Bilstein Touring on all four legs on the 1992 240 GL are all nice and stiff, the Bilstein HD rear shocks, at like six years, on the 1991 240 are not so stiff and feel as if they've failing after maybe 5 years. There is no HD-ness, if you will, when you do the rear bumper bounce.

The 1992 240 GL has factory front springs and rear wagon spring, all normal ride height. I'm preferring normal ride height on 240.

I think the Bilstein HDs would do best on a normal height suspension. They seem to need full travel so you get the full dampening range. The HDs are a more sophisticated design in valving, I guess.

The front Bilstein HDs, that everyone on this brickboard raved on in 1999 for 240, that WON'T fit in the 1987+ or so strut tubes, where I got the rude awakening in Summer 2001 in St. Louis in 100°+ heat in the sun and had to swap the 1991 front strut tubes with that from salvage 1984/85 240, are about the same, yet less crisp when new. Still beefy dampening for the 240 front end mass. Mind you, the 1991 240 sedan sits on the TME 240 Wagon version of the TME sport or lowering springs made in Sweden that iPd and others used to sell.

I'll return it to normal ride height sometime soon. Unless you do lowering right on 240, just don't. The TME springs are rusting, too. I still have the factory-installed 1991 240 springs in the TME box. These factory springs are not rusty at all. Yet I'd like the extra beef with some rear wagon springs or the full height HD springs you get from FCP Groton as ScanTech or ProPartsSweden?

So, for dampeners for your 240, the Bilstein Touring are the very best value for dampeners for all models 240/260 and probably all RWD models, imho.

Unless you want KONI. We'd like KONI, yet we can neither afford them, even if they'd fit, and we're not going to ever race a 142/242/240 again.

Maybe Bilstein HD works better in 700/900/90? I dunno.

Hope that helps.

Theobromine in that Earl of Grey Tea.
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The Volvo 164: The Mightiest of All Volvo Automobiles in Perpetuity

FYI: I just put Bilstein Touring shocks on my 945 and also did not get any clicking. :) I was a bit nervous about it after reading some posts, but no clicking.

As for Bilstein HD shocks in a 245... I have a full set in my 91. Yes, they fit in the 91 front tube. Tight and not a lot of threading for the gland nut, but 50k plus miles and no issues (It may be time to have then revalved soon). That is HDs on stock springs. Maybe too stiff for some folks, but combined with IPD bars, IPD heavy load rear springs, a mix of poly bushings, strut brace and firewalls braces that heavy classic Volvo understeer is gone. After doing this mod I just cannot live with a stock 240/940 suspension.

That said, I agree that the Bilstein Touring shocks seem to be the best bang for the buck.

MrNabisco!

Indeed! Agreed! Happy Sat-Your-Day (all day long)!!!!

The 1991 240 I have is a grey market import, and them gray market import strut tubes may have been smaller at the tapered bottom, or more (?) severely tapered. Pressed and such. I pulled the strut tubes off and they could not go any further. These tubes seemed shorter at the distance between the top of the tube where the gland nut thread starts to the inner circlip thingy bumper where the strut cartridges 'rests' at the strut tube bottom.

The Bilstein HDs would not fit the strut tubes on my North American Market, built as Halifax, 1990 240 li'l red wagon beastie! Neither will teh de Carbon struts I have.

When I'd start to tighten the strut tubes, the gland nut took up maybe about 3-4 turns into the thread, and it'd spin out. Though no thread damage.

The 1983-84 strut tubes I pulled off a non-turbo 240, (I had to pull several as these were rusty St. Louis, MO 240s at Speedway Auto Salvage) were a fine fit. The Bilstein HDs set in, and when taking up torque, about 1.5-2.5 turns of thread remain above the top of the strut tube. So, a proper fit. I was not going to grind away labels, the powder coat finish, and grind away metal material some do to get them to fit. But I grease up the outside of the strut tube with a marine grease so it won't rust in the tube during the service lifetime of the strut.

OMG! OMG! OMG!

de Carbon lives AGAIN! (Dunno if they do Volvo. Hope so!)

http://www.decarbon.com/

Mr. Nabisco, thank you!

Buttermilk MacDuffed
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The Volvo 164: The Mightiest of All Volvo Automobiles in Perpetuity

Interesting how the strut tubes differ between 91s... I guess I lucked out and got those HD inserts in OK.

I like my Bill HDs. Gotta say, I fell in love the first time a really accelerated down a gravel and dirt road.

Oh, the Bilstein HDs are really nice!!!

Mr. Nabisco, do have them on regular height springs, or lowered, or ????

Glad they fit your 240!!

So, I did the bumper check on the 1991 with the HDs all around. Rock solid. No bounce at all. Firm as you'd want. I dunno why thy felt vacant the last time a few days ago. Too much buttermilk?

And like the Bilstein Touring, too.

Since we can't get Boge Turbo Gas like we could in 1985 from Germany, the Bilsteins are excellent in the modern era for Volvo.

Wish I could live in Northern Germany, a real republic, to help make more Bilstein stuff for Volvo.

Or ABB of Sweden and do some power grid built-out world wide. ABB AB of Sweden is SO awesome a corporation. They do good!

Hope someone opens some facilities in Finland since Micro$loth turned out all the Nokia (Erickson?) folks. Every Nordic and Baltic nation citizen I'd ever met has been among the most upstanding, intelligent, and conscionable I'd ever met. Finland has a mere 20% income tax on corporations.

Finland is a great nation for some outside investment to put them brilliant Fins back in business!!!!

Windows 10 SUCKS! SUCKS! SUCKS! Insecure! Insecure! Insecure! Worse than Win 8.x! beh. What a pile. Say NO to an outlook.com account as you log into Windows 10!

I want my Apple II+ back. Some Pascal, please. Some Beyond Castle Wolfenstein or Castle Smurfenstein!

Thank you,

Sunday EVAP Canister Boyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ....
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The Volvo 164: The Mightiest of All Volvo Automobiles in Perpetuity

Billy HDs on my 245 with stock front springs and IPD heavy duty rear.
I read somewhere that 91 240 front springs are heavier than earlier ones.

Bilstein Touring shocks/struts on the 945 with 960 swaybars and under bar. Like it!