I have a 1986 240 I bought new. It probably has over 500k miles on it, but it just won't quit on me. I am considering replacing parts on the suspension to tighten up the drive. Does any have any suggestions what parts typically need to be replaced? Is it something I can do or are any of the procedures strictly shop stuff? Thanks for any advice or input!

Wow. Original owner and 500K.

If you are looking to restore things to what they were in 1988 or thereabouts, do what M.P. suggests in the first paragraph of his very comprehensive post. Save a copy of that post for when you begin to enjoy taking the winding roads again so you can go from there. (I will)

Of course, get someone to look at wear items for safety, like ball joints, shocks and struts, steering and brakes.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Hi

There are lots of things you can do on your own to upgrade the suspension.

Most common upgrade are the rear bushings. Look at the IPD website (www.ipdusa.com) and get the polyurethane bushings for the rear axle. They are tighter as the originally installed rubber bushings and even have the advantage that they last longer. Unfortunately the bushing work is shop stuff because replacement requires special tools.

Next step are the front and rear anti sway bars (also available from IPD). They offer some larger diameter sway bars which offer more tightness to the suspension when cornering. This job is easily done by yourself. The rear anti sway bar is removed a bit easier than the front bar, but both jobs only require common tools. If you decide to replace the front anti sway bar, consider replacing the front bushings as well (I´m not perfectly sure but I think that replacement of the front anti sway bar or stabilizer bar bushings could be made at home). There´s some risk when installing the improved anti sway bars. Due to better stability some drivers tend to be too confident when entering a curve. Result is an mild to heavy oversteer which could result in a crash, without having some special driving skills. If you keep the current cornering style there´s no fear that something like this could happen.

If you want to minimize that risk it´s also possible to install a limited slip differential. That was offered as option on the 240´s. This job is a shop job unless you have special skills and enough working space to handle the work required for the job. The rear axles of the 240´s are mostly the same as the front axles on the jeep wrangler. So the awd shops could perfectly assist you when ordering that type of work. Keep care to specify your axle type if deciding to do a limited slip diff installation. Visit the www.turbobricks.org website and go on to the "members" section. Then move on to "stu spencer´s" homepage. He has some useful information about suspension upgrades, including the slip diff job. Copy that, this should lead you directly to his webpage http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/6776/LSD.html

Next improvement which could be easily done by yourself is the shock absorber/coil spring upgrade. You won´t believe how much improved shocks and stiffer coils improve road handling. Depending on which model you choose you have lots of possibilities (lowering, improving without lowering etc.) If you don´t wish to lower the car and if your´s is a sedan think about to install some wagon coil springs on the rear axle. They are somewhat stiffer than the stock sedan springs preventing the rear end from sagging and may improve road handling as well. Given that my car is a wagon I couldn´t say much about that upgrade but I´ve read some postings facing that topic.

Check the different websites of shock suppliers (bilstein, koni etc.) to find out which types you could use on your car. Visit also the www.mvpvolvo.com website. There you could order complete coil spring kits for improved road handling.
Like I´ve said before, that job could be done on your own - especially the rear shock/coil units. The front are somwhat more complicated because the whole strut including the brake discs has to be removed. It depends on your personal skills if you want to do it on your own or not. The last front strut job a shop done for me but the next I´m going to try on my own - currently I have the Volvo stock strut components installed.
On the rear only the shock retaining bolts have to be removed and the shock could be lifted out easily. When doing this it is a good time to do the anti sway bar job as well because the lower shock retaining bolt is also one of the sway bar retaining bolts. If your car has the niveaulift remember to disconnect the air hoses attached to the shock before removing it.
For the coils you may need a spring compressor to lift them out but it is also possible without it when you take the weight off the axle by placing a jack under the rear differential bellhousing. I´ve done it with the spring compressor and it worked quite good.
When working on a car that is jacked up always take special care and secure it properly with jackstands, large pieces of wood blocks or something like that!!!!
Think about to lend or to buy a special jack with which you could lift the complete rear end due to more working space on the suspension components.

Keep your car running - up to one million :<) have a lot of fun with it and have a nice day!!!

Lots of greetings -- Ciao M.P.