Volvo RWD 200 Forum

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Anyone Tried Dual Rear Shocks? (wagon) 200 1988

After dealing with a soft rear suspension (by design) for several years on my brick, I am ready to take the next step and modify the design to suit my needs.

Simply put: I want dual rear shocks to deal with the rough roads I travel over (practcally off-roading but without the mud)

Anyone ever tried this setup? I found a place for the lower shock mount but need to put another bolt up top... is there a good place to put it and a good way to mount it? Any help would be appreciated.

-Flup
--
-Flup, 240DL Wagon, 2 subs in the trunk, Dancing Bears Sticker to top it off :)








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    Anyone Tried Dual Rear Shocks? (wagon) 200 1988

    I know you would like dual dampers, but what is the problem you are encountering?
    If the suspension is bottoming , then stiffer springs and more damping may help. But if the rear axle is bouncing off the ground, then more damping will probably make it worse, as will stiffer springs.
    Dual dampers will do 2 things. Keep the damping fluid from overheating, since you will have more area to dissipate the heat. But is this the problem?
    And, they will allow you to double the damping rate, but this will only help if you are carrying big loads, otherwise with light or no loads, you will have too much damping.
    For rough terrain, long softer springs with just the right amount of damping is best.
    Peugeot wagons are much beter than Volvos in this area...........
    --
    744 & 745 16v 4+OD, 245 SE auto, 242Ti 4+OD, 245DL auto parts car








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    Anyone Tried Dual Rear Shocks? (wagon) 200 1988

    I ended up using airbags in the rear springs of my 745. An easier alternative might be KYB gas a just shocks (the white ones), these are much stiffer than stock and have a lifetime warantee.








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      Anyone Tried Dual Rear Shocks? (wagon) 200 1988

      Out of curiosity, what air bags did you use? are they of any help for overload?

      Thanks--------Robert
      --
      -------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '86 740 GLE turbo diesel, '82 Mercedes 300SD for sale








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    Anyone Tried Dual Rear Shocks? (wagon) 200 1988

    Shocks only dampen the movement, not support the car. What you need are longer/stiffer springs ... so get some overloads from iPd.

    -- Kane
    --

    While I would never deliberately mislead anyone, take into consideration that any information and advice provided was at no cost to you.


    6 Volvos in SoCal, from '64 to '94. See profile for fleet infomation.








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      Clarification: IPD Rear overloads installed, KYB Gas-A-Just installed (nmi) 200 1988








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        Clarification: IPD Rear overloads installed, KYB Gas-A-Just installed (nmi) 200 1988

        IPD sway bars are excellent.
        They do tend to stiffen the suspension
        because they resist allowing one side
        to move (up or down) without
        the other side moving at the same time.

        I think that anyone driving w/IPD sway bars will report a stiffer ride.

        It won't help in situations like speed bumps where both sides are trying to do pretty much the same thing.








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          I have to respectfully but strongly disagree about your antisway bar suggestion... 200 1988

          I'm afraid I have to respectfully disagree with your suggestion to use stiffer antisway bars (e.g., IPD's) in an off-road (i.e., any irregular road surface) application. Allow me to explain.

          Swaybars (actually, they're "anti-sway bars"), while obviously reducing sway (technically, a "rolling" motion), increasingly link the right and left sides to lessen their "independence" -- i.e., their ability to respond individually, and move oppositely, to irregularities in the road surface.

          A swaybar resists one wheel moving up and the other wheel moving down, which is what happens when a car rolls to one side. Thus, a sway bar should have no affect on a "bump" that is across the road (e.g., a "speedbump" or a "sleeping policeman" as it's called in various parts of the country) because in that case both wheels move up and down together. However, when one wheel hits a bump or a dip that the other wheel doesn't encounter, it's the same effect as if the car is rolling over (one wheel goes up or down relative to the other), and this is resisted by the swaybar.

          On irregular roads, you want the *least* swaybar stiffness. In fact, the well-known reputation of Land-Rovers (even without locking or limited slip diffs) stems mostly from their unsurpassed "articulation" -- i.e., their ability of their individual wheels to fully extend and retract, following irregularities of the "road" (or trail), independent of the other wheels, to maintain traction by keeping the tire tread pressed against the ground. Other reknowned off-road vehicles such as my own original-series (W460 chassis) Mercedes-Benz Gelaendewagen must rely on locking differentials to match a Land Rover Defender without same!

          Even if you have no traction concerns -- i.e., you're not really off-roading, but just, e.g., going to your hideaway country place down an unimproved dirt and potholed road -- you probably want to enhance the independence of the wheels, not lessen their independence for that road. Stiff sway bars will increase the jarring, bumpy ride that you probably won't appreciate -- the car will rock and buck more! Cross-country rally cars, for example, and especially if there are no paved sections, are often set up with minimal sway bars (or adjustable ones), to minimize the severity of the ride, as well as the aforementioned enhanced traction.

          Admittedly, a stiff sway bar might actually lessen the severity to the suspension of a single wheel falling into a pothole (because the swaybar will counter the extension force of the spring), but on the other hand, it will work with the spring to further resist the rising of the wheel if it hits a rock or tree root, as if you had stiffer springs, and increasing the jarring in encountering these. So the net advantage is probably zero if you're encountering a combination of both "hole" and "root/rock" road hazards.

          Stiffer sway bars are largely an advantage on paved roads, where they enhance handling -- and IPD makes very good (very stiff) bars, while knowing how to keep the front/rear balance (understeer/oversteer) that the vehicle should have for safety. Overall, they will not help you offroad, and if you get them for on-road handling improvement, at least be aware of their disadvantage off-road.

          Regards







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