Since I've been talking trash about the Nivomats long enough I finally did something about it today. From the junkyard I picked up 740 turbo wagon springs and a 760 diesel 19mm rear sway bar. IPD provided Boge turbo gas rear shocks and 240 turbo poly front sway bar bushing kit. Yes its a perfect fit on the 960s 23mm front sway bar. I love the simplicity of the NON IRS suspension. The whole rear suspension conversion took 2 hours.
My gripe with Nivomats stems from the fact that I never load up the car enough to use them. I prefer the conventional suspension. Hopefully by the time you read this, all the pictures have loaded.

There is a special surprise at the end of the post to top it all off. :-)

New turbo gas on the left, old nivomat on the right.


740 conventional spring on the left with 12mm thick wire. 960 nivomat on the right with 10mm thick wire. Both have 7 active coils and 4.5" wide. Nivomat is slightly taller.


Old 16mm sway bar at the top, 19mm sway bar at the bottom. 3mm difference doesn't sound like a lot but the 19mm has twice as stiff.


Saving the best for last. New 215 wide tire on the left, old 196 tire on the right.


You didn't think I was going to mount it on the 15" wheel did you? I found the wheels with a set of almost new on a 740 turbo at teh JY for cheap. I just had to have them.


It was all worth it. This picture was taken before the suspension went in.


First $50 + $5 shipping takes the nivomat shocks, springs and all spring seats. They have 110k miles on them and are still in perfect working order. Yes they still keep the car level. These are for non IRS wagons. It will also fit a non IRS sedan but the ride might be too stiff for your liking. Kind of like overload springs.
e-mail me: jtantare@gmail.com


Justin

thanks for the info.i dont care if mine has nivos or not.for the $400 hit on the nivo's i'll buy new overload springs and shocks.the wifes 960 is starting to sag just a bit.my be interested around the end of the month on your used ones if you still have them.mine will get the conversion.
if money was no problem i'd take it to the dealer and have them slap new nivo's on.cant remember the last time i spent that much on one repair.
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92-965-217k, 94-965-220k, 92-944t-205k, 83-242dl,totaled(8/04), 84-242GLT,totaled(2/03),83-245GLT,retired(03)

Get the nivos at FCP Groton and save a bundle, plus from them they'll come with a lifetime warranty and easy to install.
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John Shatzer, '97 V90 @ 115K

Good work and nice pics. But to each his own. Seems a litle excessive to 'talk trash' about a shock you never really ever were able to appreciate. For a wagon, especially, they go together like bread and butter. Hope it has worked out to your satisfaction.
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John Shatzer, '97 V90 @ 115K

I've taken advantage of the Nivos exactly once. I pulled a late model B230FT block from a junkyard. With the Nivos the car stayed somewhat level. With the Bilsteins + stock non-Nivo springs the car had quite the old-school low rider look. Hopefully the overload coils will allow me to keep some weight back there.

However the difference in handling was night and day. The car is far more willing to go through the turns. The ride was slightly better with the Nivomats.

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alex

For me the ride trade off was just too much. I know the later IRS car with Nivomats ride fine. But when you add nivo to a live axle it just rides like a truck. Riding in my cousin's 90 740 wagon without nivo was what really convinced me. Handling was nothing to write home about either.

Interesting! My nivos were installed in my 92 with a solid axel. I also increased the swaybars on both the front and back. I loved the ride, and certainly not to stiff. But then, my benchmark for stiff are Konis on an '80 245.
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John Shatzer, '97 V90 @ 115K

Did you change the springs when you put the Nivos in? Did the car come with Nivos? What sway bars diameters did you put in? Thanks I'm thinking of converting from std suspension to NIvo. Is ride better or worse with Nivo set up?