I just replaced all the struts on my wife's (formerly my) 1995 945 Volvo.
The car's been riding badly, pulling a bit and has generally showed symptoms of a worn suspension.

I ordered bilsteins from FCP... The jury is out on the choice of the cheaper bilsteins but I'll live with it. In addition to the front and rear shocks, I also wanted to replace the worn-out bump stops and dust covers.

Unfortunately, FCP and *most* of the other suppliers only sell an aftermarket combo stop/dust cover now. They were inexpensive, so that's what I got.

If you've ever done the front struts on a 940, you know how frustrating it can be - with the bearings falling out, and the lack of clearance to get the spring and cap assembly out (even using a set of spring compressors). Additionally, it's been way over 100 F here in St. Louis. Even working under my carport, I was rapidly sweating through my clothes.

After freeing the old struts and getting the assembly levered out of the wheel well, I reassembled the strut with the new parts. After half an hour of frustrating attempts to get the side back together, I realized that the Bump Stop - the *ONLY* one available DOES NOT FIT.

The hole in the stop is too small and the strut does not fit through. This means that the threaded end of the strut will not emerge from the mounting plate - no mater how much force you put on it.

These things are useless junk. They *might* work if I drill the hole out, but that would definitely invalidate the warranty.

Tasca still sell the correct stops at $25.00 each side, but nobody else seems to have the proper parts. So even if I order the pricey parts, I will have to go back out there and take the whole enchilada apart *again* Damn, what a waste of time.

back in October, I rebuilt the front suspension of my 1991 240 with Boge struts and OEM stops and dustcovers from FCP. Now I can't get anything but aftermarket junk.

What the Heck?







I rebuilt the front end on my old 1991 240 with FCP parts back in October and was quite happy