Suspension and Brake Recommendation

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 01 Jul 2011, 09:35

Here's a picture my dad took for me of the control arm. Looks like Jblack was right and that it is a two bolt.

I still can't find the plate on the driver side wheel well. Maybe Canadian S70 don't have them... Or it's on the sticker at the driver side door.

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 05 Jul 2011, 19:34

Has anyone used Meyle control arms for a long period of time? As I said before, the car is gonna hopefully be used for at least another year, with around 7k to 8k km per year. As always avoid Scan-Crap and aftermarket, but the price different is just too huge. Plus a quick search here shows that Meyle aren't bad, but there just isn't too much info on them either.

Meyle Control Arm Kit

For the brakes, the stock brake size is 280mm, so would I have any problems going with the ATE Rotor and Pad Brake Kit 288MM? I have 15" alloy and steel wheels. Only reason we're planning to purchase a kit is because the front pads and rotors will need to be changed when winter comes, so might as well buy the whole kit to save some time and money.

Based on what both the dealer and friend's shop said about how the strut assembly, top mount and bearings need to be replaced, is this strut mount and seat kit what I need? It looks like it uses the XC90 spring seats.

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 12 Jul 2011, 21:36

Anyone? I'm hopefully ordering tomorrow.

Looking back, I think the XC90 spring seats might be a bit overkill....

Post by **vjaneczko** » 13 Jul 2011, 00:14

geokilla wrote:Anyone? I'm hopefully ordering tomorrow.

Looking back, I think the XC90 spring seats might be a bit overkill....

Overkill - nope!

I have to replace mine, and I did them last August. I bet you can guess I didn't get the heavy duty ones...

Post by **jblackburn** » 13 Jul 2011, 07:15

+1, go with the XC90 and DO NOT get the aftermarket crap ones FCP sells. You may have to source those from DW Volvo or Tasca parts.

You'd probably be fine going with those control arms and brakes.

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 13 Jul 2011, 09:05

vjaneczko wrote:
geokilla wrote:Anyone? I'm hopefully ordering tomorrow.

Looking back, I think the XC90 spring seats might be a bit overkill....
Overkill - nope!

I have to replace mine, and I did them last August. I bet you can guess I didn't get the heavy duty ones...

You used the OEM S70 seats and you had to replace them in a year?! That's awfully quick.I would have expected them to last at least 3 to 4 years

jblackburn wrote:+1, go with the XC90 and DO NOT get the aftermarket crap ones FCP sells. You may have to source those from DW Volvo or Tasca parts.

You'd probably be fine going with those control arms and brakes.

FCP has the XC90 seat kit that I linked, so I don't think I need to get them from DW Volvo or Tasca Parts.

If you say so about the Meyle control arm kit. Sorry, I'm just worried that since it is still an aftermarket part, as you guys said, it won't last that long. But at the same time, $440 and $190 is just too big of a price difference.

About the brakes, what are the stock brake sizes? I read that they're 11", but 288mm is 11.3". Not that .3" is a huge difference, but sometimes it's that .3" that could determine whether it fits with our 15" wheels or not. Or is it just an error on the FCP site?

Post by **jblackburn** » 13 Jul 2011, 09:47

Oh hey, they are OEM - didn't see the link. Cool beans.

I've got one original spring seat on my car (at 199K), and one of them went back around 140K and was replaced with the XC90 one. That was several years ago, and it's still tight.

Like you said, you're not planning on driving the car all that much. I put over 30K miles on my car a year for the last 2 years, so I never use anything other than OEM parts when something in the suspension needs to be replaced. FCP does have the warranty on their parts, so you will get a refund if they go bad again - and even an aftermarket control arm should last somewhere in the vicinity of what you're looking for.

Stock size for the brakes is 280mm. I have 302's on my car, so I can't comment if those will fit with the existing calipers or not. I should think so; otherwise they probably wouldn't sell them, but hopefully someone else can comment.

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 13 Jul 2011, 21:45

Isn't the warranty that FCP offers only valid if you have some certified mechanic do the install, or if you spend additional money to purchase the warranty?

Guess not...

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 06 Sep 2011, 22:22

I got the control arms changed over the weekend with Devolvor and indeed the old control arms seemed to be worn out as the bushings were really soft and could be moved quite easily. After putting on the new control arms, the steering felt a bit heavier and it doesn't pull to the left anymore under braking. I couldn't tell there was anything else different though... Not as pro as you guys.

He also took a look at the tie rods and strut mounts and spring seats, and he says they look fine so we didn't change them. The spring seats and strut mounts were still dead centre and not leaning to one side when we opened up the hood, and the tie rods, well I'm not sure how to tell. However when I was driving today and pulling out of the parking lot at parking lot speeds, I noticed that the steering was groaning a bit and it didn't want to return back to centre after doing 1 full turn (450 degrees) to the left. Like I couldn't utilize slide recovery. It's not really normal as it doesn't happen when I turn right, so I'm thinking that maybe something else in the suspension and steering department should have been changed.

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 11 Sep 2011, 00:49

Anyone?

Suspension and Brake Recommendation

Re: Suspension and Brake Recommendation