Best spring seats

jdmack · Post by **jdmack** » 21 Nov 2011, 09:11

Hello, I am planning on replacing the front suspension spring seats on my 1998 s70 for the second time because the crappy ones that came with my front suspension kit did not last 6 mouths. So my question is what is the best one to put in? I have researched this subject and it seems there are a few different opinions. IPD has H.D. s70seats (IPD brand)@$49 and also xc90 seats (volvo brand)@ $40 the price does not really matter, I just want the most reliable one, does anyone have a preference? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks John

Post by **wheelsup** » 21 Nov 2011, 09:20

My 850's OEM ones lasted 15 years/150+k. I bought the ones listed as OEM from FCP. I have read that the XC90's will fit and are of a little heavier construction however I didn't buy those based upon my experience with my original ones. I doubt I will have this car for 15 more years.

Post by **cn90** » 21 Nov 2011, 09:31

1+,

jdmack,

The reason your Spring Seat failed so soon is that: you probably used an aftermarket brand name such as Scan Tech etc.
My factory Spring Seat lasted 10y/100K miles.
I am now riding on XC90 Spring Seat, and yes Volvo OEM XC seat, not any other brand.

So to answer your questions:
- Brand Name: Volvo OEM only.
- Type: XC90 seat

Post by **matthew1** » 21 Nov 2011, 10:15

I don't know if the XC90 spring seats are stronger than IPD's heavy duty spring seats, I've never seen both at the same time to compare.

That said, I put XC90 spring seats on my ex's V70 about a year ago.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 21 Nov 2011, 10:52

I have had to replace all of mine on the 850s and I need to replace them on my daughter's S70 - they are in a box of parts in my living room and my wife is starting to get impatient to get the parts box gone. In all cases I have used XC90 seats and I have been happy - they are only a few bucks more than a standard seat and I am fairly confident that they will go to the junk yard along with the cars still in fine shape.

I suspect the IPD HD versions are fine as well but I have never used them.

Here is the comparison between the standard and the XC90 seats - note the difference in meat around the bushing.

: Original 850 seat.; DSC02417.JPG (214.29 KiB) Viewed 2108 times

: XC90 Seat; DSC02418.JPG (215.27 KiB) Viewed 2108 times

...Lee

jdmack · Post by **jdmack** » 21 Nov 2011, 11:09

OK, Thank you all for your replies (this site is great). Looks like I will be going with the xc90 units. Thanks again for your help. John.

db130 · Post by **db130** » 21 Nov 2011, 11:54

it should be mentioned that the part numbers for the 850/70 series spring seats have been superceded by the XC90 spring seat, so if you were to buy from the dealership you will be getting the XC90 spring seat regardless:

Part number 8646713 was superseded by part number 30683637(XC90 spring seat part number)

Post by **JRL** » 21 Nov 2011, 13:44

I was going to say that but it was in the last post.
You can't even buy "standard" spring seats anymore from Volvo so be very careful when buying on the net
Some have these in stock and will try to peddle them on the cheap!
So it's XC90 or IPD HD, all others are crapola!

jdmack · Post by **jdmack** » 21 Nov 2011, 15:06

Sounds good, I will go with IPD(Volvo) xc90 seats @$40 each compared to the dealer's price of $54. I guess my main concern was are the s70 H.D units any better than the standard xc90 units? I really got "kicked in the groin" by buying the complete front suspension kit and expecting all the component's to be of good quality as now I am replacing the "kit" parts on a regular basis as they fail. Thanks again for all your help!!!

Post by **JRL** » 21 Nov 2011, 15:22

Let me clarify:
I doubt you will get genuine Volvo XC90 spring seats for $40 from IPD
Their own IPD HD spring seats are very good, at least as good as XC90 spring seats maybe better
I've had a (near prototype) sets of the IPD's HD seats on one of my cars now for 35k miles and so far so good.