Lower my S70 without losing ride quality?

Dempsy · Post by **Dempsy** » 14 Mar 2012, 18:20

I want to lower my 1999 s70 t5 cause I can't feel the road but I don't want to sacrifice the ride.
I am looking at a couple on ipd but am looking for any suggestions for springs and strutts to drop it 1.5 inchs.
Will be doing it myself so is there anything I should watch out for that could be a pain in the rear?

Thanks!

ChiNorm · Post by **ChiNorm** » 15 Mar 2012, 09:41

"I can't feel the road".

What kind of shocks/struts and what conditon are they? What kind of tires? Have you upgraded the sway bars?

IMHO If the shocks and tires are good, do the sway bars before changing the springs. Any lowering spring is going to impact the ride.

Dempsy · Post by **Dempsy** » 15 Mar 2012, 19:45

They all seem fine but not sure what to look for on the sway bars other than the bushings. Tires I am told by the tire shop are cheap and they came with the car. The car just feels sluggish in the corners and heavy to stop so I wanted to get it a bit lower and a little bit stiffer to help it out as well as throwing some new rubber on. I realize its a heavy car but I don't want it to handle like one.

RobTarD · Post by **RobTarD** » 15 Mar 2012, 21:43

It's not really a heavy car but Volvo isn't Honda so the ride is on the comfortable side of things.

Swaybars will make the most noticeable difference in handling, new tires would be the smartest choice, and new springs/shocks/struts would be the most expensive decision but would certainly firm things up.

For less than a grand you can get a set of Koni FSDs and Eibach springs. This will lower your car and probably improve the ride.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 16 Mar 2012, 01:43

Dempsy wrote:I want to lower my 1999 s70 t5 cause I can't feel the road but I don't want to sacrifice the ride.
I am looking at a couple on ipd but am looking for any suggestions for springs and strutts to drop it 1.5 inchs.
Will be doing it myself so is there anything I should watch out for that could be a pain in the rear?

Thanks!

I have 205 55 16 on my 1998 S70 T5 and I can feel the road (age plus the 55 series profile). I think Volvo's are very taunt to begin with and corners well so you may want to look at the tires first before spending money on the suspension to find out you don't like the ride. The Lowered cars WILL ride firmer. Check the speed rating on the side walls. H is going to be softer than the V for instance.

My cousin replaced the factory Bilstein's (one blew) on his 2003 P71 Police Interceptor Crown Vic with Monroe's

and H rated tires. It rides like it is on pillows unless you bump the tire pressure up to 40 PSI and even then it is cushy if not slightly wallows.

Blessings,

BKM
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Just installed one new assembly and two shocks as the fourth arrived 5 days late.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-rev ... centReview

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ChiNorm · Post by **ChiNorm** » 16 Mar 2012, 08:34

"The car just feels sluggish in the corners and heavy to stop" = tires. Mebbe brakes too, but tires first.

Too much body roll in corners? = sway bars.

Lack of control & excessive rebound on bumps? = shocks.

Fix all of this before even thinking about springs, which are not the source of your problem.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 16 Mar 2012, 11:59

ChiNorm wrote:"The car just feels sluggish in the corners and heavy to stop" = tires. Mebbe brakes too, but tires first.

Too much body roll in corners? = sway bars.

Lack of control & excessive rebound on bumps? = shocks.

Fix all of this before even thinking about springs, which are not the source of your problem.

Definitely ChiNorm! If Dempsy's car is brought to Stage 0 with Gas Struts and Shocks the sway bars and springs should be sufficient for almost all driving conditions unless it is all out racing (DON'T) on the streets which will eliminate any ride quality. Sway Bar busings is the only item above Stage 0 that may help with responsiveness besides bushing upgrade in the control arms but that gets expensive for the gain in responsiveness and adds to no ride quality.

Blessings,

BKM
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Dempsy · Post by **Dempsy** » 16 Mar 2012, 13:31

Ok so, I have decided to take everyones advice and will grab some anti- sway bars and possibly be getting the ipd Track kit for my car as long as shipping to Canada isnt an arm and a leg unless I can find really good ones up here. I will also throw some new rubber on her when possible. After I do that then I will decide if a small drop will tickle my fancy.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

CHEERS......Dempsy

Post by **MoVolvos** » 16 Mar 2012, 18:48

Hi Dempsy,

Just finished installing the last Front Strut Assembly and took it to a parking lot and did some circles both left and right and it is raining out. To be honest the stock sway bars did not allow the car to have much sway and it stayed in the circle as if it was on rails without much body lean. You may want to spend the money on the tires first as that is your weakest link at this time. It maybe a large sum to put out first but if you discover the other parts were not what you expected you will still have to pay for tires either way.

Not to dissuade you from the Sway Bars but the T5's are pretty sporty in term of handling at Stage 0. I also installed a new set of sway bar links although the boots were not broken they were swiveling fairly easily. The sway bars will provide quicker turn-ins left and right and responsiveness in lane change but will not provide any ride difference but may be stiffer on bumpy roads as the sway bar counter the opposite up and down motions of the tires against each other. The new Sway Bars being stiffer will make bumpy roads slightly more pronounced.

Blesssings,.

BKM
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Dempsy · Post by **Dempsy** » 17 Mar 2012, 12:02

So I just noticed that my back right spring sits an inch lower than the rest of my car! Failed spring maybe??