Replacing front struts : which model ?

[erikv11]

I'm not saying the Gabriels are proven to be garbage. In fact it seems they are not total junk, they are at least lasting a year or so, maybe more.

I am skeptical of the Gabriels, but so far they have not been proven one way or the other.

[MoVolvos]

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Although I do not drive my car hard the back roads to the house is a stretch of 2 lane country road with some rough spots, bumps and dips. I also inflate my tires to about 38 to 40 so it puts a little more load on the suspension. Keep in mind there is Lifetime Guarantee on these through Gabriel.

BKM, I've got a 98 S70 base with a pretty exhausted suspension. From your posted links it looks like all I need do is order 2 of everything including shock mounts for the rear. I should be able to install the set in the driveway then just get an alignment. I've verified the tie-rod ends and control arms are ok and not loose. The car rattles like a 56 pick-up truck and I think it is all strut/shock related. 131K miles. Wife's car she wouldn't care about the quality of the ride, just as long as it were a little quieter.

I think your wife will be very pleased with the ride quality and you'll be even happier with the ease of installation.

Blessings,

BKM

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[j-dawg]

my wagon's previous owner rebuilt the front end completely and replaced the rear struts, using gabriels on all four corners. the ride is quite stiff but i think that has more to do with the lowering springs.

we'll see how long it will be until they need replacement. i've had the car for ~10k and haven't noticed any apparent loss of vehicle composure, so rumors of immediate gabriel death are not substantiated by my experience (though i would not suggest that it couldn't happen).

i think there's a source of tension when taking care of these cars that makes itself clear in struts. if it's a small amount of extra money, quality parts are obviously worth it. but spending an extra $500 on "quality" parts can be a dubious proposition, because any extra miles you would have gotten from them are gone if the car is "totaled" by a minor accident or engine failure.

with parts that will prevent that catastrophic failure (water pump, timing components, &c) the extra money is easily justifiable as prevention. but struts don't typically fail catastrophically, they just ride poorly and/or wear quickly. the cost of a poor-quality water pump or coolant hose failing is very high, but the cost of poor-quality struts exhibiting poor-quality behavior is survivable. so i think if you're not sure of the car's future past the next low five digits, the gabriels are probably not a bad buy. if you're looking to keep the car for another 50 or 100k, or to sell it onto another volvo enthusiast, it might be worth putting more money into better struts.

[KllewT5]

^Well said.

[MoVolvos]

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+2

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[erikv11]

my wagon's previous owner rebuilt the front end completely and replaced the rear struts, using gabriels on all four corners. the ride is quite stiff but i think that has more to do with the lowering springs.
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j-dawg's car has lowering springs, so for sure it doesn't have "Ready Mount" struts. And maybe not Gabriel spring seats or strut mounts.

It would be interesting to know what brands the PO used for the other parts in the strut tower, especially the spring seat.

In recent years, the great majority of aftermarket spring seats have been junk. They fail as early as a couple months out and usually within two years. When the spring seat fails, you have to do a full strut job (in terms of labor) and pay to get the car aligned. To replace that one inexpensive part, is somewhat expensive and a hassle.

[j-dawg]

i actually have that info:

110127 ENDLINK HD FRONT 870 P1 P3 PI-385 2.00 2.00 2.00 59.95 119.90 COMPLETED
115564 WASHER STRUT TOP P80 P2 2.00 2.00 2.00 6.19 12.38 COMPLETED
114337 NUT STRUT TOP P80 P2 2.00 2.00 2.00 9.34 18.68 COMPLETED
114448 TOOL VOLVO STRUT MOUNT T 1.00 1.00 1.00 22.28 22.28 COMPLETED
112616 UPPER STRUT MOUNT 850 70 80 2.00 2.00 2.00 66.71 133.42 COMPLETED
112831 SPRING SEAT HD 870,P2 FRONT 2.00 2.00 2.00 49.95 99.90 COMPLETED
112958 UPR STRUT BUMP STOP 2.00 2.00 2.00 20.06 40.12 COMPLETED

he used the IPD HD spring seats. i think he basically followed a reasonable course of action in keeping with what i posted earlier: spend extra money when it's not a huge investment but will save you headaches down the road, and buy things that won't fail catastrophically when the "good" bits are significantly more expensive.

the cost of bilsteins is much higher than that of the gabriels. the sachs isn't that far off, but he seems to have researched this job well before he bought, so i assume he had a good reason to not buy them. a killer deal on the gabes, maybe, or sachs were more expensive at the time.

i found the car on swedespeed. PO was diligent about upkeep, and when i've asked him about the car he's been knowledgeable and helpful, so i have no reason to suspect he made that choice without a good reason.

[erikv11]

... he used the IPD HD spring seats. ....

Exactly.

Struts themselves pick on whatever basis you want, but on spring seats you roll the dice if you go with anything other than IPD heavy duty or OEM Volvo (or Boge, which is the same).

No wonder you like the suspension on your car - the PO spent $150 per corner up front just on hardware and mounts, that doesn't even include the cost of the strut or the spring, so we are talking a minimum of $250 total per corner! Your setup is a far cry from the Ready Mount that others are discussing in this thread, in terms of cost, quality and convenience to install.

Here's a thought: If someone really wants to save money on the struts, consider the Sensen that several people are using now with no complaints. At Rockauto.com, front struts are $35 each and rear shocks are $28 each. Now *that* is a killer deal. Sensen + Volvo OE spring seat and mount ($85 at FCP) + bump stop ($10) you are looking at $120 per corner up front, highly competitive with the Ready Mount ($144 at Amazon)! The drawback is you have to disassemble and reassemble the strut - this is not a quickstrut setup.

There are a lot of ways to skin this cat ...

[j-dawg]

it's surprising how many permutations of suspension componentry you can dig up, and each one serves a different purpose. i think the takeaway here is that there's no "correct" suspension setup - it very much depends on your budget, preferred look/ride, and tolerance for labor.

that said, maybe there's an incorrect setup in the ready-made struts, if the sensens are any good. maybe if you're trying to flip the car to some poor sucker the preassembled units will do the job.

am i mistaken, or are there people who replace the spring seat with one from the XC90 rather than the standard? i remember reading that those fit fine and are more durable than the standard item.

[erikv11]

You are correct about the XC90 seats, but it is not really relevant any more. Volvo/Boge no longer makes or sells a "standard" spring seat, they sell the beefier XC90 part as standard for all of the 850s and early x70s etc. So if you order one for an 850, you get the same part as if you order one for an XC90.