98 V70 non-turbo shocks and struts

[98v70dad]

For spring seats OEM Volvo XC90 spring seats will last forever. The old part number for the 850s and 70 series cars has been superseded to be the XC90 part but there still may be some dealerships that have the old part number in stock. The other choice for spring seats is the IPD heavy duty. Pretty much anything other than those will not last.

The OEM strut bearing / upper mount is very good and I don't know what company actually made it. The cheap aftermarkets from URO, Scan Tech, and Professional Parts Sweden, as seductive as the price is, are just bad news and should be avoided.

...Lee

I'm planning to order some parts today and it made me think about the shock mounts. I've never looked at one or had one in my hand and I'm wondering why I would need to replace them. They seem like a simple enough part, sort of like a steel bracket. Is there a rubber bushing or bumper in them that wears out? Why would you want to replace them if you're buying compatable shocks?

[erikv11]

You are correct on construction of the rear shock mount. I only replace them when they break, the rubber separates from the surrounding metal but it doesn't get lousy, it is either intact or not. I mentioned earlier in the thread, best is to eyeball them and decide.

[98v70dad]

You are correct on construction of the rear shock mount. I only replace them when they break, the rubber separates from the surrounding metal but it doesn't get lousy, it is either intact or not. I mentioned earlier in the thread, best is to eyeball them and decide.

Yeah, I understand about replacing parts on condition and I read your earlier post. I agree with you. I was a fleet engineer for a major airline for 15 years and deciding what to order and replace (for a fleet) was part of my job.

I work on my daily driver car (98 V70) on the weekend because I don't have any free time due to my one hour commute. I've either got to have the parts on hand when I start the job or risk having to do part of the job and then go back later with the parts. I can't just park it and wait for the parts I didn't order at the beginning because I didn't think I needed them. I would guess that a lot of people who read these posts have the same issue.

I'm not a mechanic (but I'm a pretty competent amateur) so sometimes when I'm doing a job its the only time in my life I'll ever do it. Knowing whats usually going to be too rough or shot to reuse requires the knowledge gained from experience that no DIY person is likely to have. I've been a DIY type working on cars for about 35 years but I've never done anything with suspension work.

This forum has been a great help to me and I appreciate the help people have given me and others. We all benefit from it.

[erikv11]

Sure, we are pretty much all in that same boat here!

It seems I was not clear, not the first time ... this is what I am suggesting: before you order the parts, i.e. to help you decide, simply lift the rear floor board of the wagon and look at the shock mounts. It will take you 10 minutes tops. If a mount is broken it will be obvious, the shock will stick up out of the recess. Bounce up and down in the back while you look at it, there should be no motion of the shock through the mount. If not broken, then you are good to go.

If you're trying to be economical then that's your only option really, in my experience there is no predictable failure schedule on the rear shock mounts. Some of my Volvos have original mounts, some have been replaced once.

[98v70dad]

I just ordered all (most) of my parts. I went with the xc90 spring seat and the Sachs/Boge strut mount. I was going to order the IPD heavy duty spring seats and when questioned about the quality of them the sales person on the phone told me that "they had some problems with the vulcanization process but it was all cleared up 6 months ago". For the extra $10 for each seat I opted for xc90 "lasts forever part".

They were out of stock on the strut tool and the expected availability time was at least 2 weeks so I didn't buy that. I could easily make a spanner wrench from some scrap bar stock and a couple of studs for the cross (+) nut (or use an open end wrench), but I'm wondering what's at the top of a Bilstein strut that I can use to keep it from spinning? Is it a female allen hex or a torx or something else ? I don't like the sound of using pipe wrenches without knowing what your doing ... and I definitely don't.

This project is pretty spendy for a cheapskate like me, especially for a 16 year old car. The parts guy at the dealership where I ordered a couple of bolts for the rear shocks told me that other than the spring seat, the strut and the rubber bumper, almost nothing else is ever bad. He did indicate that occasionally that link is bent from a wreck. I figure I'll worry about that when I can look at it and evaluate it. I decided to replace everything since I don't want to touch it again for a long time, if ever.

We've got pot hole free roads in Atlanta ... I'm originally from NW Pennsylvania near Erie. Up there we had big potholes in the interstate (I-79). Hit a big pothole going 65 mph and you'll know about it and your car won't be the same. When I was learning to drive I learned to watch for them and dodge them. All the roads in PA around Pittsburgh, Philly and the state capital are (were) kept fairly well maintained. The rest of the state apparently doesn't matter .... politics.

Right after I ordered the parts my daughter informed me that she had run it into a concrete wall today (very slow speed) because she was late for an appointment. Luckily all it did was crack the paint on the the corner of the bumper. She has hit enough things at low speed that it blends with all the other road rash on the bumper.