Failed, XC90 Spring seat installed less than 2 years ago...

[rspi]

Pulled the spring seats today.. this is how it looks. There is like a 'ring' on the rubber near the sleeve on both sides, but it's not a crack (yet). About 7000 miles on them

Sheesh... I can't wait to see what my Gabriel Readymount spring seats look like... So are you thinking about spraying them down with silicone spray before you install them?

I thought those ready mounts were good for 50,000 miles until I seen my friends which had 12,000 on them. Spring seats were TOTALLY torn through. I guess the "lifetime warranty" is fine if you don't mind swapping them out every year. The think I don't like about some of these "LIFETIME WARRANTIES" is that you have to ship parts back on your dime and have the car down until you get REPLACEMENTS.

Go to 4:35 in this video:

[rspi]

Sorry if i am being totally anal here, but we are talking brand new OE Volvo XC90 spring seats here and not one that is OEM or other brand that is claimed to be for an XC90?

Reason I am asking is I have brand new OE Volvo top front spring seats waiting to get fitted to our XC70. The car had new ones fitted not long after we bought it under a recall and I'm guessing they were 'good' then as 6 years on they seem to be ok, but won't know until they get swapped out. Maybe just re-use the current ones?

Didn't think Rein were OEM I thought it was Sachs? Rein is another manufacturer I tend to avoid if possible.

Neil.

Brand spanking new OEM, Volvo labeled, with the Volvo sticker on the plastic.

[rspi]

Sheesh... I can't wait to see what my Gabriel Readymount spring seats look like... So are you thinking about spraying them down with silicone spray before you install them?

The previous owner of my '96 850 used what I believe were Gabriel Readymount struts. I was actually considering dumping them and getting some OE springs from the junkyard, then building up good Bilstein struts using new OE spring seats, bearing plates, etc. I was thinking of using XC90 spring seats but now I'm starting to second guess that. I don't mind spending good money if it means I won't have to deal with struts for many years.

AK, is there really that big difference between the (20+yr old) springs and the Gabriel springs? Are they really that bad? I actually gave mine up when the shop I took my old springs to tried to remove them by drilling, grinding, and trying to zip off bolts. Autozone took them off my hands. ( I really didn't want to stick them anywhere because they felt like a ticking time bomb!) I'm going to try to warranty these things if they are indeed in poor condition.

I thought everyone was saying to upgrade to the XC90. But in all honesty, I don't know where that narrative is coming from. Or where it started. I'd go with the Sachs spring seats if I had to do it all over again. (Again, I'm just speaking from what I'm reading on here from trusted voices.) I'm going to rub silicone into my spring seats before I install them. Rubber is rubber.

I believe that you'd be better off with old Volvo springs than with brand new junk.

Rubber is not rubber. A chemical material made by man. A good example of this is tires. Some last 20,000 miles others last 90,000 miles.

[rspi]

Here is my situation:
- DD, 850 T-5R wagon, Found 1 torn through spring seat in about 18 months, maybe 35,000 miles on Bilstein HD's. Installed with about 50% life left and removed them with about 30% life left at discovered spring seat failure. Replaced worn struts with newer Bilstein HD's with about 80% life remaining.

- DD '98 S70 GLT with iPd HD spring seats installed at about 200,000 miles with new Bilstein touring struts.

- Light use '95 T-5R sedan with 208,000, installed Swedish Car Parts HD spring seats and new Sensien struts. Will replace struts ASAP.

So, I will try to remember to update the wear / failure of these if it every occurs.

[theWIFES_S70]

Robert, how are those Sensen struts doing? I have a set... Never installed them and they're just sitting in my garage. I wonder if I should put them in my brother's V70! Can't wait to see this data!

[Cees Klumper]

My HD spring seats from IPD lasted only 2 years and 20K miles. Had to replace them totally shot last summer. Got new HD ones from Skandix in Germany, that have held up until now. IPD listed country of origin as Taiwan, whatever that means. I am on HD Bilstein shocks and struts since 3 years. All this on my 2003 S80 but I think they use the same spring seats as our 2002 C70.

[rspi]

Robert, how are those Sensen struts doing? I have a set... Never installed them and they're just sitting in my garage. I wonder if I should put them in my brother's V70! Can't wait to see this data!

A friend gave them to me brand new. The struts that were on the car were 130% shot. I only have about 400 miles on them and they feel a little spongy. Going around highway loops feel a little uncomfortable.

I should emphasize that I really like Bilstein HD struts so these are a lot different.

My guess is that they will last about 15,000 miles and so far this year I have put 1200 miles on this car so they should last at least 3 years if I have the car that long.

[tryingbe]

My HD spring seats from IPD lasted only 2 years and 20K miles. Had to replace them totally shot last summer. Got new HD ones from Skandix in Germany, that have held up until now. IPD listed country of origin as Taiwan,

My experice with IPD HD spring seats is the same, less than 20k.


My car came with no-name strut mount, shortly after purchase, they made noise, and I found them like this. The car came with Bilstein HD, probably didn't help.


Thinking I'd save money, I bought a set of Raybestos strut mounts, less than 6 months later, this happened.


Then, I thought, I'd buy IPD HD (older version). I installed them, drove it for less than a year, let the car sit for 3 years, and they were cracked when I inspected them while putting a new engine/trans in the car. You can make out the iPd on the bottom left of the first picture, they were made in Taiwan, seem to have more rubber.


No picture of the crack rubber.


By this time, I was totally done with rubber strut mount and those Bilstein HD struts were also done. Bilstein HD rear shocks are fine.

I bought a set of Ksports coilover, which came with the camber plate. I was pretty happy with the setup, I wanted adjust the ride height to slightly raise the car and still have comfortable ride, I got both. Unfortunately, the front struts were done with in 60k, a year and half. I could have choose to let Ksports rebuild the struts, for a cheaper option but I didn't feel like taking out the struts and align the car every 60k.


Having Koni on my other car, I like them a lot. So I did a DIY coilover with Koni struts so I can use camber plate so stay away from ksports and rubber seats for good. Hopefully these latest set of suspension parts will last years and years.





If I know how terrible short life the rubber springs seats have and how long ksports coilover actually last, I would gone straight to Koni.

For those who wants stock suspension, I would strongly suggest. https://www.kaplhenke.com/collections/8 ... trut-mount

Sure, they are expensive, but they will outlast your car!





As for NVH, I rather have a little more NVH than changing parts out every 20-30k and aligning the car...

[theWIFES_S70]

For those who wants stock suspension, I would strongly suggest. https://www.kaplhenke.com/collections/8 ... trut-mount

Sure, they are expensive, but they will outlast your car!

$390 for a pair vs $145 for both spring seats and bearing from FCP https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... eatkit-oem...

Though, it's the spring seats that usually go bad not the bearings... So that's only $40 a pair for Sachs... (https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... 0-s80-xc70) or $60+ for IPD HD ones... (https://www.ipdusa.com/products/4712/12 ... pring-seat)

And if a set is going out every year (say at 15K per year), if you're trying to hold onto the car for 4+ years ($160... subtract $160 from the $390 pricetag and you're looking at a spring seat/bearing combo that runs you more like $230... and saves you four-eight hours of labor)...

Math was never my strong suit, but since most of us have been on here for 3+ years, this is a pretty solid investment. (Unlike K&N air filters which only start saving you money at 300K+ miles! )

[tryingbe]

Wrong math indeed.

People really need to read everything.

595 USD + Shipping for the adjustable strut mounts & Luxe Steer™ for Stock Geometry Springs, (use this option if you are using stock springs, sport springs like IPD or TME, or KW coilovers)

Also, every time you get warranty, add shipping cost, one or both way.

Every time you take the struts out, add alignment cost.