Front end clunk... Anyone tried these ?

[bmdubya1198]

Greetings. I have to say that mrbrian200 hit on a major issue I've had with this car. It does have a wandering ride and "following road grooves " type of feel . Never thought sub mounts could be a cause. My mounts are weathered and cracked. Doing the inserts would save few bucks. Any ideas of what installation of mounts might run ? Sway bar bushing probably due for replacement.

It'll likely be a couple hundred bucks for installation. Most shops would prefer to drop the whole subframe, which is technically the right way and it makes it easier to remove the old bushings.
The other method is to do one corner at a time and rely on the other three to support the subframe.

[oragex]

The two rear subframe bushings have each a reinforcement plate secured with two 14 mm bolts. These bolts get loose especially when the car is jacked right under this plate. These are stretch bolts btw. It will give you one clunk felt under the floor if it's on the left side, but only when manoeuvering to park the car moving slowly back and forth.

[oragex]

Make sure the sway bar end links are tight. Very tight. Very very tight. And check the engine3 mount, sway bar bushings as suggested.

Problems with the subframe bushings are possible, but they are very rare while the other things mentioned are very common.

Then you will have a problem undoing them. A faint repeated knocking while drving in city on irregular pavement is also caused by worn anti roll bar to subframe busings. The bar will then move and knock on the control arm, usually leaving a small dent to the arm. These bushings fail after 120k miles and are not fun to replace.

[erikv11]

Yes, don't be stupid about it, my bad if my suggestion comes off that way. Just make sure both ends are tight, of each sway bar end link.

It's a common DIY mistake on P80 cars.

[mrbrian200]

I fiddled around with mine for nearly a year until I got the front end to handle/track so that I was happy with it. Compounded by a set of aftermarket LCAs preloaded with bushes that were absolutely no good. Once I determined the aftermarket LCA/bushes were the major problem the couple cumulative tweaks that made a difference were setting the camber to zero degrees (factory spec calls for negative camber), those subframe bush inserts which tightened up steering response, and tweaking the front end toe setting. For the toe setting you can track highway econ on a flat level stretch of at least a mile long. There is some trial and error involved in that. I haven't quite nailed the rear end down. Mostly because the eccentric bolt used for toe adjustments back there leave a lot to be desired with regard to making minor precise toe setting adjustments. And I suspect the rear suspension subframe mounts in back might well benefit to be reinforced with inserts like are available for the front.

[theWIFES_S70]

Make sure the sway bar end links are tight. Very tight. Very very tight. And check the engine3 mount, sway bar bushings as suggested.

Problems with the subframe bushings are possible, but they are very rare while the other things mentioned are very common.

Then you will have a problem undoing them. A faint repeated knocking while drving in city on irregular pavement is also caused by worn anti roll bar to subframe busings. The bar will then move and knock on the control arm, usually leaving a small dent to the arm. These bushings fail after 120k miles and are not fun to replace.

+1... Greatest improvement you can do to your car's handling using pure brute force! Don't cheap out on the job if you attempt to tackle it. Trust me, I did the job twice in a month because I thought the Proparts bushings would suffice!

viewtopic.php?t=77040

As for the inserts, they suck. I couldn't get them in...

[oragex]

Yes, don't be stupid about it, my bad if my suggestion comes off that way. Just make sure both ends are tight, of each sway bar end link.

It's a common DIY mistake on P80 cars.

The end link also gets clunky on P2 if the nut is not secured properly (it's not easy to access either, I find it quite hard to put enough torque on it in that position). On the struts, the hole for end link it's a little bit larger than the threaded rod on the end link, it's what makes the clunk when it's not tight enough.

[mrbrian200]

As for the inserts, they suck. I couldn't get them in...

The proparts bushes aren't open all the way through. There's a film of rubber about 1-2mm thick about half way that has to be sliced or cut otherwise the inserts can't get past that half way point. The OE bushes are open clear through thus the inserts will push in all the way without modification.
I also noticed on the proparts bushes that the holes that the inserts go through aren't quite as big as the holes on the OE bush.
Basically the inserts are made to fit the OE bushes. You might have trouble getting them into aftermarket bushes.

[bmdubya1198]

Yes, the inserts are made to work only with the OE bushings. I've heard that they won't fit on aftermarket bushings, like Pro Parts.

[clifford06]

My bushings are original Volvo. I really am tired of spending money on this car and hoped these inserts would help.