850 front suspension

wwilme · Post by **wwilme** » 23 Aug 2004, 11:35

I inherited a '93 850 (and its maintenance) through my recent marriage to its long time (189k miles) owner. Our family went through used 240s like underwear back in the day, and I used to replace the struts, outer joints, tie rod ends, sway bar ends, and even the odd steering rack regularly in my sleep. On the 850, there's alot of tossing and pitching and many clunk-clunks over broken pavement. So my question is, beside the obvious strut replacment, what should I be looking for? Searched, but could not find a "primer" on the 850 front suspension. With the high miles and assorted other electrical, etc annoyances on this car, we're not looking to spend a huge amount of money on it, just looking for a quieter more comfortable ride till it's time to upgrade to a wagon. Anyone have advice for the 850 newbie?

Stormin Norman · Post by **Stormin Norman** » 23 Aug 2004, 13:01

Upper strut mounts are notorious for these sorts of noises, also the sway bar links. Probably time to do both.

potroast · Post by **potroast** » 23 Aug 2004, 23:45

get under there and inspect everything. Can't tell you what you need to replace (if you want to do so inexpensively) So check what is in a damaged condition.

Tie rod ends, struts, mounts, sway bar bushines, ball joints, cv joints and boots, etc.

steve · Post by **steve** » 25 Aug 2004, 21:42

Inspect the sway bar frame bushings. I had to replace mine due to noise much like you have described. A clunk clunk going over a pothole or rough road. The sway bar was flopping back and forth causing a noise to be transmitted into the vehicle frame. It sounded like a loose or broken shock, but was not.

wwilme · Post by **wwilme** » 26 Aug 2004, 05:57

Thanks for the advice all. I know what I have to do, but can anyone tell me the best place to order/buy struts, top strut mounts, sway bar ends etc? As I said before, this car has a limited shelf life for us so I'm not looking for Bilsteins or OEM parts. On eBay an outfit called FCPGroton sells the Saches/Boge struts with a set of rear shocks for $249.00. They also offer "850 front suspension kit" which includes Saches/Boge struts, "Scantech" top strut mounts, "Febi" spring seats and a set of new "Scantech" springs for $429.00? Do I really need new spings? The eBay item desciption did not state that this package comes assembled. Is this a deal? Are there any other outfits that sell a kit including all the likely needed parts?

potroast · Post by **potroast** » 26 Aug 2004, 07:35

sears sells monroe struts (good struts) for $120 each installed.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 09 Sep 2004, 07:14

Really? I called the local Sears in Annapolis and they said they do not do struts on Volvos. Wonder why not? I then called the local NTB (formerly owned by Sears) where they quoted me $160 for the parts Monroe parts and $300 for labor! Looks like I'll do it myself.

Stromin Norman · Post by **Stromin Norman** » 09 Sep 2004, 14:44

FCP Groton gets very high marks on numerous Volvo forums, it looks as though they can be trusted. Sears cannot. Check the number of multi state crimminal complaints against them for auto repair scams.