1999 v70 Cross Country Verify Front Strut Type?

[precopster]

He may use the Gabriel all in ones if he asks a garage to swap out the taller XC springs and place them in the Gabriel housings/assembly. At very worst he could order new XC springs and have it done before he has the car up on stands. This would mean an ENTIRE new assembly instead of using old parts.

This would save considerable dollars over an entire kit which the OP may not be in a financial position to deal with as well as the cost of having a mechanic fit/assemble the lot. Around 45 mins of garage time and around 30 mins pwr side at home and the swap is done. 8-)8-)

[PapaHepcat]

I went ahead and ordered a pair of Volvo struts from eEuroparts yesterday. They were about the same price as the Gabriels on Amazon. I haven't compressed struts before, but it doesn't look too difficult. I also ordered inner and outer tie rods to do while I'm at it. They're loose. Total was like $321, it's most of the main things listed in that kit and I was hesitant to spend that much. I'm already working on other things on the poor car (propshaft, charging system, tires, couple of codes, coolant leak, alignment after the suspension/steering work) and if I go all the way on everything, I'll spend more than I paid for the car in the first place.

[Ozark Lee]

I haven't compressed struts before, but it doesn't look too difficult.

It isn't difficult at all but be careful. I "rent" the compressors from my local O'Reilly Auto Parts store and they have always worked great. Just compress one side a bit and then move to the other, working back and forth until they are sufficiently compressed. I cheat and use my impact wrench to walk them down and it is very quick. Be sure that the safety retainer pins are there and that they work. I rented one set that had bent pins so I just returned the tool and went to a different store to get another set. Auto Zone and the other chain stores should have them as well.

For the cross shaped nut I just use a pipe wrench but pay attention to the orientation of the nut so that you can put it back on the same way.

...Lee

[PapaHepcat]

So I got the struts replaced this weekend (and a bunch of other stuff, but I'll save those for another thread). I basically followed the directions from here since I needed to do the brake pads & rotors and tie rods also.

Now it wanders quite a bit when I first give it gas (I only went around the block to test). Am I correct to assume that this is due to needing an alignment now? The old struts were the originals and were totally shot. The front end was bouncing on the springs completely. Also, going around the block, there's this one street that is super rough and bumpy. On that street, I thought I'd heard clunking coming from the front. What should I check?

I kinda got freaked out with the wandering, so I only went around the block the one time. There's a Les Schwab nearby that does alignments and all that. They're good folks. I'm tempted to just ask them what I messed up and what they'd charge to fix it, but the whole reason I did this myself was to try to save $$ on the repair. I can't afford to drop a huge wad of cash on fixing stuff.

[precopster]

Loose sway bar links will cause noise on bumpy roads however spring seats come to mind also. Did you replace them while the struts were apart?

If you replaced tie rods the toe in will be right off.

[PapaHepcat]

I didn't replace the spring seats, but there wasn't any clunking before. Would this come up now with me replacing the strut? and please forgive my ignorance, but you're refering to something like this, right?



And I'll check my sway bars. I suppose I may not have tightened them well enough.

If I do need to get new spring seats, should I wait to get my alignment done?

[precopster]

Yep those are pics of bona fide spring seats alright!! Did you allow the spring seat to take the full force of the spring without having the bearing plate attached? This is enough to crack NEW spring seats.

Always align AFTER the suspension work.

[PapaHepcat]

Oh good. They're not too spendy. Guess I should replace them. And yeah, I put it all back together before I uncompressed the spring. Now I wonder if I put it together incorrectly though. Ugh.

And I think I used my impact wrench when tightening the sway bar links. That wouldn't mess them up, would it? Maybe I need to buy new links also. Man, this repair has been a huge failure.

[precopster]

Guess it all depends on how well you know your impact wrench and which setting you used. Full strength on most impact wrenches is a little excessive for sway bar links. I prefer to use the impact on the lightest setting to get the nut fully on the thread then I hand tighten because I know it will be me undoing them.

[Ozark Lee]

The sway bar end links have a habit of tricking you unless the stud off of the end link ball joint is perfectly perpendicular to the end of the sway bar. The stud can bind and they will torque down to spec but still be loose. If that is the problem it results in a "popping" sound.

You can usually feel the loose joint by just reaching up and grabbing the end link joints while someone bounces the fender. If you have your hand on it you can feel it straight away. You can use a jack under the control arm to get things lined up and then re-torque the nuts.

Been there, done that.

...Lee