Swapping Rear Suspension Tower with a Used one....

2001VolvoXC70 · Post by **2001VolvoXC70** » 10 Jun 2011, 11:38

Once upon a time, I was driving me car through a underground parking garage and heard a really loud "ting"

. I looked around my car and couldn't figure out what or where the noise came from so I continued on my journey home, not thinking much more about it. Two weeks have passed and I hear a rattle from the rear, sounding like my tool box, when going over potholes. One day I removed my toolbox and still heard the noise. This led me to investigate, which is when I discovered I have a rear spring that broke.

The broken spring is compressed amongst the strut. I purchased a used tower (strut and spring assembly) from the wreckers as I figure it would be easier and cheaper to swap the whole assembly rather than trying to compress and mess with a new spring.

Is the procedure to change this assembly pretty straight forward? it looks like only a few bolts will do the trick. Do I need an alignment afterwards? Any tips or tricks that may make life simpler in the process are appreciated.

2001VolvoXC70 · Post by **2001VolvoXC70** » 11 Jun 2011, 02:30

Turns out the wreckers sent me the wrong side so I have to wait a few more days to post the results. I am a bit concerned there will not be enough space between the axle and control arm to simply swap it out.

Any one have any input?

: Go Canucks Go!

2001VolvoXC70 · Post by **2001VolvoXC70** » 14 Jun 2011, 10:56

: http://www.swedishautoparts.com/V70/Volvo-V70-suspension-rear.html; tower.jpg (11.88 KiB) Viewed 1205 times

Im still a bit concerned whether or not I can just undo the Anchorage at the top of Strut tower and then lower the shock assembly out from under the car. Since im doing this at home, I don't want to end up having taking it off and then not being able to get it out between my control arm and such.

Anybody ever switch the towers before that can offer a bit of advice whether this is straight forward or not

2001VolvoXC70 · Post by **2001VolvoXC70** » 20 Jun 2011, 10:26

Alright since no one else has seemed to attempt this repair, I will update you on the reality of trying to swap your rear suspension assembly. I found out that it is possible to do with 2 jacks, 2 people and alot of determination. This is how I did it;

I started by jacking the car up and putting some wood underneath to rest the car on so it would be very stable. Then I removed the 4 screws; 1 at the bottom of the strut tower, two at the top of the strut tower bolted to the top of the wheel-well, and then the one inside the car with a crescent moon like washer(number 13 on the diagram above.) My spring had broke and was resting on the control arm. This was under alot of pressure and was holding my car up. I used alot of force to get it off but be carefull not to injure yourself when it finally springs out of its place. Once the spring has released its tension, you can manipulate the assembly in a way to remove it from the space it is resting. This is not easy as the space is cramped and the area to work with is small. I had to remove the broken spring off the assembly, and then slide it out. Putting the new assembly in required lots of diligence and determination. Place the spring assembly (tower) in the space and if you can remember which way you took the old one out attempt to put the new one back in the same way. The top of the tower is a very tight fit and took me about 15 minutes of manipulating. I ended up taking the bolt off the control arm and my brother would move the brake assembly up and down a bit while I forced the spring assembly into place. Again this is quite the challenge and I thought I was going to have to give up. But where there is a will there is a way!
Once you have accomplished the most difficult, you now have to jack up the bottom of the assembly to compress it so you can re seat it on the mounting. This too is a bit tricky. It took me several attempts to jack up the spring to get it in a location close to the mounting pin. Then I had my brother push down on the rear brake assembly to get the pin unto the mounting hole on the bottom of the strut. I was able to get the bolt in and this pulled everything in place. Remember that the spring is under pressure from the jack and if it was to release that pressure some way, it could potentially hurt you. After mounting the bottom I then had to mount the top. I had to bang it a bit with a hammer and crowbar to line up the holes and Voila! Remount the control arm and tighten everything up, and you are good to go!

In conclusion, what seems to be a straight up job is actually fairly difficult. I don't know if I would attempt this again, it may just be easier to take it to the shop and ask someone there to do it.