Hi all, i have a question about front strut mounts. the strut mounts are held in the car by 2 nuts on threads comming up from the strut mount. The nut that holds the shock/strut cartridge isn't centered in the frame hole, i noticed the most engine bay pics show the nut/rubber bushing biased back towards the firewall while in my car they are biased towards the front. Are there variances for different years or was my car incorrectly assembled. I've had this car only 2 months and haven't done any front end work performed "yet".

 

can you say "caster'?

 

Hmm, the strut plate is directional and has a front side so they all should have that "towards the back" bias... May be in your car they were installed wrong front to back?

 

Well that is my reason for asking. I just noticed it a few days ago, when i was looking in the haynes book. My book only covers up to 1988 and i didn't know if there might have been a change for the 89 models. Is this hard to remedy? I'm hopeing that i will be able to jack one side up, remove the 2 nuts, spin the plate around, push the strut back into place and re-attach the nuts. I'm guessing i might not be that lucky. I've attached a pic of the driver side strut tower with the right side facing the fire wall.

 

just disconnect the sway endlinks first and the control arms will drop down enough for those studs to clear and spin 'em back around. Definitely fix that right away!

 

here's my 1992 740 turbo,


and a 1991 940SE turbo that spent too much time on desert roads


for reference.

 

My 1989 740...

 

Thanks Everyone! I finished correcting the mounts about a hour ago and went for a little drive in the country. When i first bought this car, I noticed some intermittant front end wobble which i thought was flat spots on the tires from sitting for 2 years. It is a whole lot less now, and while having the front wheels off i now know i need some new inner tie rod joints. Ater that i think i will have a smoother riding wagon.
The really odd thing is while loosening the sway bar link bolts i noticed that they were still covered in the original undercoating could this have been a factory error?

 

wow, you're REALLY overdue for new struts-n-stuff

 

Oh yeah, I knew i was buying a "drivable" new volvo car kit "parts not included" but it was cheap and there is no body or frame rust and that makes it all worthwhile to me. Luckily i don't need to drive over 10 miles to do anything i need to do. and hardly ever need to get over 50 mph. I've always done mine own repairs for over 25 years so that keeps the cost down and 1 part replacement every couple of weeks should have my car in top condition in a year or so. Since i've owned it in april i have fixed the timing belt, front harmonic dampener, air conditioning, clock, dash lights, backup light switch, un-bodged a aftermarket radio wiring, sun roof, small water leak into passenger compartment, power antenna, rear tail gate lock, spare tire hatch lock , power steering leak, 3 door lighting switches and rear cargo light. I have found by doing 1 little job every week or 2 doesn't tire you out or overstress your mind. of course take care of the safety related things first on your list.