hi! ive had my 240 for roughly a year now, ive done lots of fixing up and now i think the last thing ill do is probably suspension. currently ive replaced the left ball joint and tie rod, as well as the left strut mount. i havent gotten around to the other one because i dont have the proper tool? (what is the proper tool for strut mounts anyways?) on another note sometimes when i go over bumps or stop ill hear a squeaky or clunking sound in the back, i always assumed its just the intank floater arm moving around but im thinking its the suspension. sometimes i hear squeaks in the front as well so im just assuming it's the suspension in general since its never been replaced probably. please comment with anything helpful or useful, since i'm definitely not an expert in car suspension. thanks!

 

For the struts you should be able to tell what tools are required by looking at the top and bottom of the strut. Check out Volvotips.com to see if there's a diagram and details on torque specs etc. Typically you will find set of nuts holding the top of the strut to the fender, a bolt holding the bottom of the strut into the steering knuckle to allow you to remove the strut from the car. once on the bench you'll need a spring compressor to release the tension, then you can remove the top nut on the strut rod. The rod itself will either have an allen key or flattened sides to hold the rod while a spanner turns the top nut. Remove that and you will (may?) find a second nut under it holding on the spring seat/mount, bump stop, dust boot etc, noting the order of things as they come off. Just inspect and replace all the stuff that looks bad, and its always a good practice to use new replacement nuts and follow the torque specs to ensure the top can rotate freely. Note Autozone etc will rent/loan spring compressors - typically they are the "death stick" design

Here's what a Volvo 850 looks like undergoing a spring seat replacement... (see the one at the bottom where the center bushing fell out? That made all those bumpidy noises...)

 

Those are way easier to use if you have an impact wrench.