I want to tow a small pop-up camper with this car. The rear shocks are original and I'd like to replace them with something heavy duty. The weight of the camper lowers the car considerably and I don't want to drive it that way. Any recommendations about shocks (and/or springs) for towing with this car? Both Volvo and NAPA only list one type of shock for this car so that was not much help.

 

The is a rear heavy duty wagon spring listed on FCP Groton's site $41 each.

Otherwise, you'd prefer to have a car with the nivomat rear suspension (self leveling), but I would very hesitant to try to convert to it, for it's extremely expensive and not supposed to be very reliable. - AB

 

↑+1 for AB.

FCP Groton carries Bilstein HD and Koni Sport. But for normal driving they seem to be too harsh. But for your use, they may be worth the $, and since replacing the rear shocks on 850 is an easy job (though safety precautions still required), you can save the originals and use them when you need them. Just make sure to buy extra lock nuts, as Volvo uses many non-reusable lock nuts. It is probably ok to recycle them, as long as they have some resistance when you put them back and are not too old, though I wouldn't use old ones for too long.

Cheers,


JPN