Noticing that the front end of my 850r has been getting a bit lower over time. Wheels are rubbing at full turn or at partial turn in a driveway with a slant. I have about 5 year old Koni FSDs and IPD springs. I did some inspection today and found that the upper "bump stops" are all but disintegrated... Do these guys actually do any work in the ride height... even just an 1/4" or so?

this is the part i mentioned:

Front Strut Bump Stop


THANKS!

 

They're only there for what they say. They do nothing but keep your suspension from crashing into itself. No height change at all. Sounds like spring sag or trashed coil insulator/mounts.

 

Kinda what i was afraid of... Especially at the price point of replacing one or both... What would tend to fail first.. the spring or the shock.. or do the shocks even fail? by coil / insulator mounts i assume you mean the upper spring mount? :

ipd Heavy Duty Front Upper Spring Seat

 

You will know when the shocks are worn, the car will be bouncing around. Sometimes they actually get harsher. Mine are on the harsher side of thing.

 

Shocks don't support the weight of the car. Gas shocks or struts because of the pressure in them expand and might cause a slight increase in ride height but it's not their function. The strut is only there to control the bounce. The spring is what holds up that corner of the car, all the weight. If it's sagging a new strut wouldn't make a noticeable difference. Either the upper mount/insulator is worn out and or the spring is starting to sag.

 

Had a thump thump noise on the left front strut for a long time on my 1994 850 but since just driving around close to home, didn't care much. But finally broke down and took it to Volvo. They said struts were fine (175,000 miles on them) but the plate at the top had lost its cushioning and stuff. So replaced that for $512 dollars and no more thump thump noise. Now, right front strut is beginning to sound like the left front strut did when it began. So, I think struts last a while but the other parts go. My back struts are also OK except the rubber cushioning thing at the bottom of the strut/spring disintegrated. I shoved in a tennis ball in there and now works fine.

 

BWAHAHAHAH.... Quote of the day! Lol

In other news, blerg. I pretty much replaced all components with new stuff when i did the suspension swap a while back... Easily 100k miles ago... Any guesses on what would want to go first? I know what the upper spring seat feels like when the rubber finally breaks. Pretty sure its not that.. ( you can see the play if you bounce that fender up and down with the hood open. Mine ist doing that yet, as they were new when i did springs and struts ) The other component you pictured, the metal strut mount ( the swiveling metal component) i bet i used the existing stock ones..do these go bad?

Thanks!

 

no ideas?

 

No ideas?

If you're still asking about the car being lower, ya, already said it's most likely the springs.

Any guesses on what would want to go first?

It doesn't work that way and what problem are you talking about having. It could be anything and there isn't a THING that is usually the problem. You need to get in there and give us some info on how it feels, looks and sounds. Someone needs to do some diagnosis.

It's been by your account 100K since you replace everything. At 100K everything is worn out except for maybe the springs. The parts might still be working but they are past their recommended service interval.

 

OK, so time to start shopping... Last time around i went with Koni FSDs and IPD springs. I looks at just replacing it all with the same stuff, but i dont see IPD selling the set of blue IPD lowering springs at all on the site! I saw on FCP that they have a set of springs made by "professional parts sweden" Here: Volvo Suspension Lowering Spring Set (850 S70 C70) Sedans 43430016 | FCP Euro

Anyone have experience with these springs? Now that the wagon is my wifes DD and im not doing any AutoX with it, i down mind going with a less expensive/ less aggressive setup... I was thinking bilstien HDs ( had these on our first wagon) with IPD springs, but again, are they selling these anymore?

 

After re-reading this, im realizing that i may have mis represented the symptom.. Is the car lower? not necessarily... But what it is doing is rubbing a whole lot easier than it used to in the front, like turning while going up a driveway, or hitting a speed-bump hard. I think its just the shock not dampening as well as it should.

That said, im thinking of starting but replacing just the shocks. I ran this by the guys at IPD and they agreed. He thought that the last thing to start to actually fail would be the heavy duty IPD springs. When I look at the gap between the fender and the rubber of the tire, its seems to sit about where it did the day i installed the Koni FSDs and IPD springs.

Now, question, the front is the issue, should i be SEW ghetto and just throw some new shocks on the front alone? ( ending with mismatched shocks) ? They dont sell the FSDs in pairs, just all 4, and im sure the fronts wear much faster then the rears.

 

I kind of find it hard to believe that a pair of Koni FSD's are worn out after 100,000 miles unless you live in an area with bad roads.

I would think that the R springs and the iPd HD springs would last 200,000 to 300,000 easy. My car has 244,000 on it and the original springs are fine.

Is the front end bouncing? If not, maybe you just need some new strut mounts and spring seats.

I would love to have a set of those Koni FSD struts. I would expect them to last 200,000+ miles.

 

I would love it if i dont have to replace them! Great video, entertaining and informative! I would say the most obvious symptom mentioned in the video is that when i hit a bump or pothole my immediate thought is "damn, i just popped my tire, or bent my volan! " Thats how HARSH the crash is when i hit a decent size pothole or bump in the road. The other symptom i mentioned earlier was that it rubbed very easily when turning or entering a steep driveway. It never used to rub so easily.

The front end doesn't "bounce" unless i am at high speed, and hit something like rolling dip combo. then it ponies up a bit.

Hope that helps!

 

Also, just for fun i jumped around a bit on the car, on the rear and front bumper, and it seems fairly solid... Not like an old caddy. Stiff like it should be, but that could be relative i suppose.

Edi, adding video here... At first it didnt seem too bad, but after viewing the video from this perspective, it s worse than i thought. This would be the rubber spring seats going bad, yes? Usually i would hear a clunk, but thats when one is fully seperated correct? is there a "worn out stage"

the good news is that i have a pair of HD seats sitting in my tool box. The yellow foam/rubber bump stop under the fender is pretty trashed though too. I should at least order some of these too yes... ? and perhaps the metal mounting seat? (forget what thats called again)

Drivers side, video Standng on bumber and jumping up and down, 170 lbs



Passenger side, video



Driver side wheel, photo FYI



Passenger side wheel, FYI

 

Any take a peek at the video? ..........id love some opinions...

 

(This post had me rolling!!! Funny!) Dude, I have thought the same exact thing. Going down the freeway and hit a freeway crease and man I just knew my wheels were square.

You really have blow spring seats. That's why the car is low and you see those tops poking out.

If you can't turn the tops around the mounts are probably fine but if you have to pull them to replace the spring seats go ahead and do the strut mounts as well.

 

On another note, how do you like the tires at 215? I had some at 205 and they got damaged all the time. Couldn't keep tires under the car due to eggs on the sidewalls. I loved how they handled and how quiet they were.

 

Woulga Shoulda Coulda kept it stock.

 

Robert, yes, the tops don't spin at all, i tried, very tight feeling. HAHA, i love your description of "Square wheels"

Well, sounds like i should order the mounts then too. I will go ahead an do that. I will need to get the rivets for the rear bumper too

I really loved the 215 profile when the suspension wasn't crashing around on these LA roads! No regrets there, seems to add a bit of cushion but probably why im rubbing so bad now.. ;-/

 

*** Update... went to town and fully disassembled front springs/ struts / seats and mounts... All parts "looked" in great condition. The spring seats looked like new, the strut mount bearings were intact and spun freely. The only thing worn was the foam bump stops, and they were "obliterated" I cleaned everything up really well, back the sexy bronze and blue of their youth. I happened to have an extra new set of spring seats, and i got some new dust boots and bump stops at the parts store. Re assembled and boom city! Woudja believe, no more rubbing of the tires!! )

Now, its still fairly harsh, but that might just be LA roads, and 4 plus year old struts... (installed in 09, thanks IPD for looking up the records of when i actually purchased) but it seems most of my issues have evaporated. I will mention a few things, the video i posted of the spring tops moving up and down... well, with the NEW spring seats installed I am seeing about the same amount of play. For my own record, I will consider that "normal" going forward. That said, perhaps they were just a bit worn and causing a bit of sag or too much flex, because all I really did was replace them AND the bump stops and I have a noticeably larger amount of room between the fender arch apex and the tire. ( perhaps 1/8 to 1/4 inch if I was a bettin man.

Long story short.. I have to believe that the bump stop must be doing some ( even if verrrry small) amount of work in raising ride height. OR the spring seat was just a tad more flexible than new.. or both, which i suspect ...