My buddy has a 95 maybe 96 volvo 850 wagon. The lower ball joint failed which caused the spindle to rip off and the axle to snap in half.

I have the whole front steering and suspension ripped out right now to make the repairs. He wants to add some beefy suspension to it for hauling and driving on rough farm roads (he lives out in the boonies). Pretty much everything on the front end has seen way better days, I think I have yet to find any bushing/balljoint that would be ok to put back on the road.

Anyone know what I can add to make this work? The only suspension kits I see are lowering and that sort of a thing, if anything I wanna jack this thing up. I guess I'm wondering if anyone knows if I can swap out with a different model suspension to get some more heft to it.

Cutting and welding isn't an issue if you can think of something crazy I can do to make this thing a 4x4.

 

The ***** joints and bushings aren't really replaceable except on the '93 models. You just replace the control arm and it comes with both the bushings and the ball joint. For that part OEM is king, anything aftermarket like Scan Tech and you will be doing the job all over again within 6 months on fine, smooth, city streets - rough roads will only accelerate the failure time.

I have not encountered any springs that raise the ride hight since everyone seems to want to make a low-rider out of these cars. Stock springs are OK but you may want to look into new shocks and struts for his conditions. I hate the ride of the Bilstein HD shocks and struts but they are as claimed, Heavy Duty. They also tend to slightly raise the ride height a bit. The Volvo suspension Guru King is Lucky at IPD, you can call him at (800) 444-6473 and he may have some other ideas for you.

Out of the box these cars have no camber or caster adjustment and any change in ride height will change the camber. Budget camber kits into the build if you go that route.

For God's sake avoid the $79.00 FEQ axles. If they even fit into the transaxle at all they will either leak immediately at the seals or break in half. If you want to do the axles right go to www.raxles.com they are more expensive than most but I have never ever heard of a complaint from anyone that bought them. The EMPI axles seem to be better than most but they are still not perfect. They hit in a mid price range though at a fuzz over $100.00 each.

For OEM parts call Darrell Waltrip Volvo at (800) 689-0021 and ask for Jamie or Don, they will sell most OEM parts for the same money as the other guys ask for the aftermarket crap.

...Lee

 

Thanks for the info Ozark Lee. I would also like to add that fwd cars are tough on front suspension. Also, Volvo has done a pretty good job at making cars with tougher suspension. They actually test their suspension on Rail Road ties, I mean like driving down the rough end of the tracks at speeds of 35 mph, etc. for miles. I've seen some of the videos. Other cars usually fail way before a Volvo does.

I would go with the OEM parts and see how long they last. Really sounds like he is driving on surfaces that no car should be on.

 

This is the kit I used on my 850 back in may of 2009. I have been running it since then with no issues at all. Also, I have about 7000 miles on the kit and I deal with the tri-state area potholes.