Well, my son's 95 850 suspension was starting to get a bit noisy at the onset of winter, and now after a rough winter it is rattling and clunking more than he (and I ) would like. It has 185K on it and it has aftermarket Gabriel shocks and struts. I plan on relacing the shocks/struts, but what else should I look at or consider replacing. I already did the front sway bar links and that helped a bit.

Glenn

 

Hi Glenn,

Here's a copy from one of the pinned posts:

FRONT SUSPENSION:
1. Upper mount (bearing) with new nuts x 3 each side (total of 6 nuts).
2. Upper springseat (notorious for wearing out & causing clunking noise).
3. Bump stop for strut
4. Special washer for strut
5. Top cap for strut
6. New bolts & nuts for strut lower attachment.
7. Ball joint/control arm with new nuts & bolts (Newer models cannot replace ball joint alone).
8. Sway bar (stabilizer) link rods (new parts should come with new lock nuts).
9. Struts (only if the car rolls too much or the car keeps bouncing after hitting bumps). Either OEM Sachs or Bilstein Touring is good. Bilstein Heavy Duty seems to be a bit too firm. Koni Adjustable seems to have good reputation too, as you can adjust the damping rate.

REAR SUSPENSION:
1. Shocks (Sachs, Bilstein Touring or Koni Adjustable)
2. Upper shock mounts
3. New lock nuts

---END OF COPY---

Until Tech logs in, I'll try my best. The only part that is contributing to the noise is probably the spring seats, but when I did mine I replaced almost all hardware. The reason; they are inexpensive but effective, and I did not want to dig into there twice. Some may say it's waste of money and in some cases it could be. However, if you & your son plan to keep the 850 for a while, I would replace hardware. The only parts I did not replace were the rubber boot for the strut pistons& the cross nut. Now, Haynes state that all lock nuts must be replaced, but Tech said it is not an absolute necessity so I believe you can reuse them. I replaced them because I'm a safety-phobia. BTW, I also replaced the ball joints (luckily mine had aluminium control arm with replaceable ball joints) as well as the sway link rods. After everything was done, I had the dealer do 4-wheel alignment. After that, the car's handling had improved dramatically.

In the IPC, I circled the parts in redthat I would replace. And I circled those that are optional or replace only damage is found. After I did all four, the car drove like new. As to struts & shocks, I went with Bilstein Touring (German) and was very happy with their performance. The only thing I did not like about them was the piston rod nuts, so I used black OEM nuts[8D].

So, wait till Tech & other experts log in so you get a great perspective and decide what parts you'd like to replace.

I hope this helps.


JPN

[IMG]local://upfiles/6892/13F1D0A178CF40D2A4995175B00BFB03.jpg[/IMG]

 

BTW, as I was organising my hard drive, I found these pics. They are pics of this light house in Chikyu-Misaki ("Chikyu" means "Earth/Globe" and "Misaki" means "Cape"), Hokkaido, Japan. Hokkaido is the northernmost island of Japan, and that's where I was born.

I'm sorry for deviating from the topic.


Kanji/JPN

[IMG]local://upfiles/6892/CFC2EEC2A8A1419490798FF0142993D3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/6892/CB13BEC34C0C4443BDEE651450E11C61.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/6892/B3089C6BC1DE4CC6B4E9207781993495.jpg[/IMG]

 

Those are nice pictures. Looks like a neat place.

 

I would do the spring seats and swaybar links in the front.
Inspect the rear upper mount have seen those break.