Bought an 03 S40 knowing that it needed new top "insulater" for the strut mounts. When I got into it, the boots for the lower ball joints, outer tie rod ends, and sway bar links were torn so I replaced all; including the lower control arm and bushings and strut bearings. The only thing that I didn't replace was the struts, as they weren't leaking or bouncing. Now it rides like I have no springs in it at all, rougher than heck.

Two questions:
1) The upper spring seats are angled and it looks like they could go in any number of different ways. I followed the impression left by the spring but wonder if I have put an incorrect pre-load on them? What direction are they supposed to face, or is rotating them somehow part of alignment in these cars?
2) When I replaced the lower control arms, there are three bolts. The front ones run from front to back of the car, the rear ones insert perpendicularly into the bottom of the car. Are the bottom ones supposed to remain a little loose so that the control arm can rotate around them? How loose?

This has gone from a nice riding little car to a buck board. Any experienced advice is appreciated.

 

My question is did you let the car sit on it's own weight before tightening the lower control arm bolts? If you tightened the bolts with the car up on jacks you could have put the control arm bushings in a bind.

 

yes I assembled while on stands. I'll try putting it on ramps and re tighten. Thanks for the suggestion!