Just replaced the rear shocks on my 2011 3.2 AWD and now I’m gunning for the front struts in the next couple of weeks, so I’m wondering; Those of you who have replaced the front struts - did you replace the top mount and spring seat(s) too? Has anyone found them to be in good condition and re-used them, or is it just best practice to replace them?

The non-OEM Febi product is $37 (each) at FCP Euro. The Volvo mount is absurdly expensive; $190. If I don’t need to replace them, I’d rather save the money.

 

My suggestion is to start by going to a dealer web store to see the exploded view of a strut to get a list of parts and the OEM name. People tend to confuse the spring seat with the strut bushing/bearing and they are two different parts. You will also want to inspect other parts like the dust boot, bump stop, refresh various nuts etc and pay attention to torque specs and spring/seats alignments if you are looking to get another 100K miles. In my experience the spring seats, which are a hard rubber part with a metal bushing are likely to fail over time where the bearings do not unless there was some wear issues.

As far as genuine vs quality aftermarket, I've used Febi and found them to be a good choice - in fact they are OEM for for various Volvo parts. Sites like FCP and IPD will have some details on which aftermarket vendors are OEM.

 

Thanks for the input! Already have all the part numbers, and I’m familiar with the process…(I’m a big DIY’er.) Just wondered if people who have replaced their struts found the upper mount and spring seat still in good condition and did not replace it. Some brands have parts which last a lot longer than others. (I’m new to Volvos.) I got under the car and inspected all the bushings when I bought it last month and was stunned to see that they all still look great. I don’t know if the PO replaced everything or not (doubt it) but none of the bushings are cracked…and this was a New England car all its life.

 

I think I’m going to drop the strut assembly this week and see if the top mount is still good. I saw the spring seats when I did the brakes and they looked pretty good, judging from what was visible. If the top mount rotates well I’ll probably not replace it.

Has anyone tried re-packing the bearings or are they sealed units?

 

Found this post… Pretty much what I was alluding to in my OP, wondered if the same applies to XC90’s. I’m guessing @ES6T is a Volvo Tech or Indy mechanic…
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...17/#post419631

 

So I replaced the right front strut and upper mount/ bearing this weekend. (Would’ve done both but FCP Euro screwed up the order and only delivered one strut. -Unusual, because they’ve been great so far.) The bearing had a very slight amount of play which I think was contributing to some minor noise over bumps, so I opted to replace it.

One thing I discovered upon re-assembly; the “+” nut which holds the top mount wouldn’t go down far enough, so the top nut and spacer wouldn’t tighten all the way once the bearing was in place. Both nuts were completely bottomed-out and still left about 1/8” gap, so I ground 1/8” off the metal spacer of the new top mount. It was visibly taller than the one I removed, which appeared to be OEM.

The attached photo is before I ground 1/8” off the spacer.



Didn’t take an ‘after’ shot, was in a rush to wrap things up and forgot.

Using a stock photo from the web; this is the area I ground down 1/8”…



Without doing so, the bearing wobbled ever so slightly because the top nut and spacer would not completely close the gap. Anyone else experience this?

 

did you compare to the other side to make sure none of the parts were reinstalled upside down?

 

Didn't compare to the other side, as I wasn't going to replace it at that time (strut didn't arrive on time,) so it didn't make sense to unbolt everything on that side just for the sake of comparison. I was meticulous about putting it back together the way it came apart... Spring was seated correctly on the bottom seat/rubber isolator, top mount was seated correctly on the spring, "+" nut was on correctly (I even reversed it to see if it made any difference; It didn't,) then the bearing went onto the top mount, then the spacer, then the top nut. Not much to screw up.

I did my due diligence beforehand (looked at parts diagrams, watched a number of videos from 1A Auto, FCP Euro and others,) and I'm certain everything went back on properly. I think it was simply a matter of either the metal spacer in the middle of the top mount being too tall, or the bearing being too short. If I had used OEM Volvo replacement parts it might not have been an issue, but they were way too expensive.

One other side note; The Bilstein B4 strut is a tad longer than the OEM strut, so it doesn't allow the cap to go back on top.

 

BTW - this was probably the best how-to video I found... Hope it helps someone else.

 

Following up on this; The other strut finally came in and I replaced the left front weekend before last. Same thing on the left side… Space left between the top bearing and washer/spacer/ whatever you call it was the same. No clatter that I can hear from either side, so nothing is loose. I guess that’s just the way they sit. Don’t know what else to make of it.