745T, now with mods!!!

[Bishop]

I finally got off my ass, got some rear sway brackets, and did some actual mods to my 745T!!!

I have seriously good working space here, it's a shame I have to move soon...
http://www.thebronzealternative.com/Volvo/carup.JPG

Rear sway bar done...
http://www.thebronzealternative.com/Volvo/reardone.JPG

Front sway bar upgraded...
http://www.thebronzealternative.com/Volvo/frontbarleft.JPG
http://www.thebronzealternative.com/Volvo/frontbarright.JPG

I even threw on a new set of brake shoes...
http://www.thebronzealternative.com/Volvo/brakeshoes.JPG


Fitting the rear bar and brackets was easy, the only pain was some really tight nuts, it only took me 1-2 hours max at a easy pace, the brake shoes took the most amount of time, and a lot of that was pulling the armrest etc to get to the adjustment!, it's a messy as hell job though, and getting the springs off and on sucks.
The front bar was not real hard, although my floor jack was reluctant to get the car to a height where I could put the stands in a good spot, but the real pain was the front bars supplied D bushes, they were totally wrong, they need to be either wider, or not have the lip, so in the end I had to cut the lip off...
http://www.thebronzealternative.com/Volvo/cutbushes.JPG

I just used a sharp kitchen knife, chopping it off bit by bit, your not really supposed to cut poly cause it can create rip points, but I did not have a choice, everything was already apart and I did not feel like putting the old bar back on.
They fit ok once cut, but there is no side support now, the only thing holding them in is the clamping down of the bracket, I'm hoping it's enough to stop them working there way out the sides over time, but I'll have to keep an eye on them.

Took it for a blast round the block when I was done, it feels nice now, these things really do "need" a rear bar, it's feels hugely different with one fitted.
The font feels nice and flat now, you can really throw it into corners and it just sits flat.

[barefoot]

Grab yourself a set of fresh front swaybar endlink bushings. You won't know yourself.

tim

[BDKR]

Grab yourself a set of fresh front swaybar endlink bushings. You won't know yourself.


+1

[Bishop]

Just an update on the D bushes I had to modify, I emailed the makers of the front sway bar (Whiteline), and it turns out the bar came with the wrong bushes.
So now they are sending me out some replacement bushes, which should be a proper fit, I'll post another pic and update when I get them.


I actually thought about getting some poly end link bushes, but decided against it, they are kind of good for helping increase the overall rate, and sway resistance, but they can also up the sensitivity across the front end in a bad way.
Once you take away some of that dampening effect from the rubber, you can create almost to much of a sold link between the front wheels, so when you hit a small bump on one side, it's felt more across the whole front end, and in the steering.

I noticed it a bit on the 760T (which had poly end link bushes), but the 760T also still had rubber D bushes, the 745T has poly D bushes, and coupled with poly end links you would feel a lot more road lumps and bumps through the front end.
I actually had a car that had everything poly, and it was way harsh, I'm kind of trying to avoid that in my 745T.

[stylngle2003]

yes but your rubber ones are shot, so theyre worse now than poly ones would be. in actuality, you don't really notice anything quantifiable (at least i didnt when i put em on my gf's 944t...) but there is peace of mind knowing theyll last a whole lot longer

[Bishop]

My new correct bushes arrived today, and they have the locating lugs to keep them secure...
http://www.thebronzealternative.com/Volvo/bushes/192124.JPG

They were quite a tight fit, they went into the brackets easy enough, but they compress a fair amount when your torque up the brackets to the chassis...
http://www.thebronzealternative.com/Volvo/bushes/new24mmfitted.JPG

To give you an idea of how much they compress, the sides of the bush are within the bracket when fitted loosely, but end up protruding out the sides of the bracket a good few mm on both sides one fully fitted.
At least I know they are not going to go anywhere, it's all a very tight fit, tight enough that I also put grease on the bracket housing to help protect the new bushes, you don't want to put that much pressure onto a poly bush without lubrication...

[MikeHardy]

why did you have to pull the armrest to get to the adjuster. on my 700 and my folks 900 i just removed the ashtray at the back of the arm rest

[Bishop]

why did you have to pull the armrest to get to the adjuster. on my 700 and my folks 900 i just removed the ashtray at the back of the arm rest
I could not unlock the adjuster from the sleeve through the ashtray, it was jammed in very tight, and it was also wound all the way out, so it had to be screwed all the way back in, so in the end it was just easier to pull the arm rest.
On the plus side, I found $2 in change, a pen, two screws, the front ash tray clip, and the clip in cover for the centre tray all down there.
It also gave me the chance to vacuum out a lot of crud that I found, I have various other bits of trim pulled at the moment as well, it's slowly getting a good clean out, I have found some weird stuff under various bit of trim in this car.

[MikeHardy]

ahh, no worries. i do prefere the 940's with big easy to turn plastic nut.