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V90, 965 strut and shock question

mikezohsix

Active member
Joined
Jan 6, 2008
Location
granville ma
Is there anything available besides the stock strut and Monroe for this car?
I really wanted at least KYB HDs for my LS powered wagon...

Can I install 740 struts to get a better choice of inserts?

I need to do something and don't want to spend all that money just to get back to stock suspension.
 
Pretty much nothing for these cars. 740/940 stuff won't fit, either. Kaplhenke Racing makes a front coilover kit for 95+ 960s, though. They're on the list for my car. Definitely a good option. As for the rear, good luck. The Poi detailed a custom rear coilover set up on his car in his build thread so it can be done, but it requires some fabrication and piecing together. I've heard that the sedans came with stiffer rear sway bars too, but I'd stay away from them with a wagon unless you do something about the front suspension first. An overly stiff rear sway will just cause understeer. They put the lighter rear sway on the wagons for a reason.

A front strut brace will also help stiffen up the chassis a bit. Unfortunately the strut braces that fit the 940s will only fit a 960 if you remove or customize the air conditioning system. There aren't any strut braces available for 960s, yet. FYI, the 960s already have a very good lower chassis brace from the factory.
 
There's the GE motorsport setup for the front and rear, but you'd have to have it shipped from Sweden or elsewhere.

http://webbshop.l-m-r.se/product.do?productId=VO96002 4095kr is ~650USD

Another option is 850 shocks which will bolt onto the front spindles, but fabrication is required for the top bearing.

I'm using the same setup on the front of my S90 with great success, that is an 850 koni shock modified to use coilover sleeves and springs, with a sleeve/spacer at the top of the strut tube so it fits the factory strut mount.
 
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I need to do something and don't want to spend all that money just to get back to stock suspension.
A fresh stock 960/S/V90 suspension will get you a long way. The factory shocks are unique in design, high pressure gas/hydraulic but don't last more than 70-80k without giving that mushy feel. New 960's don't do that. If you really want it to handle well get new factory springs if it's over 200k miles
The front struts are longer than the 850/S/V70, as are the springs, and longer front coils don't last as long as other Volvo coils, nor does the rear leaf.

I have heard mixed reviews on the Monroe, and BTW the Monroes were more than stock Volvo shocks when I replaced all 4 on my '97 965 last year (IIRC ~240 from Tasca). I wouldn't waste the money on Monroe. I'm going to replace my springs soon, have 180k on them and they are a bit spongy. I have owned two new '95-up 960's and they were great with stock suspension. I wouldn't have it any other way, Volvo parts only.
Now if the Volvo Sport Suspension kit was still available, I would consider it. SAM in Sweden has one for ~$2500
 
Ya, there's really nothing available for these cars. I'm going custom once my motor swap is done. Local pro-racing engineer friend is going to design/spec for me. Probbaly will be using ProShocks, especially since they're 15 minutes form my house, and they design/build high pressure gas shocks for all kinds of stuff. also, more than likely, going to delete the worn-out rear leaf.

http://www.proshocks.com/rshocks/dwncat.htm
 
Thanks for the replies.
I'm going stock Volvo, Monroe never impressed me.
I have enough to do without getting too deep in the suspension.

The car only has 138k on it, so I'm not replacing springs at this point. I will be cutting one coil off the front because the front end is higher than stock since the eng/trans in the car is lighter than the stock eng/trans by a bit over 100# according to the spring scale I used when everything was out of the car.

I went thru the front end today and found the rear A arm bushings torn on both sides. Front bushings looked ok, as did the ball joints, but I'm going to do front and rear A arm bushings and ball joints, while it's apart.
 
...I'm going stock Volvo, Monroe never impressed me....

Monroe actually makes the struts for Volvo. I have no idea if the Monroe sens-a-tracs you can buy at O'Reilly are the same design or quality. I've always bought the shocks from Volvo.

I went thru the front end today and found the rear A arm bushings torn on both sides.

Ya you're gonna find yourself going through those every 10k miles or so. It's really the worst bushing ever made by anyone. It's awful. Reference: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=221928 . I ended up making this: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=228125 . If I ever get my car back on the road I'll let you know if it works.
 
Monroe actually makes the struts for Volvo. I have no idea if the Monroe sens-a-tracs you can buy at O'Reilly are the same design or quality. I've always bought the shocks from Volvo.



Ya you're gonna find yourself going through those every 10k miles or so. It's really the worst bushing ever made by anyone. It's awful. Reference: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=221928 . I ended up making this: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=228125 . If I ever get my car back on the road I'll let you know if it works.



Are you sure it's Monroe, not Sachs/Boge?? I'm not sure I like the idea of a bearing there, I had considered spacing that bushing (and therefore the control arm) down a bit to help with anti-dive, allowing it to load that bushing even more, but on a different axis from how you measured in your .gif.. Perhaps there's a bushing from a different manufacturer that is the same diameter thats solid rubber?
 
Luckily or not, but there's another player in the game -- a complete set of coilovers from Classicswede:


The front one is Taiwan made gas Twin tube design gas pressure struts, rear - gas shocks product of UK. They are primarily oriented for sportier lower setup with harder springs, but custom versions can also be made to order. It could be a decent solution to sagging OEM parts, and there are some pending reviews available on the Tube channel.
 
Luckily or not, but there's another player in the game -- a complete set of coilovers from Classicswede:


The front one is Taiwan made gas Twin tube design gas pressure struts, rear - gas shocks product of UK. They are primarily oriented for sportier lower setup with harder springs, but custom versions can also be made to order. It could be a decent solution to sagging OEM parts, and there are some pending reviews available on the Tube channel.

I run them on my daily - hence the reason they were developed and a good test bed for teh cheaper front coilovers
 
Well, at least one thread has been updated
smile.png
 
These are not the options -- these are where my order is pending. Happened that i found them before discovering this board. :oogle:
 
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I run them on my daily - hence the reason they were developed and a good test bed for teh cheaper front coilovers


Do you have any pics of your car with these coilovers installed? Are you running both front and rear coilovers? What is the ride quality like compared to a stock setup? I?ve been saving my pennies for the kaphlenke stuff, but if I can achieve my desired stance for less than half the price from him, I?m very interested in learning more about what you?ve got to offer.
 
I can take some photos of mine in daylight but its set very high for hammering down rough farm tracks and getting stuffed full of gear. On the shorter version of the kit you can drop it as low as you like.

The reason I went with teh coilovers is I don't like soft suspension and it was a good way to test them out. As its the family car its knocked up a good few miles and the mrs has not complained at all about it.
 
How did you get the pegs to fit up front? I'm trying to fit tethys to my 960, but it's looking like I'm going to need damn adapter spacers to be able to make them fit without hitting the strut
 
How did you get the pegs to fit up front? I'm trying to fit tethys to my 960, but it's looking like I'm going to need damn adapter spacers to be able to make them fit without hitting the strut

Those are Satellites which are either 16x6.5 or 17x7. Those widths probably help.
 
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