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This Q&A (Questions&Answers) is made by people from the alt.autos.volvo newsgroup and
brickboard.com. If you recognize something you wrote and you feel offended, mail me and I'll remove it or
I'll put your name under it. Sometimes I change a sentence but I never change the content.
- My 340dl bottoms out on the rear suspension on the left hand side when carrying passengers (especially going around a right hand corner). I have replaced the rear springs and shock absorbers but this has not worked. I still get the same rubbing sounds like the shocks are going up the top fully. What is the solution to this ?
- When the car goes in for a front and rear suspension overhaul and a valeting in two weeks time. (The car has a fair amount of body roll)
- Can anybody tell me how I would lower the suspension on a 3 series Volvo ? Can I buy shorter leaf springs ? Or do they have to be cut ? What about the fronts ?
Answers:
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Used to be able to get a kit to do this. I got mine from a shop in Bristol (got the name thru' VOC).
Consists of front and rear dampers, shorter and stiffer front springs, and two wee aluminium blocks that fit between the rear leaf spring and
the axle (thus lowering the spring). It looked good and bettered the handling considerably.
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Its probably the mud flaps on the gorund or the wheels rubbing on the top of
the arch. If its the wheels you should see score marks inside the arch and
it should not happen unless you used unsuitable shocks or have the wrong
wheels / tyres fitted. If its just the mud flaps its a bit inevitable with
4~5 adults, drive more gently when loaded up or don't worry about it unless
you do it alot.
Try uprated shocks, I used Monroe Gasmatic in all my 340 and 360s, very good
value. If you want the best, Koni's are available (maybe... while stocks
last according their web site) but pricey. Its difficult to uprate the
springs, you could try 360 GLT ones the weight should be close enough.
If you drive these cars hard, especially with loads of people in them the
rear axel tends to bend and the rear wheel splay out give poor cornering and
straight line instability.
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Front shocks are the first to go, roll bar bushes should be changed
especially the ones which connect the tie bars. New springs would be a good
idea, possibly new top bushes (the ones you can see from the engine bay),
and check the top spring retainer for cracks in and around the seat for the
top steering bearing, sometimes the little dome for holding up the dust
cover falls away because of rust and cracks (so you see if the bearing seat
is in bad condition by the fact that the dust cover is loose). Weak
bearing seat causes the top bush to sit to close to the top spring retainer
causing improper suspension geometry on cornering or bump steer.
Its all a job you can do yourself, and was one of the first I tackled when I
was 20 or so in order to change the shocks. You'll need spring compressors,
ball joint seperator and a large shifter for shock bolt. After market
springs seem OK, and Monroe shocks are better than the Volvo ones (Boge).
The complete suspension overhaul by the dealer will cost about 500 quid,
probably more than the car is worth.
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