I replaced the struts and all associated hardware/mounts/spring seat 2K miles ago. For the first 1,500 miles they worked great. Since then I get a significant creaking and groaning when the streering wheel is turned at low speeds or at a stop. The sound appears to be emminanting from the struts, not the rack. The right side is worse than the left. Also, when I hit small dips in the road I get a huge clunk from the right side front side. I looked at the top strut mount within the engine compartment and it appears the rubber strut mount/spring seat has torn/decomposed?

Question. What the heck did I do wrong? I have new mounts and seats on order from FCPGroton and would like this second installation to be the last for at least $30K miles!

Is it possible I pu the springs in upside down? Should I have applied and grease/lubricant to the mounts/spirng seats?

Thanks,

Phil
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'86 740T Sedan 235k (RIP), '96 850T Wagon 80k (sold), '95 850T Wagon 103k (current)

Three years on your shelf, probably another year on FCPs shelf, makes those rubber pieces 4+ years old and a little dry.

This time, before you remove the struts, use a sharp pencil and scribe around the bottom mount so that when you put them back they will still be aligned. Might save a trip to the alignment shop.
Also, go to the dealer and get 4 new OEM nuts/bolts. They are NOT reusable after proper torquing. The FCP bolts are thinner than OEM.

Klaus
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The more I learn, the more I forget. So why learn?

Klaus,

I hope the age was the issue, as I plan on putting new mounts and seats in tomorrow night. I took another look at the spring seats last night. The rubber boot on the right strut is totally ripped apart. The one on the left is starting to crack and I can see small pieces of rubber around the mount. Thanks for the heads up on the four strut mounts bolts. I'll head to the Volvo dealer tonight to pick them up.

When I get the new ones in I'll let the group know how things work out and maybe provide some images.

Phil

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'86 740T Sedan 235k (RIP), '96 850T Wagon 80k (sold), '89 740GL Sedan 235k (RIP), '95 850T Wagon 149k (current)

It sounds like the top bearings have deteriorated along with the rubber seats. I wouldn't apply any grease to the seats because that would deteriorate the rubber even faster. Check your front sway bar. Did you hit ant large pot holes lately or a curb ? That could have bent one side of the sway bar and is causing the front end to put excess pressure on one strut or the other. I going through replacing the front sway bar right now. There should be sway bar pressure on the link bar to the strut in the jacked position. On my car, there is no shear bolt tension on the right side but there is a lot on the left side, so I found another sway bar from the parts car I bought on E-Bay. I removed that Saturday and I'm installing it today. I'll lat you know if that stops the clunking.
RK

RK,

I haven't hit anything big. I bought the struts/mounts/etc about 3 years ago, but didn't install them until about 2 months ago. I guess the rubber degraded in the 3 years I had it in the garage. I checked the swaybar links for play and they looked OK (nothing obviously wrong/loose). The parts should be coming from FCPGroton on Wednesday. So hopefully I can get this problem resolved over the week-end.

Phil
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'86 740T Sedan 235k (RIP), '96 850T Wagon 80k (sold), '89 740GL Sedan 235k (RIP), '95 850T Wagon 149k (current)