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Back in March I posted a query about which struts would work on early 2000 S40s. Wanted to follow up, since it attracted some interest. First--Volvo has issued an upgrade on the strut mounts or "perches" for these models that will raise the front end @ 8 mm. There's no choice in this, as the mounts fail before the struts themselves and Volvo doesn't sell the old-style ones anymore. I don't notice the 8 mm difference on my otherwise stock (except slightly upsized tires) suspension. My mechanic and I concluded that the struts were specific to this particular early production run of the S40, so yes, you do have to be very careful to specify the manufacture date of your vehicle when ordering replacements. Due to time and possible extended warranty issues, I did end up getting them from my dubious local dealer. They turned out to be the EU Monroes, not Bilsteins, which was a bit disappointing. One other caution--the springs on these were incredibly difficult to compress for the strut change. No generic tool that I or my independent mechanic had could attach to the springs with enough travel to get them sufficiently compressed. A set of the typical threaded rod and two hooks compressors deflected badly with only a little compression--not a good sign and definitely not worth the risk of finding one of the parts embedded in your body if one of the rods or hooks suddenly breaks. We took the struts to a shop with hydraulic equipment to do it--$50 well spent. Also replaced sway bar end links, since they're cheap and right there, while doing the struts. Still a love/hate relationship, but a lot more love on the handling side now.
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