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IPD has performance sway bars, and is a good company. They have sales from time to
time that help save some $. IPD also offers heavy duty strut tower bushings and
sway bar end links that are high mortality suspension items.
You can shop around for suspension parts, but the cheap Shanghai Control arms/
ball joints are rubbish. I had a set from FCP fail in only a few months where
the locking pin for the ball joint was in fact just some crappy soft steel bolt
and it deformed fast and introduced slop at the ball joint. There should be a special hardened locking pin there with a machined surface and not a thread where it has to engage the ball joint. FCP sent me a better set of control arms
made by Meyle (in Turkey not China) and so far they are OK. FCP however disappointed me by applying a credit for the bad control arms and then a few months later the credit disappeared with no reasonable explanation.
Some parts are best from the dealer and you can find Tasca Volvo or Tasca Parts
on the web for discounted Volvo parts when needed.
If you are battling a loose front end, then be sure to check out your motor mounts. There's a top mount by the firewall and another at the front of the engine that you access through the front passengers side wheel well that were
gonzo on my car when I first got it.
It makes sense to do the struts at the same time as control arms/seats/etc since you need a quality front end alignment afterward, costing around $75-80 around here (Boston), you save hours of labor by spending maybe $225 extra for
quality struts up front.
Bill
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