posted by
someone claiming to be 240_Newbie
on
Sun Jan 14 09:10 CST 2007 [ RELATED]
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I'm putting a pair of GT braces on my 89 244 but the holes won't line up. If I put the brace on the strut tower there's about an 1/8" offset which prevents me from getting the bolt started. Anyone else have this problem? Should they just drop in?
These are from a 242, they aren't the ones from IPD.
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posted by
someone claiming to be tjts1
on
Sun Jan 14 14:57 CST 2007 [ RELATED]
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Lift each corner off the ground with a jack when you install the brace. This will take the weight off the strut mount and spread the distance between the strut and the firewall enough to give you the clearance required. DON'T USE A HAMMER OR RE DRILL THE BRACE! With age and miles the chassis sags and allowing the top of the strut to move. The GT brace is there to prevent this. You will notice a dramatic improvement in initial turn in and road holding. Steering will feel more accurate with braces.
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goes between the head of the bolt and the brace/firewall. I've pulled ~10 pairs off of GTs in the San Diego PNP's and for some reason Volvo put a small tubular section between the bolt and brace, no idea why but ALL the ones I pulled were bolted on like that. They bolt on fine with no spacer if you don't have one, that's how they are on my '88, IMHO it looks cleaner.
The braces should line up with no problems. That being said on one 240 I did have to jack up the front end by the front jack points to get them to line up. They were slightly too long with the weight of the car on the wheels, and were offset to the middle of the car. Guess it sagged with age, good arguement for having the braces.
--
Dave Shannon
Durango, CO
'63 P-210
'67 1800s
'88-240
'06 F250 Diesel 4X4
my pages
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I had a similar problem with the Volvo GT braces that I put on my '90 245. Driver's side was slightly "off". Maybe about 1/8". My solution was to put one end on the strut, and then I did a combination of giving the brace a number of whack-bonks with the palm of my hand and then just managed to thread the bolt in the firewall and then wailed on it, and things have been fine ever since... knocking on simulated wood.
A "proper" solution is to either bend the end of the bar slightly, or enlarge the hole a wee bit in the right direction.
Good luck,
-Ryan
--
--------------------------
Athens, Ohio
1990 245 DL 130k M47, E-codes
1991 745 GL 280k (Girlfriend-mobile)
Buckeye Volvo Club
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If they aren't flush with the proper boss on the firewall when the forward end is on the aftmost strut bolt, then simply use some steel washers between the brace and the firewall. The absolute dimension isn't critical, you're primarily adding a stiffener between the strut tower and the firewall.
--
Thank goodness we don't get all the government we pay for. -- Wiley Post
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HI!
They should be "bold on". Dimensions are same in the models, only some ambulances has different mounting in the firewall side. ARE YOU sure of those braces are VOLVO`s OEM in 242 GT? Have you installed brace between towers?
YRS: WEBERMAN
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I just put a set from a 79 GT on my 83 242 and they lined up perfectly? If you do a search there are others who have had similar problems and possible solutions.
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Dave Kenney North of Lake Superior 1983 242 291000km
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I just put a set froma 79GT on my 83 242 and they lined up perfectly? If you do a search there are others who have had similar problems and possible solutions.
--
Dave Kenney North of Lake Superior 1983 242 291000km
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There should be an aluminum spacer between the brace and the firewall. It's about 1/4 or 3/8" thick. That would likely fix your problem....
Dale
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posted by
someone claiming to be amargill19
on
Sun Jan 14 12:54 CST 2007 [ RELATED]
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I had spacers, but drivers side was still off.
my solution was drilling it out a little bit more. Works fine.
I've heard the proper solution is jacking the car up a bit on the drivers side, then fitting the brace in.
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I've heard the proper solution is jacking the car up a bit on the drivers side, then fitting the brace in.
You heard wrong.
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.
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Have to concur with Lucid on this one, that is how you pre-load / distort a chassis, bad idea.
Any type of chassis brace should be installed with the car either in a frame jig/alignment rack or sitting on four properly inflated tires on level ground.
Its hard to do this with the install of the lower front "cherry bars", but it can be done with patience or a lift.
jorrell
--
92 245 245K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently in pieces
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posted by
someone claiming to be tjts1
on
Sun Jan 14 15:07 CST 2007 [ RELATED]
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We are talking about 20+ year old cars here. The chassis will sag and distort with age and mileage. Its only natural to expect the strut mounts to have moved slightly. The length of the strut brace on the other hand hasn't changed. Lifting the corner and taking the load off the suspension and allows the chassis to bend back until the brace fits without having to force it. This process will help bring the strut mounts back to their original shape. At the volvo factory they installed these braces on the 242GT long before the tires hit the ground just like every other suspension component. Why try to do it backwards?
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posted by
someone claiming to be amargill19
on
Mon Jan 15 05:11 CST 2007 [ RELATED]
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"We are talking about 20+ year old cars here. The chassis will sag and distort with age and mileage. Its only natural to expect the strut mounts to have moved slightly. The length of the strut brace on the other hand hasn't changed."
that was my thinking.
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I guess there are 2 schools of thought on jacking a corner. But it seems to me that although it might allow the bolt to go in, it would leave the brace under (pulling) stress all the time.
I know the originals used the spacer. I got my braces from a '78 or '79 GT (see grille and hood on profile pic), and couldn't fit the firewall bolts without using the spacers, which made the bolts an easy fit.
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.
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posted by
someone claiming to be amargill19
on
Mon Jan 15 05:59 CST 2007 [ RELATED]
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like I mentioned previously, I had the spacers included with the bars, which I had shipped to my door for $38 from a good guy in Australia.
The drivers side was still off by about 2 mm (just barrrrely)
I did think about jacking it up, but figured lots of stress would be put on the bar, and drilling out an extra mm or two on the bar wouldn't be too big of a deal.
Either way, I'm happy with these bars... an effective handling/steering upgrade for under $40!
Primer black sprainted em and clear coated them beforehand - they look nice.
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posted by
someone claiming to be tjts1
on
Mon Jan 15 06:45 CST 2007 [ RELATED]
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"I did think about jacking it up, but figured lots of stress would be put on the bar, and drilling out an extra mm or two on the bar wouldn't be too big of a deal."
In my mind thats the idea. The bars are there to take up some of that stress and redistribute it through the unibody more efficiently. Sure its there for handling but its also doing its job when you go over any bump in the road or when you load up the car with 5 adults + luggage. One of the first things I notices after installing the bars on the 89 240 was a couple of new quicks from behind the instrument cluster. It just means the bars are doing their job. The firewall where the bar bolts in is designed to take the extra stress. Thats why they welded in the 2 firewall mounting nuts on all 240s despite not installing the braces from the factory. Either way whether you decide to drill the bars or lift the car, you are better off with the braces than without. On my car both braces needed 1/4" of extra clearance before I jacked up the car for installation.
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