I recently installed rear shock absorbers on the 240 wagon and broke the end off the top mounting bolt. I over torqued it. Oops! Anyway, had to order a new one from Volvo dealership here in Franklin, TN. I'll have it tommorow afternoon.
This bolt with nut and washers cost me near $30. So, be careful out there when doing this job. I need to add a spacer/washer to both sides on the top shock mount bolt in order to tighten it snug enough to avoid the knocking noise it was making. It is a common problem according to the many threads on the topic on all the forums. No matter what brand of shock absorber - people still have the knock without the extra spacer/washer. Hope this sets it up right when I reinstall them this week.

Best of success to you all,

Brandon,
Franklin, TN

I can't remember who told me this, but always tighten the bolts a little bit...seems to squish, and loosen all the corrosion before you remove bolts that haven't been removed in a while, worked well for me. Cheers.

Dave

Fixed my supposed problem. I overlooked something very simple yet critical.
Hope this helps you all.
After all I had done, it was only the torque rod bushings that needed greasing to stop all the noises. They are polyurathane, Duh! I feel dumb.
The shock absorber mounting points were not the source of all the noise.
My Gabriel Ultras are doing a great job. I did loosen and retighten the shock nuts/bolts for peace of mind. Sounds like I'm riding in a new car again. Whew!

I get myself in trouble by assuming. Better to recheck all previous work before accusing the most current job or parts.

Thanks for reading,

Brandon
Franklin, TN

Knocking: I had it but only with Boge shocks mfg in Turkey. Actually it was a 'jittering" sound like golf balls rolling around most obvious at low speeds [other noises masked it at higher speeds.] I returned the Boge's and put on KYB's and the problem disappeared on my 88 wagon.

I was told with the Boge's that the holes in the shock through which the bolts go was slightly too large in diameter thereby making the sound. No amount of tightening would solve the problem. I would have gone to the Pick n' Pull before paying $30.00 for a bolt. My GUESS is the torque should be 70 -80 ft. lbs, that's what I used, but someone with a manual should give an authoritative answer.

I have the problem with my Bilstiens HD in my 90 240 sedan,very annoying.I have a set of KYBs to do a swap.

FWIW my KYB rear shocks never made the golf ball noise even with the low torque i gave it.

Thanks weather,

That is very encouraging info.

the torque for upper mount is 60 ft lbs. mine broke way before i reached that torque.

i think i had mine torqued to somewhere around 45 right now.

Hope the fix goes well!

Under what circumstances was the knock occuring?

Thanks,

Mark

Thanks Mark,oscarcat,Nel621,weather,

The knocking noise happens occasionally over any size road bumps and major irregularity. Straights and curves, accelerating and stopping. I installed new torque rods before the replacement shock absorbers. There were no knocking noises from the original shocks after the torque rods install, even though the old shocks are completely worn out. The new absorbers stretch a little at the top eyebolt/bushing when the suspension moves down. The originals barely moved at all.
The shocks I put on are Garbriel Ultras $26 from Autozone. They have exactly the same size bushing tube for the bolt at the top mount as the old Boge that were removed. My Bentley manual says torque to 62 ft/lbs. I did that at first, then lowered the suspension and watched that bushing just stretch. Test drove, knock noises.
I agree with the post here about them sounding like golf balls rolling around.
Very accurate.
I would have gone to a Pick n Pull up the road in Nashville, but most of their 240s have been scavenged to nearly skeletons by the end of the first week they arrive. Plus, I'd have the expense of my time and gas up there and back.
This once, I went with my parts guy at Darrel Waltrip Volvo here in Franklin.
Excellent service Zeb!
I'll be returning the Garbriel shocks and installing KYBs most likely. There seem to be a lot of good reviews from forum members on these.

P.S. When I tightened the top nut for the new shocks it acted like it ran out of threads on the bolt or something, it would just stop and leave a little gap for the shock to move back/forth laterally.

Thanks again everyone, and I'll post some photos on my blog website and put the link here.

Brandon