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in my 122 I found the comression data in an old volvo book, went to a spring shop and asked for springs 20% stiffer and of the same length. It worked fine and was cheaper than buying OEM at the time. shops that can do that may be a bit sparse but you cna check in your area to see if that's an option.
I think if you look at the specs, wagons have stiffer springs, I'm not sure if it's the length or spring thickness they changed. the thicker that "wire" is the heavier the spring will be. in making them they need to wind them and close the ends and then harden them. if they get rusty that might basically reduce the diameter or cause microscopic cracking near the surface, and affect the compression rates. they sag after a while.
gas shocks might add a tiny bit of lift but really the job of the shocks is to dampen movement and the job of the springs is the hold the car up. adding new gas shocks may change the height a little. rears are easy , Ive compressed my own struts but its best to at least have proper tools for that, if they let go it's very dangerous.
if you change the struts you can look near the bottom bell thing that they sit in , sometimes dirt collects there and they can rust out and break. if you change them you should do a wheel alignment next. if yours are really rusty you might find better used struts.
i once stuck some way too heavy rear springs from some other car in my 122, wow , it would almost leave the road on a straight flat road, completely uncontrollable, after a quick test I took them back out but it was s fun experiment.
there are a bunch of rubber bushings involved, some need to be pressed in , you can change them for poly , evidently this is cheap and improves handling. mine handles like a brick.
in the front you have upper and lower ball joints and they can wear too, tie rod bushings , all of that.
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