I have a 87 760 wagon with a lot of miles. They have installed speed bumps in my neighbourhood and with the existing potholes the various interior squeaks and rattles are getting on my nerves. The old brick is a little loose in the stays and I’d like to try to quiet things down and I am looking for ideas and pointers etc……
Thanks

When you go over speed bumps, cross them at an angle.

I ease my car over to the center of the road, then steer quickly to hit the bump at an angle. It works better if the car has leveled out before you hit the bump.

When you hit a speed bump straight, you try to toss one end of the car up in the air, then all that weight comes down hard.

If you go over the bump at an angle, one wheel at a time is tossed up, and hopefully your suspension will absorb most of the bump. Certainly, all of the weight of one end of your car is not coming down hard.

Most vehicles have an optimum angle of attack. If you find the proper angle for a particular bump, the car will go over the bump sweetly.

This technique really works well on a relatively heavy vehicle like a fire truck, especially since many of them have 2/3rds of their weight on the rear wheels.
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2 8s & 2 7s 700,000 miles total

Hello Mike:

David knows what he is talking about. For cheap OEM and aftermarket suspension parts and bushings, one can try Nick Bauer at www.fcpgrotn.com
or Greg at www.volvocarparts.com
For perhaps best but more expensive Volvo parts at a discount, try Scott Beekman at Borton Volvo in Minneapolis, or Phillip Reeves at www.swedishengineering.com but tell Phillip you want Volvo parts.

Mike: I am in much the same situation with my 88 740. The suspension seems tight but there are few moans and growns here and there and some bushings below the waterline look a bit grim. I plan to start with the easier things first such as stabilizer bar link bushings and see how it goes, then replace the radius arm bushings as I have read that they frequently get a bit loosey goosey especially the front 2 bushings. I will check the ball joints and tie rod ends and replace if worn and then start to consider new struts on front and shocks on back. I don't think I will get into the heavier stuff such control arm bushings or trailing arm bushings. Topside if you have rattles in the cabin that is matter of tracking each one down and correcting it. Have someone take the helm over those speed bumps while you explore and probe for the rattles.

I grew up in TO, east end, Beaches area. (now live in the US)

Slip out of the house around 3am with a cup of coffee, an american flag, and a bulldozer. Order of events:

1) Place flag over back of dozer (you're making a statement, so steep it in liberty and political significance)
2) Drive the bulldozer up to the speed bump
3) Drop the plow to the ground
4) Put the dozer in gear until you find yourself on the other side of the speed bump with said speedbump now located in dozer plow.
5) Push said speedbump into potholes, using dozer treads to compress the material.
6) Lean against a tree, drink your coffee, an tip your cap to the neighbors as they drive by in the morning.

For multiple speedbumps simply repeat steps two through five... ;)

Seriously, speed bumps really piss me off. Not only do the large ones effectively destroy suspensions, but they make drivint the road even more of a hastle (say you should be in a rush and need to get out of the area fast... drivequickly over one of those and you may very well rip the bottom out of your car).

Good plan except for one important point. The neighbors would not appreciate any statement made with an American flag on the dozer. In fact that would be a big big mistake. You see MiKe and his neighbors are Canadian.

hehe, yes, I guess the "miles" reference threw me off (I didn't read the name).

-rt