hey all, the time has come for shocks and struts. i found a sweet deal on a full set of bilsteins for $180. so i figured i'd use the cash i'd save getting that deal and pick up a set IPD sport springs. my question is this: will this give me problems in the future if i want to put 17" rims on my brick?

As long as you decrease the sidewall profile of the tires to keep the diameter the same you will not run into any issues with the 17s, I have one friend running 18s on his 245 with no issues. I think he is running either 40 or 45 series tires. You may want to be sure you can return the Touring Bilsteins if they knock on your car, I and several others have gotten ones where the "eyes" that the bolt goes through that was too large causing incurable rattling. I finally threw mine in the trash after ~15,000 miles of trying to get them to shut up.
Dave Shannon
Spring Valley, California (San Diego area)
'84-245 200K+
'84-245T 190K+
'88-240 180K+
www.volvo2.homestead.com (Opens new window)

I took a piece of SS tubing and cut a pair of shims that fit inside the oversize eyes and haven't heard a peep...

Yea, I couldn't find any thin wall tubing at work that would fit so I used some thin sheet stock we use for shimming pumps. Didn't work all that well so I 'canned them and put the old Boge Turbo Gas rears on, rides smoother empty but kind of boumcy with a heavy load on the overload springs ('84 245). I liked the Touring setup at first as I like a stiffer ride than most, I just got tired of fighting them, I'll stick to real Bilsteins from now on, with Boge on the "temporary" Volvos that I'm only planning to keep for 4-5 years.
Dave Shannon
Spring Valley, California (San Diego area)
'84-245 200K+
'84-245T 190K+
'88-240 180K+
www.volvo2.homestead.com (Opens new window)