Greetings,
I have an 85 240GL with all original suspension components.. even the shocks are original factory items. Whilst this has been very cost effective in it's 18 years of glory, it leaves the car very soggy, creaky and dare i say unsafe! The big question is, what do i do first? i dont have a huge budget as i am a poor, poor uni student, but i want to improve the general handling and appearance.

I have a few ideas/components in mind:

Set of lowered (30mm), stiffer King Springs - AU$350 the lot
Monroe Shocks - roughly AU$300
Poly Bushings $???

Am i barking up the wrong tree?? Thanks in advance,
Chris.

Safety first: Ball joints, tie rod ends, stock bushings and at least new boge inserts/shocks. You don't want your ride to depart the direction you've decided - on it's own! Worn strut inserts/shocks cause osscilations behind turbulent vehicles.

Performance: Bilsteins, poly bushings, larger sway bars.

Coolness and performance: Lower springs, big freakin wheels, and tiny freagin tires.
--
92 244 lowered, Bilsteins, IPD sways, Unitek cam/header, TSW Revo 18x8's - 94 965 Niiice MONEY PIT! - 76 Datsun 280Z lowered, modified head, cam, headers, intake

Once you handle all of the maintenance issues (i.e., get the car more or less to "true" factory condition), then you should begin on the quest to improve upon what the Volvo engineers thought worked. Here's my plan:

Thicker swaybars--I've got ipd's 25/22mm setup. Works great.
Polyurethane bushings--should reduce some vibration and movement
Better shocks--I'm saving up for Bilstein HDs, which are equaled only by Koni adjustables (more of a track one, I think)
Springs--I don't think I'll lower my Brick, but some of the authentic thicker springs from the GTs or some progressive ones I've seen online are what I'll consider

Get the "necessary" work done, then get the swaybars and shocks/struts. Then you can look into the lowering springs.
--
'89 244 GL -- 103,553 miles (see profile for info on car)

First check the suspension thoroughly or have someone check for you. Here are some possible problems you could have. The experts will have more info I'm sure. I've had only limited experience.

Front: ball joint looseness, tie rod end looseness, inner tie rod joint looseness (inside the steering boots). The ball joints and tie rod ends could easily be worn and loose. The inner tie rod connection is part of the tie rod itself and doesn't seem to go bad as often.

There are also four control arm bushings, two on each side. Plus the sway bar has six bushings total. All of these, if they are worn out could contribute to your troubles.

The strut inserts could be worn out which would contribute to a soft unsafe ride, as well as the upper strut bearings which could cause some weird noises.

While you are checking all of this, tighten up all the bolts as recommended in the IPD catalogue and explained below.

Here’s the IPD Tech Tip for front end clunks. Maybe this will help.

Check the following first:

Front crossmember bolts (2 on each side) accessed from each side of the engine compartment. 17 mm socket, loosen one-half turn, torque to 55 ft pounds.

A-Arm front bushing bolts (2 total) accessed from under the car behind the steering rack bellows. With weighted suspension, 19 mm socket, loosen a bit, torque to 54 ft. lbs.

A-Arm rear bushing mounts, three bolts each side, 14 mm socket, loosen a bit, torque to 29 ft lbs.

Rear A-Arm nut is hard to reach, torque to 40 lbs.

My son's car clunked like crazy. It had very loose A-Arm rear bushing mount bolts. Torqued them and the clunk disappeared. Free and easy.

The rear suspension has shocks, and a bunch of bushings that could be worn. I've only done shocks back there, so someone else will be able to help more on the details.

Get the Bentley manual if you can. (ISBN 0-8376-0285-8) It is a great help.

Good luck.

PS: It would be better to put on the lowering springs AFTER all the basics are in good order if you decide to go lower. Lowering springs with everything else sloppy wouldn't be that great.
--
Thanks everyone for all the information and advice, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, stock, B21F (non-Turbo), M46; 86 244, B230, 140k , auto.

I think you're going about it all wrong.

Start with the basics, bushings, ball joints, steering bits. If you need bushings (which you likely do), feel free to go with poly, as it's not significantly more costly.

Shocks and struts should wait until you have the money for something better than Monroe. I'd gamble that new Monroes aren't significantly better than 18-year-old Boge OE.

Once you are back to square one, THEN you can think about major mods like lowering springs.

But you might be surprised at just how good a perfect stock suspension can be.

VERY good advice. I grew up driving Triumphs (Spitfire, TR-4, and TR-6). Then in '84, I decided it was time to put away the toys and buy a family car. After trying several (Cutlass, mustang, can't remember what else), I test drove a new 240. WOW! What a difference! I felt I was back in my sportscar. I bought the 240 and have owed four more since. Yes, with a little help from ipd, the 240 will drive more truly like the Triumph, but unless one is going to get into serious "cone running," why bother? A well maintained stock suspension suits me just fine.