Dave,

I'm having some new Boge Turbo Gas struts and new front strut bushings installed within the next month. Are the Volvo "support plates" (P/N 1247816) that you have installed worth the money? The dealer wants about $56 for them -- the chance of finding a pair locally at a yard are very slim. iPD sells their own support plates for $40/pair + shipping.

The only real modifications that I have to my car, suspension-wise, are the firewall strut bars and turbo sways.

Thanks!

--
Regards,
Eric Staufer,
1989 244DL 126k,
My 240 Page (opens a new window)

Hi, Back in town finally,
They are supposed to help the towers live longer with super stiff shocks. I had a set on my '88 before I put a cross tower brace on it. Never saw any deformation of the tower on any other cars I've had Bilsteins in without one. My feelings are save your money unless you are going to race the car or may have rust issues.
--
Dave Shannon
Spring Valley, California
'84-245T 190K+
'88-240 190K+
'65 1800S ????K
'73 1800ES 117K
'92 745Ti 150K
Jeep Wrangler Sahara 10K
my pages

I had Bilsteins, firewall and tower braces in my 90 240 and no backup plates. Never noticed ANY swelling or "doming" of the top of the shock tower.

If you're using the upper diagonal braces, which you are, you should also use the reinforcement plates.
--
'80 DL 2 dr

IPD wants 40 bucks for a pair. I purchased them when I had a set of Bilstein HDs installed in my brick. Honestly, I can't tell any "performance" difference but perhaps they do indeed strengthen the strut towers for a stiffer shock and additional bracing.

Best,
Adam
--
'92 244GL silver-metallic, 150k, Enem V15 cam, Bilstein HDs, IPD sways, upper+lower braces, Cherry-Turbo strut brace, 240 OEM rear spoiler, 15' Dracos, E-codes w/side repeaters, Euro cowl covers paint-matched, Magnaflow 2.5' SS exhaust w/Unitek header