Hi everyone,
My front right shock just broke, so it's a little rough to drive. I looked at the bentley and decided this isn't a job I want to do myself, so instead i'll take it to a volvo repair shop. I was wondering if anyone knows how much something like this should cost at a shop. thanks

Charles 1985 245ti 142K

Thanks for all the help :) You talked me into doing it myself tommarow, so wish me luck. Thanks again.

Charles 1985 245ti 142K

Both sides need to be rebuilt. Parts (new strut inserts and top bearing mounts) will run around $250 ($125/side) and labor around $300 plus $50 for an alignment. The cost for parts will increase if the ball joints, or inner and outer tie rod ends need replacing. Parts and labor will increase if the control arm bushings or wheel bearings need replacing. I purchased complete strut/wheel/control arm assemblies at the salvage yard for $25/side (you pull). I rebuilt these during the week at night (I've got a day job too) and then swapped them out on the weekend. If there is an AutoZone in your area, they loan the strut spring compressor and tie rod end separator you'll need for free (deposit required). jp

Can you describe "broke" in a bit more detail?

If the strut really "broke" as in "spring seat collapsed" you should not be driving it around - when this happened to me I had massive tire smoke from the spring rubbing on the tire.

I had the right front spring seat collapse only a month after buying my car (85 DL) - welded on new spring seats (galvanized repair kit), replaced shocks with Boge Automatic, mounts with SKF, and the rest of the upper strut assemblies with assorted dealer items (boots, bump stops, upper spring seat). All is good now.
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85 245 DL - 91 Mazda MX6 Turbo

Umm what do you mean "broke" ???
One problem these cars have as they age is failure of the strut spring perch. That's the disc the spring bottom sits on. Welds fail or the plate rots out, and the spring pushes it right down onto the tire. Is this what happened?

If so, get another strut complete from a donor car.

You need to take apart the bottom ball joint (3 19mm nuts), the brake lines, 3 13mm nuts at the top, the tie rod end (and either knock out the outer joint in the junkyard or unscrew the whole rod, take it home, and knock it apart at home).
You can even leave the wheel on, to wheel it out of the junkyard. Either way, if the strut spring plate collapsed, you'll be replacing the whole thing. There is a repair kit, but installing it is harder and more expensive than replacing the thing with a used one. Plenty of perfectly good late model struts in the junkyard.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 234K, '82 245T/M46-182K, '84 242DL/AW70-100K, '89 244DL/AW70- 212K and I miss my: 86 244DL 215K, 87 244DL 239K, 88 744GLE 233K, 88 244GL 147K, 91 244 183K