Just bought an '89 240DL w/127K miles - my first Volvo in 9 years. Had 4 others in the past. Has a good body & drivetrain but suspension, front & rear, needs attention. It has excessive body roll, brake dive, some steering wander, 'clunking' in front & rear when turning & a real hard ride. In '90 bought a new 240 & the ride was great. Brought it to the local dealer ( haven't found indie yet) & he said it needed struts & rear shocks but replacing these wouldn't cure the clunking when turning. Said ball joints were OK. Replacing some rear end bushings may help but wouldn't completely eliminate them. Do you thing that replacing struts & shocks would cure suspension problems and if so do you think Volvo struts are worth over 3 times what Advance charges? Would like to do whatever is needed to bring back the original handling & ride. Your comments are appreciated. Thanks.

The clunks should be the easiest. Take it to a shop, even an alignment shop, that will take the trouble to check and see what part is actually making the noise. Any shop that just tries to sell you something that might be "it" should be avoided. You can test the shocks just by attempting to bounce the car by pushing down on the fenders.

Steering wander can be ball joints, inner or outer tie rod joints, or the u joints in the column.

Body roll is a characteristic of 240's. They are tall narrow cars. People here improve this by replacing the front and rear sway bars with the larger turbo model's from a pick-n-pull or the 1" bars from IPD.

Ride issues are more subjective and IMHO strongly affected by tire choice. There are many discussions here on ride vs. quality and price of struts and shocks. Again, IMHO, a low-pressure gas type is the best compromise for ride and handling.

The clunking is from the control arm bushing(s). They aren't expensive and aren't hard to fix. I have an '89 and recently replaced the struts, strut mounts, ball joints, tie rod ends, and control arm bushings. It took me two days to do and the parts cost $300. I bought the Sachs Advantage struts from FCPGroton. I took my time and did everything right...and it paid off. But I think your clunking is from the control arm bushings.
Cabbie2169

Volvo struts are made by Boge; compare Volvo's prices with Boge Turbo Gas (better than OEM) at fcpgroton.com. Not all shocks are created equal; to a large extent, you get what you pay for (leaving Volvo dealers aside). For Volvos, skip the Monroes or other brands from chain stores (e.g. Sears); go with Boge, KYB, Koni or Bilstein.

New shocks and struts all around will do a lot to improve the ride, but won't compensate for worn-out bushings and other parts. I've experienced clunking on turns when the sway bar end-links or their bushings were shot. Clunking while turning at parking lot speeds may be caused by bad strut bearing plates.

If ball joints and tie rod ends are ok and the wheel bearings are properly adjusted, then look at the aft bushing on the front A-arm - these are notorious for wear. Beyond that, you're looking at replacing the torque rod, Panhard rod and trailing arm bushings in the rear suspension - lots of archived info here on the BB about that.

There's a chapter on ride and suspension in the "Gothenburg Bible" that you may find useful. I ordered the book at ipdusa.com.

Here's a Gothenburg Bible link. Not sure if it's the same as the ipd book, but it might be helpful.

Front cluncks are probably from the control arm rear bushings or possibly the rubber mounts on the top of the strut.

Rear clunks are most likely from the trailing arm bushings or torque rod bushings.

Replacing these will help the ride.

Depends what you are looking for. I put Bilstein economy cartridges on my 240 and have been happy with then. They are from FCP Groton.

Search this forum for another source. Someone just listed a slightly less expensive source for the same thing.

Mark