Hello, all Volvo enthusiasts!

This is continuation of the thread ”Need a help and advise about front suspension”.

So, after some time, I found two front strut assemblies in decent condition for fair money on a local junkyard. Since these strut assemblies are 15-years old, I decided to replace the strut inserts (shock absorber cartridges). Now, a question...
The Haynes Volvo manual says about some "rubber grommet" to be put at the end of the shock absorber cartridges (pages 10-6 and 10-7). When I extracted old cartridges (marked as "Volvo"), I didn't find any rubber grommet at all. Do I have to put the ones? What is their purpose? FCP Groton sells something positioned as "Strut Spacer (below strut cartridge, part # 1229423)". Is it the same "rubber grommet"?
Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Dmitriy.

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240DL 1987 silver-blue wagon, >240K miles.

I have done several 245 struts, and never seen any rubber grommet. I have had to space the new strut with either a proper spacer from Volvo or in one case several large washers.
What you need to check for is once the new strut is installed, check to be really sure that the strut cartridge is tight inside the tube once the cap is installed. There can be up to a 3/8" gap on some. I bet someone on this site knows all the why's and when this occurs. But SOMETIMES it does. Just be sure to check ---since you will have to totally disassembly the entire piece to fix once you hear the terrible clunk you will now have.

Good Luck,

Mike in Tacoma
WE NEED SNOW SEND SOME HERE

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Mike in Tacoma