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OK, my 87 244DL is officially no longer stock.
I just finished installing a few upgrades, inspired by a few swap meet purchases at the Vermont VCOA show.
Now running:
Bilstein Touring front struts
23mm Turbo front swaybar
GT strut braces
New swaybar bushings + brackets
And uh.. slightly shorter front springs
MAybe I have nothing better to do... but I REALLY needed new struts. The ones I took out were green Volvo brand strut cartridges. The right one had lost most of its oil. (COuldn't be original at 224K could they? Naaah!) What FUN they were to remove.
The top nut refused to come off even with my electric impact wrench, which I have to say does not have amazing torque capacity. So, I took everything else apart until I had the strut cartridge, top bearing, and spring perch out on the ground. I ground two flats onto the sides of the strut rod and was able to grab it with a pipe wrench. THEN it came loose.
One good thing: the Bilsteins come with a new collar nut so you don't have to try to reuse that chewed up old one. FOrtunately mine came out without trouble.
One other thing I learned is that while you can get the original style swaybar bushings (the part on the frame of the car) for a standard swaybar, the Turbo bar needs a bigger bushing, and there's a new part with a heavier bracket. You've got to get both bracket halves, and they're Volvo-only parts, and the new bushing. It's got a big rubber locking nub in the middle of the bushing and won't fit the original strap-type brackets on a regular 240. I don't know if the brackets are different on an original Turbo but I'll find out this week.
The bushing that was on my newly acquired 23mm bar had the same part number as the new style bushing, but was flat like the type on my car. And very worn out.
Also replaced the end-link bushings, using OEM rubber ones. I am after improved handling without harshness and I think I found a great combination.
Oh and the springs... well I figured I had nothing to lose by experimenting... so I cut the bottom coil off the front springs to see what would happen. I've seen a car recently on IPD sport springs and it seemed too low. I wanted ideally an inch drop. The coil I cut off is partly formed to fit the spring pocket on the strut, so it probably resulted in 3/4 of an inch reduction. On the car, it looks to be only 1/2 inch lower.
The ride is significantly firmer, and very well controlled. The only road condition that gives harshness is a sharp bump on the highway, and I guess that's to be expected. Manhole covers on my way to work are now invisible to the driver and that's what I wanted.
Questions/comments/wanna race?
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 221K, 88 744GLE- 202K, 91 244 181K, 88 244GL 145K
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