Suspension Mods

[Jays V70]

Hi Gang,

As I can't afford a V70R I've decided to mod my car and want to draw on the collective experience here as mods / improvements go down better on this forum compared to another one.....

Car is a D5 163 V70 P2. I've carried out the XC90 front brake conversion on it.

I'd like to do a bit of a suspension drop and improve handling / ride quality.

So I've read various bits about Bilstein B12 kit and the koni sport kits but have concerns as I believe you have to use parts of your previous struts to fit them?

Just wondered how hard / easy this is easy to do?

Are there any kits out there that are literally a straight swap?

I'm planning on changing all the associated bushes and mountings while everything is off the car to make it as tight as possible.

As a consequence of the XC90 brake conversion I'm now on 18" rims running 225/ 40 tyres. It's also my daily drive so no spine snapping stuff!

Sorry it's a million and one questions, trying to do all the homework before spending out!

Thanks in advance!

Jay

[davebb]

Hi I am running koni yellows adjustable front and rear shocks and I really like them, you have to remove the rears to adjust them, the fronts you just lift the bonnet and adjust with a plastic knob,
fitting was not hard you do cut up the old shocks, I used a worm clamp on the shock as a guide for the hack saw then you drill a hole in the bottom to mount the new cartridge in the old strut housing ,
I got them from ebay Germany ,
Dave

[Canuk]

Hi Jay,

I'm in the same boat as you. 2006 d5 V70 that I acquired in Oct with 150k miles. I'm taking the aproach of upgrading things as and when they wear out, whilst being mindful of my budget.

I'm also currently researching suspension upgrades. Collective seems to push towards bilstein b6 or b8, so it's interesting to hear another perspective from davebb about koni (thank you).

Along with shocks, I'm also looking at changing out my control arms to poly bushes (powerflex) and upgrading the Anti rollbar to a s60 sport rear (thicker).

Anywho, I'm interested in this conversation. I'll drop some links if I find anything good, hopefully you can do the same.

[Jays V70]

Hi Canuk,

It seems a right mine field!

I took the steps of replacing the standard bushes in the front control arms to purple powerflex ones...... It's certainly an interesting evolution trying to get the old bushes out and pressing in the new ones!!!

Another suspension option I found was https://www.bc-racing.co.uk/applications/volvo-coilovers/volvo-v70-s60-awd-01-09.html This one has the advantage of being able to adjust your ride height. Something you may be interested in?

I'm thinking more of going something along the lines of the fixed height koni or bilstein option but want to understand the whole modify your suspension struts part as can't find an example on You tube. Don't suppose any one has a how to guide for carrying out this mod???