V70 D5 suspension option

[RobbieH]

Still looking at various options for upgrading the suspension of my V70 D5 .

I've been put onto an option from Nordic Car Parts for a sports suspension kit (http://nordicpartsdirect.co.uk/volvo...ls.asp?id=1618) which looks attractive at £345 (ex VAT, free delivery).

I've spoken to Nordic but they disn't really offer much more info other than it's a new line for them and the parts come from "autotechnics" (might have the spelling wrong). A quick Google only throws up this (http://www.autotechnics.nl/9abef884-...eab13b523.aspx) but I can't find much more.

Anyone else shed any light? The price is tempting but I don't want to be throwing money at it and then finding out I've bought a duff one.

Thank you kindly,

Cheers,
Robbie

[cornclose]

I'm looking at options for my T5 still at the moment - those links don't work though - might be interesting for me too...

[RobbieH]

I'm looking at options for my T5 still at the moment - those links don't work though - might be interesting for me too...

Not sure why the links didn't work.
Try http://nordicpartsdirect.co.uk/, then click on the Volvo badge and scroll down a bit, Sports Suspension Kits - WOW ! (their words not mine).

Google "autotechnics" and look at 4th entry that pops up. Maybe this Google linky will work
http://www.google.com/search?q=autot...e=utf8&oe=utf8

[RobbieH]

Rang up today just to check some more info and just asked "is this kit OK for D5?" Not a very reassuring reply - "we'll have to check, the only ones we've got say for petrol engines". I think I might be giving this a miss unless they can reassure me otherwise. They did say "I'm sure we had a set saying for D5, but there's none on the shelf now" , then said they'd have to check with their supplier and get back to me. No reply yet.

Hmm............

[v70torslanda]

That seems a tad odd to me. When I called they took the chassis and reg and came back with a very positive offering. No doubts about the suitability and I told them up front I had a D5.

J

[mikouk]

I'm still very pleased with mine. The handling is sooo much better. Presumably it would work on a D5? Expensive though and the ride is hard.

[RobbieH]

I'm still very pleased with mine. The handling is sooo much better. Presumably it would work on a D5? Expensive though and the ride is hard.

That was an option til I saw the price and the thought of chopping up my front struts put me off. If you say they are hard that's another put off. I want to improve the current ride (rolly poly) and lower it a bit at the same time, but don't want too harsh a ride. We've got some wicked speed humps around here as well, almost 90 degree upstands from the road surface. Hit them with hard suspension and I'll have no teeth left in my head

[dave stew]

Well, to throw my hat in - I am not going to change my springs as both lowering the car and reducing the suspension travel isn't a good idea on a working load lugger/family car. The key is the damping. I am either going for Bilstein B6s or uprated Sachs.

[v70torslanda]

Standard Sachs/Boge shox are not difficult to find at all. I've got them in stock at Euro in Chester. Uprated shockers are not so easy. Sachs only claim 'improved handling' but I think that is because they don't want to compete against Bilstein. (Same parent company?)

Nordic will sell you standard 'Genuine' shock absorbers - Sachs units. To stiffen the car requires uprated dampers along the lines of Bilstein B6/B8 or Koni units = expensive. Lowering a D5 30mm will make it 15-20mm lower than a T5. It will reduce the carrying capacity. Lowering the car will marginally reduce body roll but not as much as changing the roll bars. So, it seems that we either spend a little and achieve a standard setup or sh*tloads and get a car that's at home on a track but might get tedious on a long journey.

At this point the question rears its ugly head thus: What do we want to achieve?
Either a. Put the car back to standard and 'improve' the handling by restoring the factory settings?
Or b. Make it different by changing the handling characteristics and 'improve' it over standard?

Do we need to change the springs? Lowering kits are mainly cosmetic. Bilstein engineers told me that you don't need to lower a car to make it handle properly. Remember why we bought our V70s in the first place? Comfortable, fast, relaxing to drive, do we actually need to change the handling so dramatically or is it that we want the car to drive the way it did originally? Have Volvo's engineers got it so wrong that we have to take such dramatic action?

Eventually it comes down to cost. Both Nordic and ECP (and PFS et al) sell standard shockers at around the same price. Konis are around 400-500 a set and Bilsteins are 600-700. A lowering kit will set us back another 100-200 depending on the brand.

Sorry for rambling - I'm just playing Devil's Advocate - the worst is I've got the damn shocks on the shelf and can't decide what to do.

Again, sorry for the long post

luv'n'stuff

John

[mikouk]

I saw the price and the thought of chopping up my front struts put me off

Is that what happens?!!! I didn't know any chopping was involved. I feel less of a man!

I drove down to France a couple of weeks ago and the ride was not too bad actually. And the car was loaded up to the roof. I got the Anti roll bar problem I had properly checked and it fine but I'm not sure I would be able to change them as it would all get a bit tight.

[cornclose]

Hmm. I'm still favouring the Volvo kit with Nivomats then. I certainly don't want to have roller-skate handling that's hard and horrible.

I want load lugging capacity whilst towing, but want to tighten the whole thing up a bit without screwing up the arm-chair ride a whole lot...

Any further thoughts ?

[mikouk]

I think the major mistake I made was to not have a go in a car with the setup I was thinking of going for already fitted.

Any other p2's else going to this MRG meet in Chippenham in a couple of weeks time?

I am hopefully.

[straight5]

I am starting to think I will leave my T5 standard. I feel like I can push it round corners pretty damn quick as it is, in the dry, and the only real weak point is the weighty front end pushing it wider. I don't doubt that harder shocks would lessen that a little, but nothing is going to override the effects of the front weight distribution and front wheel drive. Ultimately I think Volvo created a good compromise between handling and comfort. Maybe D5 owners could look at the T5 standard suspension as the cheaper way to improve their D5s. For a better handling performance saloon, I will save up to buy an M5, if Im lucky.

[v70torslanda]

For a better handling performance saloon, I will save up to buy an M5, if I'm lucky.

That's my whole point. A D5 ain't a T5 and T5 ain't an M5. I won't be going for Nivomats, I think they are a fantastic invention and in certain cases they are the only option (like if you tow or carry anything heavy) but I can't afford to chuck 500 quid at a a pair of shock absorbers.

My car will be wearing new Sachs all round with new front top spring plates by the end of the month. With the polybushed wishbones and some (more) new tyres on the front that should see it right for a while. The idea is to be able to drive to deepest darkest France and to be able to walk when we get there . . .

luv'n'stuff

J

[Redbrick]

Any other p2's else going to this MRG meet in Chippenham in a couple of weeks time?

I'll be there with my set up.

John you are right about not forgetting the reason for buying the car in the first place. I forgot why I'd bought an 850 when I went to the extremes of KW coilovers- yes they handled the corners well and I could load it up because it was totally rigid BUT it was not a useful family car.

I have kept it simple on my D5 by just replacing the front shocks for the superb B6 HD's LINK. I have polyed everything I can and at idle it is a bit of a pain, I am lucky in my day to day driving not to sit in traffic as that is when it drones. It still whisks us to Austria every year for skiing and tows the camping trailer in the summer, the nivomats are there to stay. Love it!! Ohh and yes it isn't a T5 but its not that far off with RICA and 40+ MPG.

[v70torslanda]

OK. So we put the shockers on last night and barring a small glitch everything went together quite smoothly. More on that story later . . .

Essentials. You WILL need a set of 'RIBE' bits. You can't undo the top mounts or arb links without and 'windy power' isn't always the answer.
You need to get the car as high off the ground as possible - if you don't you will need the BT manhole option for the rears.

Wherever or whoever supplies your shockers you will need the front top spring plates - the rubber ones. Get them from Rufe, get them from a n other main stealer, get them from Euro Car Parts, Nordic, GSF - JUST GET THEM! Top mount bearings shouldn't be required. My tank is 7 years old with 109k plus and there was no play and nothing more than surface corrosion. Euro do an SKF kit with it all in but it's 99 quid plus vat! Whatever, yer pays yer money etc. etc.

Was I right? Standard shocks all round? I think so.
Nivomats were beyond reach (the top mounts are nearly a ton a pair FFS!) and I don't carry weight or tow so not needed. Bilstein started looking at a calendar when I asked about production dates and said 'end of June ... Maybe but possibly not before summer shutdown'. Konis never did it for me 'cos I can't get discount on them. I nearly bought Sachs from Nordic even tho' I work for Euro Car Parts.

Am I happy with the ride? Oh yes! The previous ride could be described as crashing from pothole to pothole with the occasional rattle or harmonic clang from the front. That's gone. In its place is the smoothness and lack of drama that I remember buying the car for. It just makes progress. LJK Setright once said 'If you can't feel it working then its doing the right job' Couldn't put it better meself

What? Oh yeah - the glitch. . .

It was late, we were tired. When you've got no wheels on the car and the o/s is on axle stands its never a good idea to let the jack down on the nearside rear if there's nowt supporting the front

It's even more stupid to imagine that puny little you can reach out and hold up two tons of Swedish that's heading floorwards at a rate of knots.

I think I said something like

'FUUUUUHHHHHHAAAAAWWWWWKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!'

and my mate got the message. You've never seen a trolley jack go up so fast. The handle was a blur.

luv'n'stuff

J

[cornclose]

I think I said something like

'FUUUUUHHHHHHAAAAAWWWWWKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!'

and my mate got the message. You've never seen a trolley jack go up so fast. The handle was a blur.

[dave stew]

Cheers John, excellent write up. Will be doing mine in a couple of weeks, too. Watch this space!

[RobbieH]

Cheers John, excellent write up. Will be doing mine in a couple of weeks, too. Watch this space!

Well that makes two of us...........

Mines in on Wednesday for a few changes. Info to follow when all done.

I did change the front tyres last week for Goodyear Excellence. What a difference. The Eagle F1's must have been well past their best buy date, the difference is quite something - quiet, they grip very well and the ride is improved. Saying that, I've also fitted the T5D5 group but front strut brace in addition to having the engine brace bar conversion. All worth the pennies and looking forward to the other changes and upgrades this week.

John, I hope your little glitch didn't happen on your drive. I'd hate to think of the consequences. Oh aye, as well, did you fit the stem to the Basso yet?

[cornclose]

Will be doing mine in a couple of weeks, too. Watch this space!

That makes two of us! Interesting times...