Suspension noise
 

Since completing the resto on the 142 years ago, I have been chasing a 'groink' noise in the front suspension. It occurs most prominently when you first apply the brakes coming to a stop (suspension compresses) and at the last moment when you release the brakes and the suspension rebounds. The more vigorous the braking the louder the groink. The bounce test on the fenders generates a tiny amount of squeak, definitely no clanks or rattles so nothing is loose. I have sprayed all the bushings with silicone in an attempt to identify the source of the noise (removed and lubed the ASB bushings). None of this has yielded the source of the noise.

In the front suspension, the original design has a plastic / rubber spacer that sits at the top (or bottom depending on which reference you use) of the front spring. The original part number was 675079. My original spacers were toast and replacements for 675079 were unavailable when I did the resto. Advice I received was that they were not really necessary so it went together without any spacers. I later found out that the part is still available; but, under a new part number 683266.

I am curious as to whether anybody has deleted these spacers and developed similar noises from the front end?. Conversely, have they replaced the spacers to eliminate a noise? They are directly available from Volvo and fairly cheap so I would consider putting them in if it eliminated the noise. However, if this has a low probability of being the source of the noise I am disinclined to do this. Separating the A arms and removing the springs is not technically hard; but, it is a fair amount of grunt work. I am at the age where I am disinclined to do a lot of grunt work unless I have a reasonable expectation of a positive outcome.

Any other observations as to where my noise might be originating? I am pretty confident that it is not the brakes..

I just found this post while looking for a source for the spring isolators. I have a pair to go in but they're not in the best shape, and I have been looking for replacements...without much luck!

FWIW, I have just had a look at that second PN you mentioned, and it appears to me to be something entirely different - a spacer for one of the wishbones.

cheers

James

I just found your Swedespeed post on this topic. Did you end up trying the Buick spring seat, and if so did it work OK...and do you have a PN for it?

cheers

James

I did order the GM 'fits a thousand different variants' spring cushions. Based upon my measured value for the outside diameter of the springs the cushions are about 1/4" -3/8" too large. The inside diameter looks like it will be just fine. The part number is AC Delco 45G18708 and I sourced them from Rock Auto.

I haven't installed them yet. I had other things to do in the Fall and its serious winter here so I am disinclined to work on the car. Based upon 'eyeballing' the spacers they should fit fine or at worst require some minor trimming of the outside diameter.

Many thanks for the info!

Are they a flat "washer", or do they include the lip, like the originals?
https://i.ibb.co/vhSrYP9/Isolators.jpg

The pictures on Google appear to show both types!

cheers

James

Flat, just like a giant sealer washer on a jar of preserves and probably 3-4 mm thick.

Thanks!

I was struggling to see how that would work in terms of how well it would locate (or, more to the point, remain located!), but having now fitted mine I think it would work, especially if you stuck it to the crossmember with double-sided tape, or similar. What I was forgetting is that there's a raised lip to locate the spring in the underside of the crossmember. FWIW, it took me about an hour to do each side. Fiddly, especially ensuring that the isolator remains correctly-located, but easier than I expected.

I managed to get the bent one straightened out well enough to use. We found a paint tin which was about the same diameter as the hole in the isolator, then clamped the flange as flat as we could get it with a jubilee clip (easier said than done, given the deformation), and tried to give it some memory with repeated applications of boiling water. It wasn't perfect, but worked well enough to allow it to clip inside the spring.

All installed now!

FWIW, a friend has had some 300-series rubber parts cast in recent years, and it strikes me that this would be an easy one to do. I might have a work with him, and see if he'd be interested in supplying one of the "OHV specialists".

cheers

James

Hmmmm

I was thinking that installation of the spacers would be pretty much a non issue. I have had the front springs in and out a couple of times. Tried the Lejofors short springs and ditched them for some Amazon Cars road springs because the Lesjofors were shaking my fillings loose. After you get everything apart, I recall that fitting the springs in was straight forward. My plan was that I would just tack the spacer to the top of the spring with a few drops of CA adhesive, shove the spring into place and be done with it. I figured that as long as the ID of the spacer is the same as or larger than the ID of the spring the spacer will fit into the spring recess in the top of the cross member. Am I missing something or being overly optimistic?

Pouring your own from urethane would be an option. You would need to take a guess at what the correct durometer for the urethane would be and you would need originals to make a mold from. If you are going to the trouble of making a mold, I think I would want to be making a bunch.

I'm sure there's more than one way of doing it successfully, but (given the awkward angles involved - ideally you'd "bend" the spring once it's in place, prior to raising the lower wishbone) I feel like there's a better chance of the spacer staying in place if it's stuck to the crossmember (and also anchored by the raised lip (to fit inside the ID of the spacer) on the crossmember) than the spring. Perhaps have a good look at it all once you have it apart, and make your own mind up?

If my friend were to look at it, he'd no doubt do a batch.

Another friend has a scrap crossmember, but there's a chance the isolators are still in one piece. They might either be a useful spare for someone, or a possible mold donor. Having said that, it's a simple shape (which I carefully measured before fitting), so you could probably 3D print (or even turn!) a pattern to use to form a mold.

cheers

James

The amazon spring is only a little smaller OD. The rubber for them should fit. Volvo part number 653642