Parts maker choi: SKF vs TRW vs ....? Rear spring replaceme?
 

Hi guys!

Due to poor handling and control, I am planning on doing some major suspension work in the following days and need to order the parts, however, I am really struggling with making my mind about the manufacturer. I think the value for money option is TRW. The website (a certain German supplier with delivery to UK) however, offers SKF parts for about half the price ot TRW one. As far as I am aware, SKF is manufacturer with good reputation on bearings, but no info on other parts. The price difference is really tempting, but I do not want to make sacrifices with the quality.
Does anyone have any experience with non bearing SKF parts and would there be a significant difference in quality to justify the price difference? I am aware that Lemforder is great choice, but reason it is not in the list is that my research suggested that many of the parts are identical with TRW as both are part of ZF, and Lemforder is even more expensive than TRW.

The parts I want to buy are:

Inner tie rods;
Outer tie rod ends;
Ball joints;
Drop links;
Shock absorbers (TRW as the have very cheap offer for set of two, but would be more then happy to get an opinion);
Coil springs (planning on Sachs);
Strut mounts (rubber and bearing one - planning on SKF);
Engine mounts (no idea what to go for);

And couple of following questions:
Has anyone any idea how to take off the rear coil springs? Tried to look for a video but didn't get anything on S60. The clearance is ridiculously small.
And another one, there seem to be some lower and upper rubber seats for the springs (not talking about the struts top rubber plate), which are hard to find and very expensive for what they are. Is ot good idea to reuse the old ones or the performance of the new struts will suffer?

Any suggestions or opinion would be much appreciated!

The car is S60, 2006 (facelift), 2.0T with 124k mile on the clock. I believe the described parts are still the original.

Thanks!

Have you priced all that stuff from Volvo ?

No, I haven't contacted my local Volvo directly. I have checked the prices of Volvo branded parts on some websites and they were way too expensive, compared to what I could afford. I really doupt Volvo will sell me shock absorber for 45 pounds, or inner tie rod for 10.

I doubt that as well. Trouble is if your handling is poor at the moment putting cheaper parts on isn't going to help. You could end up making it worse

Agree! However, I believe my handling is poor, because of shot shocks (124k miles on them), rusty springs, most likely bad stut mount bearings and bad tie rods (check them, there is movement as far as I am aware). All these lead to constantly driving without corect alignment, did it 3 times, after couple days max it was bad again, due to bad components. I expect huge improvement, even with the cheapest parts. However, I wouldn't consider TRW "cheap" manufacturer. As far as I know, S60 comes with Sachs shocks and springs, TRW, Lemforder and Sachs are owned by the same compony and many people online insist that many of TRW, Lemforder and Sachs parts are the same parts in different boxes and different price tags. Hence my question, is SKF on par with TRW/Sachs/Lemforder when it comes to ball joints and tie rods and can I save significant amount by going to SKF or, SKF is "cheap" part in this case?

SKF , I understand are/were the manufacturer for Volvo OE belts ,wheel bearings and pulleys on the cam belt and aux belts, so they can’t be bad.....

It’s a bit like Bougichord (sp) being OE for HT Leads, Bougichord being made in France , not by Volvo.

I’ve used SKF for bearings and cam belt Kits including water pump in the past and not had any issues at all.

I’ve not tried their suspension parts, but wouldn’t hesitate going on my experience so far.

Thank you very much!

Actually, after some further reading, I found information that there expanded there usual bearing and belts business and entered into suspension parts at around end of 2018, which might explain two things. There isn't almost any info/reviews on their suspension products, because they are relatively new on this market and the price is lower than expected, because they are trying to establish themselves on it.......or are using cheap outsourcer. I like the first option better.
Anyway, I think I will bite the bullet and order the SKF tie rods and ball joints and see how it goes.

You can learn some parts stuff on here

Genuine volvo struts and shocks are SACHS

Hi.
If you Google " 2006 Volvo s60 rear spring replacement " and tap the link of
sdbhost .com it should take you to a very good write-up with clear pictures.
I used this guide to change rear springs on a V70. I used a pair of external spring compressors and a pair of spring clips . It was a real b***ache and took about 3 times longer but can be done.
Internal compressors definitely next time.
Have you got all the tooling for these jobs ? You will need a special holding tool to change the inner tie-rods.
The upper front spring bearings are best if OE Volvo . The uprated xc90 ones are the same as my T5 and are the way to go if they`ll fit your car.
Check out Skandix .com . You can look up all parts by VIN No. They should have all you need . Shipping can be pricey but if it`s a larger order can be cost affective.
Best to identify what springs / shocks are already fitted . Pattern parts can be cheaper but give a harder/softer ride.

Thank you so much for this! This is the solution I was looking for! Shame I didn't find this tutorial. I was searching mainly in youtube. I didn't know internal compressors exist. I have external one but I quickly figured it would be impossible to use it for the rear spring. The internal is the obvious solution. Thanks again!
The tutorial also says to transfer the rubber seat from the old spring to the new one, so I am guessing this answers my other question, whether the rubber seats can reused.
I received the tie rod tool today, also expecting chisel type ball joint remover and will order the ball joint splitter. I am actually hesitating whether to replace the ball joint, because there is no evidence of them moving or failing, but I am so desperate to solve the alignment/handling problem that I want to replace anything that could cause alignment issues.
The shocks are Sachs and still original ones. I cannot identify the springs, but my guess is Sachs again and that is why I will order Sachs (although according the online forums, Sachs are not making their own springs and using the Swedish Lesjofors.
Softer (with adequate handling) ride would be fantastic, as at the moment the car has 18'' wheels and the ride is really crashy and diving into every path hole on the rode. Additionally, it really doesn't like to turn, it's resisting and ''fighting'' on every roundabout.