front arm rest

[DarrenK]

The armrests are commonly available on eBay US but if your looking for one, I strongly recommend holding out for a good one that matches your interior and expect to pay good money for it. In my opinion, they are excellent value for money and a must-have for long commutes. By far my favorite accessory!

If you have a manual, changing gears is awkward; manageable if you cramp your wrist and change gear with your fingers. If you've got cup-holders, forget it. They are fantastic in automatics however.

An armrest in poor condition will go for $30-50 where-as an excellent one with cup holders will sell for $125+. Don't forget your $30 international shipping cost if the seller is willing to ship it. If your bidding on an armrest with cupholders confirm with the seller that the cup holder plastic is complete and has no defects sliding in and out. The small hanging plastic bits are replaceable though.

If you can't find the fabric to match your seats consider an all-vinyl armrest in the correct color to match your seat backs / door cards etc. Tan or brown coloured armrests are the hardest to source in nice condition.

In the last year I've only come across three cupholder armrests to match my interior (two with blue fabric and one all-blue vinyl) and I was outbid on all. The one I currently have isn't the right color but I'm still holding out.

Seriously, these armrests and cruise control in a 240 is... heavenly!

[240]

the one i got is a match for my seats!!! and id didnt cost that much neither

i was looking in retro fit cruise control but im in no hurry as someday one will come up on ebay.

[wooble]

Fitting cruise control is NOT easy - I've done it, and it took a fair bit of custom work even with a full kit, and some trial and error as well. As far as I can tell, RHD cruise control was never available. The Volvo computer will say that LHD parts work fine on RHD cars, they don't! To make my kit work, I had to -

Cut + weld cruise control fitting from LHD pedal to RHD pedal as they are differently shaped.

Cut up and re-weld LHD bracket to fit round RHD pedal box + column.

Make a wiring loom for the cruise computer/stalk/switches/pump from scratch (LHD cars are pre-wired for cruise - RHD are not) Luckily I had a contact in the US who could supply me with plugs + pigtails for the switches, pump + computer, without these I'd have been unable to do it.

Find a place for the vacuum pump to go - on an LHD car it mounts where the windscreen wiper motor is on RHD. I ended up drilling new holes and mounting it on the rear of the driver's side strut tower.

If I got another 240 I wouldn't bother to fit cruise even if the kit was free. Not worth the hassle it took to fit it!

[240]

john h glt estate is rhd and fitted with original cruise control so it must be availabe for rhd cars. im not in a rush ill find one, one day

[wooble]

The cruise on John H's estate is an aftermarket accessory, the original factory cruise control has the controls on the indicator stalk. I'd love to know if anybody else has factory-fitted cruise on an RHD 240, but I've never seen another example and my experience trying to get RHD cruise parts from Volvo leads me to believe it wan't available on RHD cars from the factory.

[DarrenK]

The cruise control system is pretty much a self-contained loom and a reasonably straight forward add-on (for LHD). There are three different cruise control looms; I can't remember the exact dates but it's more or less early 80s, late 80s and '90+ (I think it has something to do with the different instrument clusters). The later being the most simplified and I guess, less problematic.

wooble, did you get a wiring loom with your cruise kit or just the individual parts, and do you know what year of model your parts came off? Your right though, RHD would be a pain as far as the pedal bracket goes. Btw, if you ever need any parts for it, let me know, I pulled a couple of kits to learn the removal and install process before doing it to my own so have, and/or can get you bits.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think RHD cruise control was available on Australian models.

[wooble]

Originally Posted by DarrenK

The cruise control system is pretty much a self-contained loom and a reasonably straight forward add-on (for LHD). There are three different cruise control looms; I can't remember the exact dates but it's more or less early 80s, late 80s and '90+ (I think it has something to do with the different instrument clusters). The later being the most simplified and I guess, less problematic.

wooble, did you get a wiring loom with your cruise kit or just the individual parts, and do you know what year of model your parts came off? Your right though, RHD would be a pain as far as the pedal bracket goes. Btw, if you ever need any parts for it, let me know, I pulled a couple of kits to learn the removal and install process before doing it to my own so have, and/or can get you bits.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think RHD cruise control was available on Australian models.

I had the 90+ type (as I have a 90+ car), which consists of a vacuum pump, actuator, throttle pedal with ball joint for the actuator to attach to, pedal bracket + pedal switches, ECU and loom, and an extra loom made by the guy I bought it off to fit cars which weren't pre-wired. I still had to chop + change it a fair bit as all the wires were the correct lengths for fitting the kit on the left hand side of the car as opposed to the right!

The pedal bracket was a pain - the clutch and accelerator parts fit OK, but the bracket for the brake switch sits in the same place as the steering column! I had to cut that part off and re-attach it to the steering column support for it to work. RHD and LHD pedals are also different so I had to cut off the ball joint where the cruise actuator attaches from the LHD pedal and weld it to the RHD one.