940 Estate Rear Suspension Advice Please

[Steve 940]

Hi,

Now had the 940 for a couple of weeks and have a few issues identified, main one is a very bouncy ride, especially around the country roads here in Suffolk.

Is a '94 model with a documented 75k used very little over recent years, thinking do i just replace shocks with something like Bilstein B4 and see if that sorts the problem, or- do I bite the bullet and do shocks, springs along with all the other bushes/joints in the rear suspension??

Looked on GCP site at parts availability and seems a few things like bump stops seem to be no longer available? Anyone with suggestions would be most appreciated, and if going down doing the whole thing Road, Is it best to get local dealer to identify part number S needed from my VIN as I don't trust myself to interpret the GCP parts diagrams correctly!!

Appreciate and guidance.

Cheers
Steve

[TonyS9]

You probably have the original Nivomat self leveling suspension, if there are rubber bellows on the bottom half of the shock.

If you just replace these the back of the car will sit very close to the ground, you need to replace the springs at the same time with harder non-self leveling springs.

The Nivomats are very rare to buy and can cost several hundred £ each. There are great if you carry alot of loads, otherwise most people just fit B4 or B6's.

If you are concerned about the correct parts just contact the supplier. Knowing the volvo PN may or may not be that helpful. ClassicSwede.co.uk is good source for parts although its not his day job and can be a bit slow. Otherwise there are plenty of suspension suppliers that will be happy to take your money.

[classicswede]

There is a chance you have nivos but even if normal the springs do have a habit of going soggy. The conversion kit has gas dampers and new coil springs

https://www.classicswede.org/shop/ni...40-940-760-960

The bushes are worth looking at but I would not rush to replace them unless there does look to be a problem

[Moomoo]

If it's going to be your long term bus, get it right, keep it right! Fit good parts well and clean,oil an wax everything to death when you put it back together.

It pays in the end! You know the adage, pay cheap , pay twice!

I've always loved driving a car I can go anywhere in, any time. It's grand!

[AllHailKingVolvo]

Originally Posted by classicswede

There is a chance you have nivos but even if normal the springs do have a habit of going soggy. The conversion kit has gas dampers and new coil springs

https://www.classicswede.org/shop/ni...40-940-760-960

The bushes are worth looking at but I would not rush to replace them unless there does look to be a problem

I was looking at this kit on your site the other day Dai, I’ll be after one of those at the end of the month once some invoices have come in. My diesel estate has Nivos which are a little weary after 300k of use, this will be just the freshener it needs!

[TheLeeds]

A few years ago I had a 940 estate with Nivomats on the rear. One was leaking really badly and failed the MOT. They're over £300 per side, so I replaced them with standard gas shocks for a non Nivomat 940 from the local motherfcukers (motor factors for those of you of a politically correct persuasion).
I also fitted towing spring assisters to raise the ride height to compensate for the incorrect shocks, and all was well again. The ride was very good (better than standard oil filled shocks) and the car no longer threatened to end up in people's living rooms on bends in the road (no joke, it really was that bad before I replaced the rear shock absorbers - car was almost uncontrollable on corners at more than 35 mph !).

I used spring assisters similar to the ones in this ebay listing, although you'd have to measure your springs to ascertain the correct size etc.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353620461...Cclp%3A2334524

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Steve 940

Hi,

Now had the 940 for a couple of weeks and have a few issues identified, main one is a very bouncy ride, especially around the country roads here in Suffolk.

Is a '94 model with a documented 75k used very little over recent years, thinking do i just replace shocks with something like Bilstein B4 and see if that sorts the problem, or- do I bite the bullet and do shocks, springs along with all the other bushes/joints in the rear suspension??

Looked on GCP site at parts availability and seems a few things like bump stops seem to be no longer available? Anyone with suggestions would be most appreciated, and if going down doing the whole thing Road, Is it best to get local dealer to identify part number S needed from my VIN as I don't trust myself to interpret the GCP parts diagrams correctly!!

Appreciate and guidance.

Cheers
Steve

Rear springs and dampers are available on fleabay relatively inexpensively and transform the ride from the dreaded Nivos.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234154104477

Rear springs ^^^^^ (without leveling control aka Nivos)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234152353271

Rear dampers ^^^^^ (again without leveling control)

Two springs ~£52 for the pair, two dampers ~£46, that's under £100 plus some of your time to swap them over - each side can be easily done under an hour taking it slowly and methodically and having a tea break. The damper has to come off to renew the spring which is then just another nut away from being free, old one will need a bit of a pull toget it out if it's a Nivo matched spring as they are much longer and softer than standard springs.

New spring will simply be placed in, bolt in at the top, new damper fitted at the top eye then jack the trailing arm to catch the bottom of the spring and damper, bolt the damper up then continue jacking the trailing arm until all the weight that corner will take of the car is on the jack and now fully tighten the bolts. In other owrds, only fully tighhten the bolts when the weight of the car is on all 4 wheels.

[griston64]

Order new studs and nuts for the top fitting of the springs as they will be rusted to F****