Difference between the Nivomat and standard spring

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by Simmy

nivo mat shocks carry abt 20per cent of the weight of the car .you will need the springs aswell. your car will sit abt 4in low at the rear without the correct springs. . ask me how i know i also tried what you are thinking on an 850 it made the car look like a speed boat

I assume that there must be a retrofit type kit similar to when people junk air suspensions on range rovers for coils. Hence I assume they have much stiffer spring rates and softer dampers to compensate.

I would be interested to find out from OP what the kit is. Or if it is from another mode (which would potentially need some researching into).

[S60D5-185]

Buying a single good used Nivomat would always have been my chosen route and then you know everything will be back to normal with the minimum amount of cost and hassle.

My understanding that a Nivomat is either fully functional or totally defective hence why in this case replacing a single unit with a good used one is deemed acceptable

Interested to see how this all pans out with the conversion

[TruckbusUK]

Originally Posted by S60D5-185

Buying a single good used Nivomat would always have been my chosen route and then you know everything will be back to normal with the minimum amount of cost and hassle.

My understanding that a Nivomat is either fully functional or totally defective hence why in this case replacing a single unit with a good used one is deemed acceptable

Interested to see how this all pans out with the conversion

I concur

[Floodys]

Hi, ive just been through exactly all this although i have a R design and they have slightly different /harder rear nivomats to the non R design, from memory my shocks end in 776 and a non R design is 451. anyhow, i had a knackered o/s shock, only found out it was no good once i pulled the boot back and all the fluid leaked out! the car was suffering from shuddering/hopping over bumps on the road etc. i tried to source a 2nd hand one but rarer than hens teeth being R design, in the end i brought the "self levelling kit" from volvo @ £450 ish and it had to come in from Sweden. fitting was fairly easy but hardest part IMHO was one of the tie bars (or whatever its called) getting that back in place as the instructions advise to ratchet strap it to the car but makes dropping the spring a bit tricky, we did have a 4 poster ramp and gearbox jack so was ok in the end. now its done its transformed the car with both shocks done and new springs.

[Parknest]

Just thought I'd chime in with my own experiences:

My XC90 failed the MoT in February of this year (2022 for those reading this in the future) and one of the failure items was a leaking rear shock absorber. I discovered that all UK XC90s had the Nivomat shock absorbers from new and replacements were about £300-400 each. I also found out that the springs have to be matched to the shock absorbers. Had I gone for replacement Nivomats, it would've been a very expensive repair bill (I was loath to replace just the leaking shock absorber. They should always be replaced in pairs.). It worked out cheaper to replace the Nivomats with standard springs and shock absorbers and it isn't really an issue for me as I hardly have a full load of passengers and the only thing I tow is my caravan which has a maximum allowable mass of 1035kg.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Parknest

Just thought I'd chime in with my own experiences:

My XC90 failed the MoT in February of this year (2022 for those reading this in the future) and one of the failure items was a leaking rear shock absorber. I discovered that all UK XC90s had the Nivomat shock absorbers from new and replacements were about £300-400 each. I also found out that the springs have to be matched to the shock absorbers. Had I gone for replacement Nivomats, it would've been a very expensive repair bill (I was loath to replace just the leaking shock absorber. They should always be replaced in pairs.). It worked out cheaper to replace the Nivomats with standard springs and shock absorbers and it isn't really an issue for me as I hardly have a full load of passengers and the only thing I tow is my caravan which has a maximum allowable mass of 1035kg.

There is no problem just buying one Nivomat , there must be second hand ones around, leaking isn't common.
you wont find any standard springs in uk cars and if you fit them the car will no longer comply with our homologation load regulations so Insurance would not like that. the most economic repair which you seem to want is a used single Nivomat.