Suspension overhaul question!
 

Im planning on doing a DIY suspension refresh on my 2004 v50 T5 FWD, im looking at doing the both the rear and front shocks, im happy doing the rears but im a little unsure of the best approach for the fronts. im not to keen to use spring compressors to remove the spring, and i might as well do the top mount at the same time so here's my thought - if i buy new shocks, springs and top mounts i could take these components to a friendly mechanic and get them to assemble them together to make a hole complete 'strut', i can then remove all the old parts in one go and swap in the new assembled unit. i 'll be doing the work myself in a rural area so once i start i wont be able to nip out for more parts so does anyone know if that's all ill need, or am i missing something? all help/comments/criticism welcome!

thanks!

Personally, I think you'd be onto a winner getting the strut assembled by a mechanic beforehand.

If possible start spraying that bottom bolt (that clamps the shock absorber to the steering knuckle) with penetrating fluid asap.. spray as often as you can till you start the job. Dunno what mileage you have, but some people have had trouble getting that bolt off.

My impact wrench took mine off but was struggling a little bit.

Watch this too:

+ YouTube Video

You'll most likely need new replacement drop links if you're going as far as replacing the top mounts, the droplinks don't always come off cleanly and sometimes easier to cut them off.

thank you for the tips! im not doing this until the end of next month when i have a week off, but i will start the penetrating spray sooner rather than later! the cars on 140k so im guessing the bolts are well settled in! good shout regarding the drop links, for a little extra it makes sense to fit them at the same time, especially if the old ones are a pain to work with!

I recently changed all mine on my C70 (basically the same setup)

I used the springs as mine were ok, but I changed:

Shocks
Top mounts
Top mount bearings
Drop links
Wheel bearings (hubs)
Wish bones

Wish bones are easy enough to do anytime but I would seriously consider pressing in new wheel hubs (bearings) because if one goes you will literally have to tear all that lot out to change it😉

so ill need top mounts and bearings, i wasn't sure as i had assumed they would come together but now i see its a separate item, so would you all agree that for the 'struts' i should look to buy

-shock
-spring
-top mount
-top mount bearing
-rubber spring seat (?)
-drop link

ill be happy to fit the assembled unit, but i would like to make sure i have everything ready to hand over to a mechanic to build! ill be doing the disks and pads at the same time, so a few thing for me (a basic diy'er) to be getting on with!

again, all help/comments welcome! thanks guys!

I am not 100% certain on your model, but on mine the top mount and top mount bearing were separate.

Depending what shocks you use (I used Bilsten B4’s) you will also need bump stops and bellows, as you will not be able to use the existing ones as you are building prior to removing the old ones. Also I don’t think there is s rubber spring seat, unless you mean the rubber at the top which is the top mount bearing.

So the list is:

Shocks
Springs
Top mounts
Top mount bearings
Bump stops
Bellows
Drop links

And if you decide I would seriously suggest wheel bearings