The Morbidmobile Blog

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

Good evening all, the hearse is still in the garage and we're having difficulties getting the correct suspension parts.

Right now, according to the mechanic I need to find a pair of good used front suspension 'struts', the parts that the shock absorbers sit inside. Do I need to look for a particular year/model, or will any old 740/940 do? I'm hoping to source these this evening so would really appreciate the advice.

The PO has chopped most of these struts off and welded the coilovers to where they've been cut. This is mixed news, i'm unlikely to need new springs (as the used struts hopefully come with usable springs) so a saving to be had there, but I will need new top mounts as the coilovers use different ones.

I'm currently looking through the 1,694 page parts catalogue to see about years/part numbers etc!

Judging from the tone of that post Tom, i'd say you'd be willing to give the PO another ride in the hearse when you get it back - as a passenger in the back!

Try Luke for the front struts :

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=287440

Should be able to get them complete and they're probably serviceable including the springs and shocks so might save you some £££ if the mechanic just fits them.

[TomSaintJames]

Indeed! Welded coilovers to shorn-off strut tower bases... Makes me audibly "tut".

Thanks for the link Dave, am I right in thinking that the differences lie in if the car does/doesn't have ABS, and if the wheel bearings are tapered or shouldered? (these terms mean little to me other than a shape?) Luke's car appears, at least to me, to have ABS from the engine shot.

Does this even matter if i'm putting a whole replacement strut in?

EDIT: reading a thread on the turbobricks site, whoether the car has ABS or not doesn't seem to matter, but post 1991 cars had different hub spindles which I hope could be swapped over from what is left of the assembly on the hearse if necessary.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

Indeed! Welded coilovers to shorn-off strut tower bases... Makes me audibly "tut".

Thanks for the link Dave, am I right in thinking that the differences lie in if the car does/doesn't have ABS, and if the wheel bearings are tapered or shouldered? (these terms mean little to me other than a shape?) Luke's car appears, at least to me, to have ABS from the engine shot.

Does this even matter if i'm putting a whole replacement strut in?

Pretty much spot on Tom but a whole, complete strut should be a bolt in replacement. Something to watch though will be the brakes, might have to fit your discs, caliper and caliper acrriers on.

Wheel bearings shouldn't be a major problem as long as they don't need replacing!

Does yours not have ABS then?

[TomSaintJames]

Excellent! There are one of each side on ebay for a total of £105.24, but will see what Luke can do with his breaking car - i'd rather help out a fellow volo-nut than a faceless ebay seller.

No ABS here, at least I don't think so! The grip from the extra wide tyres is sufficient enough that i've never had any wheel lock-up on braking. There is certainly no traction control, wet roundabouts can be fun if you try really really hard EVEN in the 2.0 n/a auto

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

Excellent! There are one of each side on ebay for a total of £105.24, but will see what Luke can do with his breaking car - i'd rather help out a fellow volo-nut than a faceless ebay seller.

No ABS here, at least I don't think so! The grip from the extra wide tyres is sufficient enough that i've never had any wheel lock-up on braking. There is certainly no traction control, wet roundabouts can be fun if you try really really hard EVEN in the 2.0 n/a auto

Another one you can try Tom :

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=285968

Also i doubt if he's got any bits left but tofufi aka Jim broke a 760 saloon (turbodiesel version) which should have the same front struts and he's only up the road in Bristol - can't find his posts about breaking it though.

You're worrying me now Tom - what do you mean "extra wide tyres"?

You'll almost certainly find the rear end grip improves with the standard springs and shocks on the back end, even when i had knackered Nivos on mine with soggy rear springs, i couldn't get the back end to hang out being brutal - even with the old, knackered, hard ditchfinders on!

If the coilovers were set too hard with the shocks set too hard as well, it would cause the back end to "skip" over rather than "comply" with the road surface so it would hang the rear out.

[TomSaintJames]

I have found Tofufi's ebay listing Dave and hope I can collect a good, complete used pair of struts this evening, I can get them to the garage first thing tomorrow and hopfully have the hearse back for the weekend!

The non standard wheels, although standard 17" steelies for some car, are quite a bit wider than stock I think, can't remember the tyre width but was something like 245? Maybe even wider, and they are 'stretched' over the wheels too as per the banded steels/low 'stance' fashion trend (not my thing) so if the tyres fit properly they would be another couple of width sizes up. The tyres are good, again my sieve memory has done its usual thing, but I think they were Yokohama's of some descrption and they all have only ~1000 miles wear to them so almost new.

There was quite a bit of skipping about and bouncing around, yes. I am very much looking forward to a comfortable and quiet car! The mechanic thinks the centre bearings are causing the noise, as there are 2 propshafts (one being the extension) I think he said there are two bearings, but we'll see if the noise goes away once the ride height and prop angle is correct again.

[TomSaintJames]

Ok, so good used pair of struts sourced and bought, collecting this evening.

Now i need the rubber parts that the top of rear springs sit in. Any ideas chaps? Im at work now so cannot look at the part diagram i downloaded last night.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

I have found Tofufi's ebay listing Dave and hope I can collect a good, complete used pair of struts this evening, I can get them to the garage first thing tomorrow and hopfully have the hearse back for the weekend!

The non standard wheels, although standard 17" steelies for some car, are quite a bit wider than stock I think, can't remember the tyre width but was something like 245? Maybe even wider, and they are 'stretched' over the wheels too as per the banded steels/low 'stance' fashion trend (not my thing) so if the tyres fit properly they would be another couple of width sizes up. The tyres are good, again my sieve memory has done its usual thing, but I think they were Yokohama's of some descrption and they all have only ~1000 miles wear to them so almost new.

There was quite a bit of skipping about and bouncing around, yes. I am very much looking forward to a comfortable and quiet car! The mechanic thinks the centre bearings are causing the noise, as there are 2 propshafts (one being the extension) I think he said there are two bearings, but we'll see if the noise goes away once the ride height and prop angle is correct again.

Your mechanic may well be right, usually if the propshaft centre bearing goes it's a low pitched rumble/thrumming sound rather than a whine but with the back too low, the diff might be whining a bit.

Some or all of that may well disappear with normal ride height restored.

As for the wheels, Phil (AllHailKingVolvo) was selling a set of standard 15" steelies recently :

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=287688

Obviously you'll need tyres (ideally 195/65/15) so these might be a better bet :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-940...0/273484973791

They're in Bristol as well. Would keep you going for quite a while before you had to renew the tyres at which point, 195/65/15 would be a nice choice. Both are standard sizes so it's personal choice really but i've always found both on my 740s and the current 760, it's much quieter, smoother and more comfortable on 195s - they're also usually cheaper!

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

Ok, so good used pair of struts sourced and bought, collecting this evening.

Now i need the rubber parts that the top of rear springs sit in. Any ideas chaps? Im at work now so cannot look at the part diagram i downloaded last night.

You could try asking whoever you're getting the struts from? Same goes for standard size wheels/tyres etc.

[TomSaintJames]

I'll ask the seller about the top spring seats then. What is their proper name? When i google i only get front shock absorber top mounts show up.

Regarxing the wheels, they were new 1000 miles ago and really suit the car IMO. I would worry with smaller wheels that the car would look disproportioned. There is a cost factor too! We shouldnt really be spending on new suspension with the house move likely being next month, but its really bugging me, and if we plan to use it as a house moving vehicle, then it needs doing for that too or things may get broken in transit.

Im hoping the noise goes or at least is lesser post-suspension replacement. Itd save us some money that we'll need for things like heating systems...

[Laird Scooby]

This is a photo of a similar hearse on standard wheels :



I think it still looks in proportion - might also be worth comparing the cost of a 195/65/15 against the cost of a 245/45/17 or whatever they are on there.

As for the rear spring seats, do you mean the rubber caps that fit between the spring and the cup mounted on the bodywork to locate the spring or both the cup and the cap? Rear spring seat would cover both of those normally although it would only be the rubber part that would normally be replaced - i'm guesssing Mr Coilover removed the OE spring mounts/cups from the chassis rail?

They bolt on but that isn't much help if you don't have them! Depends how much of what should be on there you actually need!

Wise move getting it sorted before you move - why hire Pickfords when you have your own designer pantechnicon?