Suspension: 850: 96 850 bumpy ride

[JimmyJones]

I've had my 96 850 Cd for about 3 years and ever since owning it the ride has been a bit harsh. It's done 170k miles and as far as I know the suspension is original.

At low speeds I can feel every bump, at high speeds it's fine. There is no sagging or bouncing.

Can I replace some suspension parts to fix this? I've been searching the Internet / forums but I am pretty clueless with car mechanics.

[Simmy]

the shocks will be well past there best at that age and mileage. the first thing to do is determine if you have nivomat self leveling shocks on the rear these can be identified by there larger size and should have rubber covers on them if not you will have standard shocks if you say you have no experience with car mechanics it might be worth letting a garage do this work or get help from someone as spring compressors can be dangerous and cause injury.

[JimmyJones]

I read on another forum post that nivomats are standard on the 850 CD and that they are really expensive.

[Simmy]

after market kits are available which include new springs as the ones used with nivomat shocks are too soft for use with normal shocks you will need to look to find out what your car is fitted with before doing any thing.

[JimmyJones]

Am I right in thinking these are regular rear shocks not Nivomat?
Screenshot_20240129_205021_Photos.jpg

[ITSv40]

Originally Posted by JimmyJones

Am I right in thinking these are regular rear shocks not Nivomat?
Attachment 152772

Yes, they are.

[JimmyJones]

Another dumb question, should I just replace the shock absorbers and springs or are there any other bits I should replace?

[Luxobarge]

May I make a suggestion? If you go down the route of converting to standard suspension instead of self-levelling Nivomats, can I suggest that you keep hold of your old Nivomat shocks (assuming they are not leaking) or put them up for sale, as new ones are eye-wateringly expensive (I know, I bought a pair!) and so second-hand but serviceable ones are sought after and worth good money. Don't chuck them, you could help someone keep their car on the road, there are quite a few of us who really like the self-levelling function!

I do get why you'd want to give the car a more comfortable ride though, mine's a T5 and comes standard with the lower profile tyres, which probably improve handling a tiny bit, but are a little bit harsher on the ride quality. I swapped my tyres for the standard non-T5 profile, as the kind of driving I do isn't particularly sporty, and it did help a bit. Bonus is that the standard tyre size is significantly cheaper too! Sorry, can't remember what the profile numbers were, but hopefully you get my drift.

Hope you get it sorted.

Cheers

PS - in answer to your "dumb" question (no it isn't) no, you shouldn't need to replace anything else assuming the rest of the rear axle, bushes etc are in OK condition. So far as I know, anyway. Apart from anything you want to do at the front of course - that's a whole different story.

[richmac]

Hi Jimmy,

My V70 got to 200k on the original suspension. It was very harsh at low speed when I first got it. It was caused by XL tyres (garages seem to fit these as standard on big cars these days and 850s/V70s are vary tyre sensitive) and the rear delta link bushes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmEqDfkuOaU). Fitting good quality OE spec rated tyres and changing out the bushes transformed it although the handling wasn't so good with the softer tyres.

Maybe worth a look.

Best regards,

Rich.