Strut Brace Bushes

[stephenevans99]

Originally Posted by Brams

Ok cheers. Is your strut brace aluminium or steel? Also how thick is the flat metal on top of the struts? I've seen braces on other cars that attach to the strut tops & in the middle of the bulkhead, in a sort of triangle, I wonder if this would be hard to make & if there would be a suitable attachment point on our type of car?

The Ultra Racing brace is made from Steel - the bracket end of the brace that bolts onto the top of the strut is approx 5mm in thickness.

Not sure whether there's any point on the bulkhead where you could secure a mount for a modified strut brace -



that said, if you pulled back the sound proofing where it reads 'CRD', maybe able to mount something there - how strong it'd be anyones guess.

[Brams]

Thanks for the info Steve, I'm a great believer in trying to do things yourself so I think I'll have a go at making my own brace.

I noticed in your photobucket pics you added some subframe insert bushes, how did they make a difference & did the uprated drop links make a difference? I've just ordered some standard ones as mine are all worn so it'll be interesting to see if new standard ones make the handling better.

I've seen the Ultra Racing braces on the Viva Performance site & think they are a very simple design so wouldn't be hard to recreate, especially the lower rear brace

[don kalmar union]

Originally Posted by stephenevans99

Never fitted one on the D5 - I've learned from other peoples mistakes:

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=103613

I'm in the same position as you at the moment, I'm looking at either polybushing the front wishbone bushes OR installing the Meyle HD wishbones. Also looking at polybushing the front anti roll bar.

Try fitting the Powerflex engine bar bush inserts - only take 10 minutes to fit and reduces the movement in the engine bar considerably:



Would love to fit the IPD uprated anti roll bars but they're mega $$$$ - can't justify/afford them at the moment

A good investment is the Ultra Racing strut brace, I've fitted front & rear braces and there is a noticeable difference

I keep IPD's anti roll bars in stock....both front and rear. It is very well worth while just fitting the rear bar on its own as that gives a noticeable improvement in steering response and aids turn-in. The rear bar also works without interfering with rear Nivomat/self levelling suspension plus does not give you the neck snapping result of uprated rear springs over speed bumps....

You can find these bars here on my website: http://kalmar-union.com/parts/volvo-...0_-suspension/ prices include VAT and UK mainland delivery....bit extra for deliveries to some more remote Scottish locations.

Regards, Don.

[stephenevans99]

Originally Posted by Brams

I noticed in your photobucket pics you added some subframe insert bushes, how did they make a difference & did the uprated drop links make a difference?

The subframe inserts I feel made a small difference in the ride of the car, everything felt a little more positive without adding additional noise or vibration. My subframe bushes appeared to be in excellent condition though, I reckon you'll feel the benefit more if your bushes were worn and the inserts are added.

The inserts cost me £22 from a forum member - a nice alternative to the iPD ones!! so not a lot of money.

The Meyle HD Drop Links are an improvement over the OE ones that were fitted - my originals had covered 90000 miles so I thought I'd replace them - very impressed with quality of the Meyle HD products. This is why I'm uncertain whether to polybush my OE wishbones OR just fit Meyle HD ones along with their HD Bottom Ball Joint ????? not sure.

RE: Chassis Bars. I imagine if you've access to welding and metal fabrication - making the under chassis bars similar to the UR ones would be quite easy - maybe even a market for them to earn some extra ££tokens

Originally Posted by don kalmar union

I keep IPD's anti roll bars in stock....both front and rear. It is very well worth while just fitting the rear bar on its own as that gives a noticeable improvement in steering response and aids turn-in.

You can find these bars here on my website: http://kalmar-union.com/parts/volvo-...0_-suspension/ prices include VAT and UK mainland delivery....bit extra for deliveries to some more remote Scottish locations.

Regards, Don.

Cheers Don.....already have you saved in my Favorites Folder lol.

[Brams]

RE: Chassis Bars. I imagine if you've access to welding and metal fabrication - making the under chassis bars similar to the UR ones would be quite easy - maybe even a market for them to earn some extra ££tokens

That sounds like a challange Once I made up the first one I could make a jig & make as many as I wanted. I think I will definitely have to give this & a strut brace a go now.

I received my drop links in the post yesterday. I bought the ones off ebay for £30 so hopefully they'll be ok. They have a 10mm shaft but I was wondering how thick the shaft is for the Heavy Duty links are? Anyone got a set they can measure??

[stephenevans99]

I never measured mine but they were slightly thicker by either 1mm or 2mm, the Meyle HD links are substantially heavier than the OE ones.

The pic shows OE Vs Meyle HD rear drop links - you can see the Meyle HD are considerable more 'HD' also come with a 4 year warranty.

[Brams]

I've been & had a quick measure up under the car & the total length of metal would be just under 3.5m to make the lower rear brace. It looks to be made from 20mm X10mm flat sided oval tube but I can't seem to find that anywhere on the net so was just thinking of using 20mm X 10mm rectangular box section? The round bits on the corners look to be just 30mm round tube so they should be easy enough to find. I'm going to a local metal supplier tomorrow so hopefully he'll have what I need.

[stephenevans99]

I think you might find a decent market for these across the UK Volvo forums. Get one fabricated and painted, post up some pics with the prices - keeping in mind the UR ones are £140 !!

Looking forward to seeing it.

[Brams]

I wonder if there would be a slight copyright issue though? I'm sure I could come up with something cheaper

[stephenevans99]

Can't see there being ANY issue with Copyright....your making a brace that fixes at points A - B - C - D using box section...they WILL look the same BUT that is the 'shape' of its form.

I say go for it....