Rear dampers

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Dippydog

I presume a professional garage wouldn't have swapped out Nivomats for standard dampers,so mine wouldn't have self levelling.Obviously this doesn't answer the question of why it sits slightly low at the rear but as there is no sign of wayward handling investigation as to the cause will have to wait for warmer-certainly drier-weather.But any suggestions gratefully received.

I'm not quite so convinced, i've known garages fit normal dampers in place of Nivos to get cars through MoTs and that was when the Nivos were still available! What most of them haven't done is fit the stronger springs the standard dampers need, as the Nivos "pump up" with movement and lift the back end of the car.
Failure to fit the stronger springs to match the normal dampers (that don't "pump up" and support the weight of the car) will result in the saggy rear yours appears to have.

I suspect this may have happened with yours. Have a look at this pdf, pages 5-10 which explains the chassis code on the smaller plate on the slam panel. It explains about the numbers in the chassis code positions 4 and 5 and how to decode them.

https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/tech/da...91_94-Sec0.pdf

If you then look up the part numbers for the dampers and springs, it will tell you what yours had when it left the factory.

[Dippydog]

Thanks LS I'll look that up tomorrow.

[Dippydog]

Had a look today and if I'm reading things right[not guaranteed] the 4th number[rear dampers] is a 9 scrolling down that list it comes up with the number 13 29 504 -3 does this sound right?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Dippydog

Had a look today and if I'm reading things right[not guaranteed] the 4th number[rear dampers] is a 9 scrolling down that list it comes up with the number 13 29 504 -3 does this sound right?

It does, i'm having difficulty lookng that up as my internet is on a go-slow at the moment.

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Dippydog

Had a look today and if I'm reading things right[not guaranteed] the 4th number[rear dampers] is a 9 scrolling down that list it comes up with the number 13 29 504 -3 does this sound right?

1329504 comes up as a Nivomat. £340.00 each from Skandix + delivery

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by griston64

1329504 comes up as a Nivomat. £340.00 each from Skandix + delivery

Thanks Mark, that confirms my suspicions the rear dampers had been changed!

Also gives the OP a price

[griston64]

Which makes me wonder why the rear is sagging ? As this car doesn't have rear springs does it mean the composite leaf spring is knackered ? I wouldnt have thought so. It's probably down to cheapo rear shocks being used to replace the Nivo's ?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by griston64

Which makes me wonder why the rear is sagging ? As this car doesn't have rear springs does it mean the composite leaf spring is knackered ? I wouldnt have thought so. It's probably down to cheapo rear shocks being used to replace the Nivo's ?

On Nivo equipped cars, whether they have coil springs or the composite leaf, the springs aren't designed to lift the car to the correct ride height, this is done by the Nivos. Fitting normal dampers means the lift isn't produced by the Nivos so the back end is saggy.
My 760 was so bad with weak Nivos when i got it that i ripped the exhaust off on a speed hump.

When i converted it to proper springs and dampers, the back end came up by ~45mm making the headlamps blind every worm in sight! I waited until i renewd the front springs and dampers to adjust the headlamp aim though as they brought the front up by ~25mm so the worms could put their shades away!

Using the front as a datum point for general wear in the springs, it would be fair to say the back had dropped 25mm purely on wear and tear in the springs but it was nearly twice that with the softer Nivo type springs and didn't "pump up" as it should.

I've had a few V8 SD1s with FUBAR Nivos and they always had a saggy bum, the last one i had actually had new Nivos fitted a few weeks before i bought it, coincidentally for what the guy paid just for the Nivos. That was £700 back in 1990 when £700 was a lot of money. Back then, petrol was ~40p/L as opposed to the £1.25/L as it is now.

http://www.speedlimit.org.uk/petrolprices.html

That equates to ~£2200 now and Nivos haven't gone up that much by comparison if the price now is £680/pair plus carriage.

Either way a lot of money to pay for a product that doesn't work! Even the manufacturers blurb on them specifies that once loaded, they will bring the ride height to "within 30mm of normal" - to me that isn't self-leveling or it would be normal. Therefore IMHO they don't work, even when new.

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

On Nivo equipped cars, whether they have coil springs or the composite leaf, the springs aren't designed to lift the car to the correct ride height, this is done by the Nivos. Fitting normal dampers means the lift isn't produced by the Nivos so the back end is saggy.
My 760 was so bad with weak Nivos when i got it that i ripped the exhaust off on a speed hump.

When i converted it to proper springs and dampers, the back end came up by ~45mm making the headlamps blind every worm in sight! I waited until i renewd the front springs and dampers to adjust the headlamp aim though as they brought the front up by ~25mm so the worms could put their shades away!

Using the front as a datum point for general wear in the springs, it would be fair to say the back had dropped 25mm purely on wear and tear in the springs but it was nearly twice that with the softer Nivo type springs and didn't "pump up" as it should.

I've had a few V8 SD1s with FUBAR Nivos and they always had a saggy bum, the last one i had actually had new Nivos fitted a few weeks before i bought it, coincidentally for what the guy paid just for the Nivos. That was £700 back in 1990 when £700 was a lot of money. Back then, petrol was ~40p/L as opposed to the £1.25/L as it is now.

http://www.speedlimit.org.uk/petrolprices.html

That equates to ~£2200 now and Nivos haven't gone up that much by comparison if the price now is £680/pair plus carriage.

Either way a lot of money to pay for a product that doesn't work! Even the manufacturers blurb on them specifies that once loaded, they will bring the ride height to "within 30mm of normal" - to me that isn't self-leveling or it would be normal. Therefore IMHO they don't work, even when new.

IIRC this car is a 95 which means it should be leaf spring. If that is the case,what would be the best option to replace the old shocks rather than Nivo's then ? The Classic Swde kit looks like a good option as normal shocks will surely just be too low again

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by griston64

IIRC this car is a 95 which means it should be leaf spring. If that is the case,what would be the best option to replace the old shocks rather than Nivo's then ? The Classic Swde kit looks like a good option as normal shocks will surely just be too low again

Whichever springs it has, to be able to change the dampers to normal from Nivo, you need the matched spring(s). With the coil springs, they're much easier to find, whether for the multilink or the live axle.

If ClassicSwede have a complete kit of a matched compost leaf spring and dampers to convert to normal dampers, that would be the easiest option. The other option is to find the Volvo part number for the composite leaf spring for normal dampers, do some research and try and find aftermarket to reduce cost or go to Volvo and order one with the corect normal dampers. There are also aftermarket damper options as well.

If the car is a keeper, i'd go for the composite spring for normal dampers and then good aftermarket dampers (KYB, Bilstein etc) but if it's a short term keeper, i'd probably go for the Nivos from Skandix, use the car for 3-4 years and let someone else have the extra work of changing the composite spring.

Sooner or later, Sachs, ZF or whoever makes the Nivos these days will stop producing them for the simple reason it won't be viable due to a reduced market place. The question is do you future proof now by changing to normal dampers etc or wait until you have no choice?