Very bouncy rear end

[nutco]

1998, 940 LTP est, just lately the rear end has become vary bouncy, it sits at the correct height when empty, are all rear dampers self leveling or are there different ones and if so how do you tell them apart, Cheers

[MiniNinjaRob]

I thought my rear suspension on my 940 was a bit bouncy. I had the shocks and springs replaced for Bilstein shocks and lowering springs. The rear shocks that were taken off were so shot you could move them by hand - no fluid or gas left in them at all!!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by nutco

1998, 940 LTP est, just lately the rear end has become vary bouncy, it sits at the correct height when empty, are all rear dampers self leveling or are there different ones and if so how do you tell them apart, Cheers

First of all, here a picture of a "normal" rear shock absorber - i have no idea if it's a Volvo one or not but it looks very similar :



Now here's a Nivo :



As you can see, the Nivos are much thicker and as far as you can see without pulling the rubber boot off the bottom, the same diameter all the way up.

If you have normal shocks on a car that originally had Nivos and they didn't change the rear springs to suit, it will become amazingly bouncy on the back end and generally sit about 30mm lower than it should.

I'd get another set of normal springs and shocks if you find your shocks are leaky or not controlling the bounce properly.

When the Nivos went weak on my 760, it was like being a passenger on the Herald of Free Enterprise, changed them for normal springs and shocks, gained 30mm ride height (no more beheaded snails!) and no longer had to worry about speed humps ripping my exhaust off again!

[nutco]

From what I can see after trying to crawl under the car, hard to do when your on a grass campsite, lol, it looks like there nivos as there is a rubber gaiter on the bottom part of the damper, as mentioned by Laird I now need to change dampers and springs, has anyone done this lately and can recommend where to buy them from with part numbers thanks

[Laird Scooby]

Have you got a camera on your phone, preferably with flash?

If so, don't bother crawling underneath, just get your arm under with the phone in your paw and click the shutter. Saved me a lot of crawling about over the years!

Next question, have you got a live axle or IRS/Multi-Link rear suspension? The shocks at least are different and i think the springs are too.

[nutco]

I have a solid beam axle and my phone's been around as long as god's dog, lol so no help there,

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by nutco

I have a solid beam axle and my phone's been around as long as god's dog, lol so no help there,

Gods dog had a phone? Must have been the original "dog'n'bone"!

Joking aside, if it's the solid beam axle then that's the live axle, makes it easier to find the springs and shocks, for me at least as they'll be the same as i used on my 760 estate.

I'll trawl the bay of e later and see what i can find for you.

[nutco]

Working of the vin plate it looks like my setup is,
N = 9140553,. Nivomats,
C = 6819404,. Springs,
Looks expensive, does changing the setup to normal springs and dampers give a firmer / softer ride or about the same

[Laird Scooby]

Any "new for old" replacement springs will naturally seem firmer. However when i did mine i was so impressed by the improvement in the way the rear end behaved, i also bought new front springs and shocks and that improved it further- probably as close to how a new 760 would ride, except for the fact it's no longer on Nivos.

These are the springs i used :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fit-with-...item4d402401e5

You'll need 2 of them and here are the shocks :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Shock-...item361d09066c

That's a listing for a pair so for a total of about £91 delivered you can re-spring and re-shock your rear end and stop it bouncing.

If you're halfway handy with a socket set/spanners and have a trolley jack and axle stands, you can do it yourself fairly quickly.

The big thing i noticed wasn't so much a firmer ride but a much smoother ride - no more "seesaw" motion leading to sea-sick feeling!

[jpliddy]

hi i have nivos on my 940 seems the way most people are going is swop springs for heavy duty and standard shocks ive heard you can get the full set for the price of 1 novo so keep us informed if the knives don't leak i woud be interested in them . they also say the standard set up is a firmer ride so may be it will suit you .
keep us informed of your progress