Suspension: C70 Springs

[alexward]

Hi all.

I recently discovered my C70 T5 has Eibach lowering springs. Now, were these a Volvo upgrade or did a previous owner just buy these from an aftermarket place and get them fitted???

Next question, can I replace these for a softer standard C70 T5 spring??
The ride in my car on fast A roads and motorways is fab, but over B roads and round town its very crashy!! The car does not have the best handling because its not a Lotus Elise, so i'm not bothered about losing some sharpness. Not that there is any anyway!!

[acshortt5]

Originally Posted by alexward

Hi all.

I recently discovered my C70 T5 has Eibach lowering springs. Now, were these a Volvo upgrade or did a previous owner just buy these from an aftermarket place and get them fitted???

Next question, can I replace these for a softer standard C70 T5 spring??
The ride in my car on fast A roads and motorways is fab, but over B roads and round town its very crashy!! The car does not have the best handling because its not a Lotus Elise, so i'm not bothered about losing some sharpness. Not that there is any anyway!!

Crashy ride would indicate the shocks are not well matched to the springs.

What shocks are fitted to the car?

Personally I would avoid the standard volvo springs (my dad has recently had to replace the rears as one of them had snapped - car has only done 76K miles)

[Simon J]

Alex,

As it happens I'd been doing a bit of research into exactly this issue and the situation seems to be as follows.

Volvo offered two types of springs on the C70 Cabrio - the regular ride height, and the lowered chassis. The part number for the lowered chassis springs is 9192815 for the front (unless you have a manual transmission with no air con in which case they are 9192814) and 9451350 at the rear. I gather that the rear spring kit under this part number is no longer available but I suspect that the individual springs would be. It's one of the things I plan to check out later this week when I get round to stopping by my local dealer.

As for shock absorbers, there are actually three options for the C70 Coupe but only two for the Cabrio. Forgetting about the standard shocks which would have been fitted primarily to the standard ride height chassis, for the Cabrio there are what Volvo call Dynamic shock absorbers specified for the lowered springs. Part numbers are 9451351 for the front (no difference for manual transmission without air con) and 9451353 for the rear. The Coupe with lowered suspension had what are referred to as Sports shock absorbers but these are not listed for the Cabrio, presumably because they would be too harsh for the rather flexible chassis. And the ultimate option for the Coupe is the Ohlins adjustable kit which is eyewateringly expensive (somewhere around two grand!) and would be way too harsh for the Cabrio I suspect.

The Eibach springs are therefore almost certainly an after market replacement, probably teamed with shock absorbers more suited to a Coupe than a Cabrio (or maybe not, see my EDIT below!).

My car has the Lowered Chassis with Dynamic shock absorbers and I've come to the conclusion that this is as good a combination as you'll find for the Cabrio. Anything stiffer simply doesn't work with the flexible chassis that these cars suffer from and will give a very harsh ride.

The only remaining item I'm still investigating is the rear anti roll bar. One is listed for the lowered Coupe with Sports shocks, but not for the Cabrio with Dynamic shocks and I'm not sure whether the Coupe one is an uprated one compared to standard, and if so, why it wasn't offered as part of the Cabrio set up. But I need to check out part numbers with my dealer to see if the rear anti roll bar on my car is different to the one listed for the Coupe.

I'll post back with more info when I've checked out the few things I've mentioned above.

EDIT: I've just realised that your car is a Coupe so the part numbers for the springs are 9192814 (F) (unless it's auto with air con in which case it's 9192815); and 9451349 (R). The Sports shock absorbers are 9204141 (F) and 9204142 (R).

[alexward]

I think my car has standard shocks with aftermarket Eibach lowering springs. I would like to replace these Eibach springs with standard Volvo ones, but don't want to buy the springs, fit them and find out that the ride is still the same!!

[Simon J]

Alex,

My suggestion would be to try and identify exactly what you've got first of all. I presume there was some way of telling that the springs were Eibach and perhaps it is therefore possible to determine exactly which ones they are. Don Norchi of Kalmar Union sells these and he may well be able to offer some advice/info on what you've got. Likewise with the shocks; it should be possible to determine what brand they are and from that determine whether they are original Volvo or after market. I have read elsewhere that the Volvo shocks are made by Sachs, but most after market ones are likely to be Koni or Bilstein I would have thought.

Once you know what you've got, then you're going to be in a better position to decide what to keep, and what to replace. If you were to opt to restore things to the Volvo Lowered Sports suspension I can confirm that this is a very acceptable package as we had it on our previous V70 T5 and did over 100K miles in it without ever thinking that it was too harsh.

And it might also be worth checking with your local Volvo dealer exactly what springs and shocks your car was built with. They can tell this from the chassis code (not VIN) which is stamped on the plate on the inside of the passenger side front wing.

[acshortt5]

The eibach springs are a very good make, perhaps only bettered by H & R.

If I were you I would be looking to replace the shocks.

If you are looking for a bit of comfort then I would recommend the Bilstein B4 shocks (circa £200 for a set of 4 from ECP) or you could get adjustable koni's for a bit more money.

The volvo sports shocks are probably made by bilstein or koni anyway - but you will pay more for them to come with a volvo sticker on them ;-)

[alexward]

I actually like the way the car sits in the arches, i.e there isn't much of a gap and it looks good, so I wouldnt want to jack it up too much with new springs!
As Simon says, i'll get under the car tomorrow when I have it (wifes not using it tomorrow) and have a good look at what shocks I have.
£200 doesn't seem too bad for a set of four new shocks. Is it an easy job to fit new shocks?

[acshortt5]

Originally Posted by alexward

I actually like the way the car sits in the arches, i.e there isn't much of a gap and it looks good, so I wouldnt want to jack it up too much with new springs!
As Simon says, i'll get under the car tomorrow when I have it (wifes not using it tomorrow) and have a good look at what shocks I have.
£200 doesn't seem too bad for a set of four new shocks. Is it an easy job to fit new shocks?

Rears are easy - two bolts on the top mounts, one nut on the bottom, then they pull up through the car, fronts are more involved as you will have to disassemble the struts to retrieve your springs and mounts. I personally would recommend fitting new mounts to new shocks.

Allow at least 1/2 a day to do the rears and a full day to do the fronts.

You will also need a front end wheel alignment doing when finished as you will lose your camber and possibly your toe settings as well.

[alexward]

Top man. Thanks for the info Andrew and Simon.

[alexward]

Jacked the car up and had a look. Right, my shock asorbers are Sachs.
Its says Volvo 9173850, SACHS 82 4903553012.

So to summerise, I have Eibach springs number EW8417001VA mated with Sachs shocks number 9173850 or 82 4903553012.

Does anyone know what set up this is?? The shocks are Volvo, but what setup? Did the Eibach springs go with these shocks from Volvo or have the springs been added at a later date??

Cheers all.