Shock absorber replacement recommendations 2009 D5 AWD

[Auto Addict]

So after a few days delay waiting for my top mounts to arrive I finally go to do this job on Thursday / Friday
First of all, the FEBI Bilstein top mounts I finally received look to be the same manufacturer as the so called "Genuine Volvo" originals I removed which are actually marked as "FoMoCo" parts ... no VOLVO markings on them as far as I can see As for their condition... not bad at all (after all these years & miles) and still in serviceable / usable condition, albeit a little looser and free spinning than the brand new replacements but that's to be expected.

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Quite a bit of "PlusGas" fluid was used to soak all the rusty looking joints including drop links, one of which put up a bid of a fight coming undone With the help of a blow torch and Vise Grips it soon surrendered the battle
I got the car nice & secure on a 2.5 ton trolley jack and a 3 ton axle stand (I know... bit of an overkill) before undoing / removing the lower shock pinch bolt (which fortunately wasn't as bad as I feared) and deploying my little sledge hammer to release the lower shock from the clamp. With some brute force and a bit of swearing I eventually got the shock to slide out from the lower clamp.

[Kev0607]

A lot of the parts will have "FoMoCo" on them because the suspension setup in the P3 chassis Volvo's is actually based on the Ford Mondeo, Ford Galaxy & Ford S-Max. That's why you may hear of people buying cheaper Ford parts for Volvo's! So basically, your car has a Volvo engine & interior, but the majority of the suspension parts are actually Ford.

Multiple Volvo models have Ford based suspension parts (S80, V70, XC70, XC60, S60 & V60). "FoMoCo" is an abbreviation of Ford Motor Company.

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Originally Posted by Kev0607

A lot of the parts will have "FoMoCo" on them because the suspension setup in the P3 chassis Volvo's is actually based on the Ford Mondeo, Ford Galaxy & Ford S-Max. That's why you may hear of people buying cheaper Ford parts for Volvo's! So basically, your car has a Volvo engine & interior, but the majority of the suspension parts are actually Ford.

Multiple Volvo models have Ford based suspension parts (S80, V70, XC70, XC60, S60 & V60). "FoMoCo" is an abbreviation of Ford Motor Company.

Yeah, I'm aware of that (highlighted above) and what FoMoCo stands for thanks The XC60 in particular shares its platform with the Land Rover Freelander 2 (which IIRC FORD owned at the same time as VOLVO) and their own FORD KUGA SUV which they are both probably based on.
BTW... the so called " Genuine FORD" parts are sometimes more expensive than the so called "Genuine VOLVO" parts PAS pumps come to mind as a good example, which are actually made by ZF in Germany.
As for suspension parts, they are only stamped FoMoCo but are actually made by Sachs, Febi Bilstein, Lemforder, etc., ... I know this as I've just changed most of my suspension as you can clearly see in this thread.

[JGEM]

Always interesting to see how rusty UK cars are underneath. Same with some car pics i see from rust belt US states. Mine is grimy underneath but no sign of rust so I count my blessings...

Getting my parts on order soon to do front and rear shocks and mounts, a 200,000km birthday present for the XC60....

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Originally Posted by JGEM

Always interesting to see how rusty UK cars are underneath. Same with some car pics i see from rust belt US states. Mine is grimy underneath but no sign of rust so I count my blessings...

Getting my parts on order soon to do front and rear shocks and mounts, a 200,000km birthday present for the XC60....

With the amount of "Salt & Grit" the UK authorities dispense on our roads every winter it's not really surprising To be fair to my poor old XC60 it's only the "bolt on" components such as lower wishbones, track rod ends, drop linx, etc., that have lots of surface rust due to cheep mild steel construction (Thanks FORD). The major, important components like the chassis floor, lower sills, engine bay, etc., are all rust free and in great shape despite it having lived its first 10 years in the North East of England.

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To continue with my suspension refresh... front shocks finally freed from the vehicle after a small struggle. Side by side "Old V New" comparison in the pix enclosed. Keep in mind that unlike the rear shocks the fronts are sided.
Once stripped apart a rebound test revealed slightly worn front shocks still trying to do their job but nowhere near as bad as the rear ones. A good tip here is... before undoing the 3 top strut mount 13 mm bolts that hold the front shock in place, it's a good idea to mark these bolts original position with a Sharpie permanent marker for reassembly time to keep the geometry as close as possible to original.

[Auto Addict]

Moving onto front anti roll bar drop links... these have to be detached from the front shocks to make progress. IMHO this is a great time to renew these as it's most likely your old ones will be either a) worn... or b) seized so... c) will get damaged in the process of being removed. Incidentally all of the point mentioned happened with my old drop links so it was great to have the new replacement parts already.
For how inexpensive they are, to me this is a no brainer to just renew them, unless you had them done in the past 12 months.
Once again, as with the rears I opted for the "MEYLE-HD"range due to their "better than OEM" uprated quality with a bonus of 4 Year warranty.

[XC70Virgin]

Lovely stuff.

When you've finished practicing on yours you can come and do mine in half the time!

[Auto Addict]

Important notes about front top mounts and bearings. For anyone who hasn't done these on a VOLVO or a FORD before you may not be aware that these top mount, especially the plastic bearing inserts only fit one way ... and have to be correctly aligned to fit correctly. Fortunately they do have alignment notches / marks on them to assist correct fitment. Pix of the plastic bearing below.