1998 v90 (960 i think) shocks and struts (please help)

[rossb311]

I am new to the Volvo world as well as the modded car world. I have recently acquired a 1998 Volvo v90 with a L59 engine swap (tire tearer ). I initially was looking to put coilovers from classicswede on but have found them to be too expensive for right now and plan to do them in the future. But, i am leaving for college in a few weeks and absolutely need new struts (front and rear) I am able to find front struts "relatively" easily but not rear struts. If anyone would be able to send links where I could find one or the other for a decent price I would greatly appreciate that!! Also if any other models struts will fit them that would work as well. I have tried to find out if any other models would work for the v90 and have not been able to figure it out. Thanks again

 

[Fa182]

The V90's have the so-called Multilink rear suspension, which is basically Volvos name for an independent wheel suspension.
940's and -1994 960 wagons have a rigid rear axle and share no parts with them.

The V90's with Multilink came with and without Nivomat (=self levelling) rear shocks and a fiberglass leaf spring.
V90's without Nivomats were very rare and at least here in Europe all of these cars had Nivo's from factory.
Some were converted to standard shocks over the years, mostly due to the Nivomats failing and their costly replacement.

If you have Nivomats, which is very likely, they are not too easy to find in the US I think, I found them on Skandix which is probably of no use to you.
They are also very expensive and go for about $430 (each).
Volvo part number 272209

Someone on here might be able to help you out, I know some of the members have some V90 parts.

Have a look what you have first. The Nivomats are easily recognized by the accordion boot:

The standard shocks are easier to find, part number 272220
They look like this:

The Nivomats can't just be changed for non-Nivomats unless you change the leaf spring too.
The leaf springs look like this:

If it's an option for you, Ben sells coilovers for the front and rear in the US: https://www.bneshop.com/products/95-960-coilovers

 

[Mattis]

I am new to the Volvo world as well as the modded car world. I have recently acquired a 1998 Volvo v90 with a L59 engine swap (tire tearer ). I initially was looking to put coilovers from classicswede on but have found them to be too expensive for right now and plan to do them in the future. But, i am leaving for college in a few weeks and absolutely need new struts (front and rear) I am able to find front struts "relatively" easily but not rear struts. If anyone would be able to send links where I could find one or the other for a decent price I would greatly appreciate that!! Also if any other models struts will fit them that would work as well. I have tried to find out if any other models would work for the v90 and have not been able to figure it out. Thanks again

I think all the v90's had novomatic rear suspension, and those shocks are expencive as hell new... I would suggest checking out 960's, s/v90's in your local junkyard

 

[paulcurran]

If your car has the transverse composite rear spring there are 2 part numbers they came with, depending on whether the car came with nivomat self leveling springs & shocks or not. I don't remember the non nivomat number but the Nivomat # is 6819300. The nivomat spring is softer & can use shorter shocks to lower the car. L-M-R.se in Sweden always some choices, haven't checked lately. If your car has a non nivomat rear spring, options are limited (Part number for springs is stamped on the middle bottom of the spring, may take a bit of cleaning to see the numbers). I've Heard That the Classic Swede option cuts the ends off the transverse springs, but I don't have any firsthand knowledge of that. You may find 1 in a salvage yard, make sure it has that number. Part is NLA from Volvo. 960s & S/v90s from 1985 to 1990 had those springs. I'm curious about your engine swap, any pictures or info?

 

[rossb311]

The V90's have the so-called Multilink rear suspension, which is basically Volvos name for an independent wheel suspension.
940's and -1994 960 wagons have a rigid rear axle and share no parts with them.

The V90's with Multilink came with and without Nivomat (=self levelling) rear shocks and a fiberglass leaf spring.
V90's without Nivomats were very rare and at least here in Europe all of these cars had Nivo's from factory.
Some were converted to standard shocks over the years, mostly due to the Nivomats failing and their costly replacement.

If you have Nivomats, which is very likely, they are not too easy to find in the US I think, I found them on Skandix which is probably of no use to you.
They are also very expensive and go for about $430 (each).
Volvo part number 272209

Someone on here might be able to help you out, I know some of the members have some V90 parts.

Have a look what you have first. The Nivomats are easily recognized by the accordion boot:

The standard shocks are easier to find, part number 272220
They look like this:

The Nivomats can't just be changed for non-Nivomats unless you change the leaf spring too.
The leaf springs look like this:

If it's an option for you, Ben sells coilovers for the front and rear in the US: https://www.bneshop.com/products/95-960-coilovers

i tried to add some photo attachments but it seems that i have to put the website link when... i took them on my phone? doesnt make any sense. But when i looked under there it seemed to be the standard shocks as it didnt have the corrugated tubing around it. I do see independent suspension and the fiberglass leafspring as well. So where do i go to find that part number? is there a wbesite i can go to and put that number in and it will pull up? thank you so much for your thought out response!

 

[rossb311]

I went out and took pictures to show you but i can only link pictures from websites so I cannot add them to this response. But its a L59 engine from a 07 Chevy Silverado with a 4L60 transmission and posi rear end. It has a few upgrades like a LS9 camshaft, LS9 valve springs, a holley oil pan, a dorman LS2 intake manifold and a camaro accessory drive.

 

[HiSPL]

This forum does not allow photo uploads.

You have to post the photo somewhere else (like imgur.com) and then post the link to the photo here.


Are you in the US?

To do this on a college budget I would find some air shocks that fit and use those with the stock nivomat spring (assuming yours has the nivomat system) and that will allow you to set the ride height with air pressure. This isn't a great long term solution since most air shocks are kinda trash, but it will get you through school I think.

The other option is full on coilovers from Kaplenkhe. Very nice, but not cheap.

 

[HiSPL]

When you say "posi rear end" does it have a full axle swapped in from something else?

The stock IRS had a locker in the rear diff. It isn't the best thing in the world, but it does exist. Stock it will unlock when wheel speed reaches about 30 mph or so. It's supposed to help with traction on ice and snow originally.

 

[rossb311]

It appears to have everything stock in the rear end. I was told it is posied from the person I bought it from and Ive never had a one wheel peel with tires travelling faster than 30mph. But I think for the rear shocks im just going to bring it to my dads friends shop and have them frankenstein something that will work ive spent weeks on this and dont think i can try any longer, i simply have no idea how to find them or how to make something work

 

[Fa182]

i tried to add some photo attachments but it seems that i have to put the website link when... i took them on my phone? doesnt make any sense. But when i looked under there it seemed to be the standard shocks as it didnt have the corrugated tubing around it. I do see independent suspension and the fiberglass leafspring as well. So where do i go to find that part number? is there a wbesite i can go to and put that number in and it will pull up? thank you so much for your thought out response!

You can only upload photos to your posts if you have donated to the forum and your name is blue.
You have to use external upload sites and link them if you didn't.

A few options for finding part numbers.
Either browse through the part catalogues, that's what I did when coming up with these part numbers (pages 1164/1165 in the 1994- catalog) https://www.gcp.se/en/catalogues/
Or put your exact car info in on Skandix' website and you will get shown the the correct parts, although most parts that are no longer available do not show up. https://www.skandix.de/en/vehicle-selection/

 

[HiSPL]

It appears to have everything stock in the rear end. I was told it is posied from the person I bought it from and Ive never had a one wheel peel with tires travelling faster than 30mph. But I think for the rear shocks im just going to bring it to my dads friends shop and have them frankenstein something that will work ive spent weeks on this and dont think i can try any longer, i simply have no idea how to find them or how to make something work

There's a mod where you can cut off a weight and/or weld it in place and have the locker function at any speed.

You'll blow it up eventually, but for now have fun.

You really need to find out if you have a nivomat spring or not. Is the car squatting in the rear with nothing in the trunk?

 

[blkaplan]

Doubt he has nivos, pretty rare in the US to come across them. They were more of a standard thing in Europe... They might have come on these cars if they were equipped with a tow package.

 

[rossb311]

Doubt he has nivos, pretty rare in the US to come across them. They were more of a standard thing in Europe... They might have come on these cars if they were equipped with a tow package.

There's a mod where you can cut off a weight and/or weld it in place and have the locker function at any speed.

You'll blow it up eventually, but for now have fun.

You really need to find out if you have a nivomat spring or not. Is the car squatting in the rear with nothing in the trunk?

From what I can tell I do not have nivomat (no accordion boot). I brought it to the shop this morning and hopefully they?ll be able to figure something out until I can afford to put some coil overs on there! And that mod for the posi is probably exactly what they did now that I think about how everything is stock. But I hope I don?t mess it up but the way you said it made it sound kind of flimsy i really appreciate all of your guys help. And I plan on continuing to dial everything in and then turboing it. So I will keep you guys posted on how that goes and get some pictures up, I?ll probably make another thread for it, and I think having that thread will help me learn a lot so I?m excited!

 

[HiSPL]

From what I can tell I do not have nivomat (no accordion boot). I brought it to the shop this morning and hopefully they?ll be able to figure something out until I can afford to put some coil overs on there! And that mod for the posi is probably exactly what they did now that I think about how everything is stock. But I hope I don?t mess it up but the way you said it made it sound kind of flimsy i really appreciate all of your guys help. And I plan on continuing to dial everything in and then turboing it. So I will keep you guys posted on how that goes and get some pictures up, I?ll probably make another thread for it, and I think having that thread will help me learn a lot so I?m excited!

Well, most llikely by "blowing it up" I mean that the locker will just no longer function. You should still have a perfectly fine open diff even after things turn loose. It's just that the "locker" part of the rear end isn't that robust. It was only ever designed to help you get started on ice and snow, not to do drag launches behind a 400lb/ft V8.

Luckily the diff itself isn't exactly made of glass and has shown to hold decent power, but you'll most likely want to go in there and just weld it solid.




For coilovers you can "thin" the spring or just chop the ends off of it and install coilovers where the shocks are now.

DO NOT remove the fiberglass spring all together. It is an integral part of the IRS. The spring needs to support at least some of the weight of the car, because the shock mounts really aren't beefy enough to support the whole car's weight by themselves. So shoot for reducing the fiberglass springs contribution until the car sags in the rear end, then making up for that sag by using some very light duty springs on coilover shocks. This is effectively what the Nivomats system did from the factory, just in a more elaborate way.

https://forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=1055913&postcount=12
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=4286535&postcount=99
http://www.turbobricks.org/forums/showthread.php?t=314847

 

[classicswede]

You can remove the leaf and just run the coilovers with suitable springs.