Well, I guess nobody was able to help (maybe the XC90 is still too new for DIYers? That doesn't seem like it should be the case at this point). I don't know. In any case, I went ahead and got the 3 day subscription for VIDA for service info only (~$20) and am able to see the procedure there. It looks pretty straightforward and similar to the P3 steps as well, with the only difference being the top mount. According to VIDA, the 4 bolts that attach with the top mount should be torqued to 70nm and the bottom bolt that attaches to the control arm is 90nm plus 150 degrees.

I ordered the Bilstein B6 shocks (no air suspension and pulling a ~3000 lb. trailer so I want a stiffer suspension for the rear) and had them delivered today. It was pretty tough to find them but I think I got the last two from Rock Auto. I had some on order from ipd Volvo for a while but they never shipped because of manufacturer delays and FCP Euro also shows them backordered, so I was pretty lucky to get them Rock Auto I think.

I will try and install them this weekend and take some pictures for future reference for people.

 

Not many DIYers for XC90s unfortunately. Its usually driven by soccer moms or older folks with money to visit the dealer. Haha

 

Yeah, that's the general vibe I have here too about people probably just paying others to fix for them. That'll change eventually as more of these are bought out of warranty.

 

Generally, torque specifications are bolt-size specific, unless specialty things like crankshaft, head bolts, etc. Here is a handy link to generic Volvo torque values. Volvo Suspension Torque Specs | Volvo Wholesale Parts

BTW, what shocks are you going to use? Later this summer I plan to install Bilstein B6 Performance Shocks on the rear (Bilstein B6 Performance Shock - Without Electronic Suspension - Rear Suspension for Volvo - 24254489 - 140175). Lately my trailer hitch has been striking the street when pulling out of a driveway. I also want firmer control when trailer pulling - hence, the B6s. I have 85k miles on my T-5.

 

Generally, torque specifications are bolt-size specific, unless specialty things like crankshaft, head bolts, etc. Here is a handy link to generic Volvo torque values. Volvo Suspension Torque Specs | Volvo Wholesale Parts

BTW, what shocks are you going to use? Later this summer I plan to install Bilstein B6 Performance Shocks on the rear (Bilstein B6 Performance Shock - Without Electronic Suspension - Rear Suspension for Volvo - 24254489 - 140175). Lately my trailer hitch has been striking the street when pulling out of a driveway. I also want firmer control when trailer pulling - hence, the B6s. I have 85k miles on my T-5.

Thanks for the info on the torque specs! I did not realize that.

I mentioned it above, but I am going with the B6 as well. I couldn't find them anywhere in stock except Rock Auto, though, and they were the last two they had listed. If I were you, I would place an order with iPd now so you might get them this summer. I had an order placed for over a month and they still hadn't shipped.

 

Today, IPD says they are in stock. However, who knows.

 

That does look different from when I ordered. I think when I placed the order it said "In Stock - Available to Order" whereas now it just says "In Stock" so that could be a good sign!

 

Well, I was working on replacing my rear shocks today and it's a pretty simple process except for one thing. As you can see in the picture below, I'm unable to get the nut off of the strut to remove it from the mount because it is very rusted on there for some reason (with the cap it shouldn't be rusted like that I wouldn't think). While using the hex to counter hold, the bolt itself cracked in half (again, this should not have been very tight but the rust here basically fused the nut with the top of the shock).

I only planned to work on the car today, so I have to put it back together with the old shock for now. As far as I can tell, I have two options:

1. Purchase new mounts, bellows and bumper stocks to go with the Bilsteins (which will be around $300 for both sides, ugh).

2. Drill out the nut holding the current mount. This seems like a good solution but obviously if something goes wrong I'm then without the vehicle for a few days while trying to get the old mount off.

Any suggestions?

 

Torch? Or would that destroy the mount? Otherwise, hammer and small sharp chisel, crack the nut off.

 

To bad these shocks are not load-leveling. It was an option on some Durango's. Made by Nivomat. I have no idea if there actually better than Bilstein B6's.

 

Got this done yesterday. Unfortunately the top nuts holding the shock to the mount for both sides was fused together with rust so I had to drill both of them out. All in all the job was pretty easy aside from that. Here is a step by step for people looking to do this on their own (steps follow what is outlined in Vida)

Tools needed:

• 19mm socket to remove wheels
• 15mm socket for bolt that connects shock to lower control arm
• 13mm socket for bolts that connect upper shock mount to the body
• 17mm pass through socket (or offset box end wrench) for original Volvo top nut
• 15mm pass through socket (or offset box end wrench) for Bilstein B6 top nut (this may vary)
• 5mm hex for counter hold
• At least one jack and a jack stand

Steps:

1. Chock the front wheels, break loose lug nuts and jack up car at the jack pad to remove wheel. Be sure to place a jack stand under the car as well.

2. Once you have the wheel removed, you will see the strut and the mounting bolts you need to remove.

3. Place a jack under the control arm and compress the strut to make removing the bottom bolt easier.

4. Remove bottom bolt (15mm) connecting the bottom of the shock to the lower control arm. This bolt threads into the control arm and can be fragile (ask me how I know....) so be careful with your use of an impact gun on this bolt. It might even be smart to just get two replacement bolts when you order your struts to have on hand.

5. Now remove the 4 bolts (13mm) connecting the top of the shock to the body. A small extension here makes it easier.

6. You can now remove the shock. Unless you ordered replacement parts (or shocks that come with the new mount already), you will need to remove the top placstic cap, the mount, the bump stop and the dust cover for use with the new shock.

7. Start by removing the top plastic cap to reveal the top of the shock and the nut that connects it to the mount. In my case, the nut has basically fused to the threads on top of the shock and it broke when I tried to remove it. If you are going from stock XC90 rear shocks, the nut should be 17mm with a 5mm hex to counter hold. You will need to use a pass through socket or an offset box end wrench to remove it. I show pictures of this on reinstallation, but as you can see from the image below the threads on the top of the shock split apart when I tried to get this apart.

To remedy this, I chiseled the threads away and then drilled the rest out to remove the mount and the other hardware from the old shock.

8. Once you have the old shock and components apart, you will then transfer over the bump stop, dust cover and mount to the new shock. You will need to tighten the nut on top of the shock to connect it to the upper mount using the passthrough socket and counter hold. In my case, the nut for the Bilstein B6 top was 15mm. Vida gives a torque value for this but unless you have their special tool, I'm not sure how you would actually torque it properly. I just went until it was bottomed out and did not overdo it.

9. Place the plastic cap on top of the mount and you are now ready to reinstall.

10. Start by reattaching the upper mount to the body. These are 13 mm bolts and will be torqued to 70nm. I did not tighten these completely until I had the bottom bolt started but torqued them before tightening the bottom bolt.

11. Now you can reattach the bottom bolt. In my case, I had to remove the jack from under the control arm first because I could not push the it up with the stiffer B6 shock. Letting it down allowed it to be much easier to thread the bolt. Do not use an impact on this bolt, it will break on you. When you have it threaded in loosely, you will need to jack the bottom of the control arm at the same point as above again until you are in the normal riding position (I went until the weight of the car was on that jack).

Once you are in normal ride height, you can torque down the bottom bolt. According to Vida, this should be 90nm and then an additional 150 degrees.

That is it! Now do the other side.

 

Got this done yesterday. Unfortunately the top nuts holding the shock to the mount for both sides was fused together with rust so I had to drill both of them out. All in all the job was pretty easy aside from that. Here is a step by step for people looking to do this on their own (steps follow what is outlined in Vida)

Tools needed:

• 19mm socket to remove wheels
• 15mm socket for bolt that connects shock to lower control arm
• 13mm socket for bolts that connect upper shock mount to the body
• 17mm pass through socket (or offset box end wrench) for original Volvo top nut
• 15mm pass through socket (or offset box end wrench) for Bilstein B6 top nut (this may vary)
• 5mm hex for counter hold
• At least one jack and a jack stand

Steps:

1. Chock the front wheels, break loose lug nuts and jack up car at the jack pad to remove wheel. Be sure to place a jack stand under the car as well.

2. Once you have the wheel removed, you will see the strut and the mounting bolts you need to remove.

3. Place a jack under the control arm and compress the strut to make removing the bottom bolt easier.

View attachment 196615 View attachment 196616

4. Remove bottom bolt (15mm) connecting the bottom of the shock to the lower control arm. This bolt threads into the control arm and can be fragile (ask me how I know....) so be careful with your use of an impact gun on this bolt. It might even be smart to just get two replacement bolts when you order your struts to have on hand.

View attachment 196617

5. Now remove the 4 bolts (13mm) connecting the top of the shock to the body. A small extension here makes it easier.

View attachment 196614

6. You can now remove the shock. Unless you ordered replacement parts (or shocks that come with the new mount already), you will need to remove the top placstic cap, the mount, the bump stop and the dust cover for use with the new shock.

View attachment 196618

7. Start by removing the top plastic cap to reveal the top of the shock and the nut that connects it to the mount. In my case, the nut has basically fused to the threads on top of the shock and it broke when I tried to remove it. If you are going from stock XC90 rear shocks, the nut should be 17mm with a 5mm hex to counter hold. You will need to use a pass through socket or an offset box end wrench to remove it. I show pictures of this on reinstallation, but as you can see from the image below the threads on the top of the shock split apart when I tried to get this apart.

View attachment 196619

To remedy this, I chiseled the threads away and then drilled the rest out to remove the mount and the other hardware from the old shock.

8. Once you have the old shock and components apart, you will then transfer over the bump stop, dust cover and mount to the new shock. You will need to tighten the nut on top of the shock to connect it to the upper mount using the passthrough socket and counter hold. In my case, the nut for the Bilstein B6 top was 15mm. Vida gives a torque value for this but unless you have their special tool, I'm not sure how you would actually torque it properly. I just went until it was bottomed out and did not overdo it.

View attachment 196623 View attachment 196622

9. Place the plastic cap on top of the mount and you are now ready to reinstall.

View attachment 196624

10. Start by reattaching the upper mount to the body. These are 13 mm bolts and will be torqued to 70nm. I did not tighten these completely until I had the bottom bolt started but torqued them before tightening the bottom bolt.

View attachment 196625

11. Now you can reattach the bottom bolt. In my case, I had to remove the jack from under the control arm first because I could not push the it up with the stiffer B6 shock. Letting it down allowed it to be much easier to thread the bolt. Do not use an impact on this bolt, it will break on you. When you have it threaded in loosely, you will need to jack the bottom of the control arm at the same point as above again until you are in the normal riding position (I went until the weight of the car was on that jack).

Once you are in normal ride height, you can torque down the bottom bolt. According to Vida, this should be 90nm and then an additional 150 degrees.

That is it! Now do the other side.

I must have missed this post last year. I also had my the rear shock absorbers replaced at 150K. I also replaced the rear leaf spring, anti sway bar and link stabilizers and that helped a lot with the stability. Rides like new.

 

Thank you for this very informative post!!

Can I ask at what mileage you replaced your shocks?

 

I'm at 52k miles. They weren't worn out yet, I was just upgrading them.

 

I'm keen to know how your trailer towing experience with the new shocks. have you been towing with previously? What is your hitch setup?

I've been towing with a Drawtite hitch and a Curt sway kit (up until 2020 when Covid struck). Now at nearly 85k miles, I recently noticed not only my hitch frequently bottoming out when backing out of driveways, but now my Volvo trailer electrics receptacle has broken off. So regardless, I need shocks and plan to go the premium route with Bilstein B6s. But especially looking at stiffer vertical control for trailer towing.

 

I've towed previously but not with my XC90. I had a Highlander before that I had installed air bags into the springs for ride leveling. When I actually get out for the first time this year with the trailer I'll let you know how it goes!

I also have the Drawtite hitch. Our travel trailer is 3000 pounds with about a 350 pound tongue weight. We have a Recurve R3 weight distribution hitch we used with the Highlander and I will use that with the XC90 as well. I know it says it is not rated for weight distribution, but it makes towing easier and has built in anti-sway. The trailer isn't very heavy and it only causes about an inch of squat, so the WDH isn't doing a lot anyway but I still prefer a more level ride height.

The images are broken. Any chance you can fix?

Images seem to be fine on my end when I load the thread. The images were uploaded directly to Swedespeed, so they are linked or anything.

 

The images are broken. Any chance you can fix?

 

Careful with the load distribution equipment. The Volvo is a unitized aluminum body, so could be susceptible to bolts pulling out of the body - so not recommended. However, somewhere in this forum is trailer towing thread where a guy had a local hitch shop add some steel reinforcing so that he could pull a big Airstream.

 

Thanks for the write up. I have long despised my xc90 and it handling and suspension. I wonder if some new rear shocks would help. How do the fronts compare in replacing?

 

The front will be a bigger job for sure. I haven't done them yet, but it will require you to compress the springs to get the older strut out unless you are able to find quick struts for this, but B6 struts aren't the quick strut style. I did it on our older XC60 and it's completely doable, but nowhere near as easy as the rear shocks.

 

I was always told ride height and leveling is done by springs (when its not air suspension). Curious when you find out how stiffer B6 shocks helps when you trailer.

 

Yeah, this could definitely be the case but I was going to need new rear struts soon anyway and figured it would be worth a shot. As far as I know there isn't a stiffer leaf spring available.

Just finished installing my new B6 shocks. Great instructions. I also had to drill out the rusted and "frozen" nut at the top. Other than driving around the block, haven't had a chance to evaluate them yet - car is at the dealer today to replace bad front CV joint and whatever else is buggered.

No fun on the bad front CV but great you were able to install them!

I'm surprised by the rust on the top nut honestly, you'd think the cover would prevent that from happening.

 

Just finished installing my new B6 shocks. Great instructions. I also had to drill out the rusted and "frozen" nut at the top. Other than driving around the block, haven't had a chance to evaluate them yet - car is at the dealer today to replace bad front CV joint and whatever else is buggered.

 

Any further feedback on the Bilsteins?

I've generally had success with B6/B8 upgrades on other cars. On my Mini and old Outback, it made a huge difference helping the car settle after bumps.

 

Any further feedback on the Bilsteins?

I've generally had success with B6/B8 upgrades on other cars. On my Mini and old Outback, it made a huge difference helping the car settle after bumps.

They've been good. Definitely a much rougher ride, but even with just replacing the rears the body roll was vastly reduced. I like the stiffness, but my wife does not as much (and it's her car), so eventually I may go to something else. I think she's pretty much forgotten about it at this point though haha

 

My original intent was to improve vertical stability when pulling my travel trailer - which these do very well. The original shocks were starting become worn and my hitch (Drawtite) would drag on road dips and when backing out of steep driveways - again, the B6s solved that problem nicely. However, if the road is rough, the ride is rougher (rear axle). So whenever I get around to changing out the fronts, I will install the B4s which are still going to be at least 10% stiffer than OEMs.

 

Did you put the Bilstein upper washer on the bottom side of the mount or top side under the nut? I tried fitment a few times and went with placing it under the nut on the top side. The Bilstein shaft didn't seem to fit perfectly in the Volvo mount

 

Nevermind. I fixed it. I torqued the lower shock bolt in the air. I loosened then re-tourqued with slight vehicle weight.

 

So I gave it a shot and couldn’t get that top nut loose. I had to reinstall every thing back together, but now I hear a thud like the shock absorber is loose. I pulled the wheel off and checked the bolts and it’s all good. Any thoughts in why the shock absorber could be causing it? The length wouldn’t have changed and those were the only parts I modified. I can even recreate it just by pushing on the car and rocking it.

 

...but now I hear a thud like the shock absorber is loose. I pulled the wheel off and checked the bolts and it’s all good. Any thoughts in why the shock absorber could be causing it? ...I can even recreate it just by pushing on the car and rocking it.

Just as AudiFord did, you need to put the car on the ground with the tires touching and then tighten it.

As for the top nut, did you compress the spring and then try to loosen the nut? It should come off easily at that point. Also soak it in PB Blaster or something similar.

 

dealership replaced both under warranty since i had them replaced in 2021. New shocks, bumper, mounting bracket. Rides great.