I moved this over to the XC90 area. That area you had it posted in is pretty quiet.

 

What is it about your XC90's ride that you don't like?

 

At 80K mi, you probably don't need struts or shocks yet. You definitely do not need springs.

Concentrate on lower control arms, lower ball joints, upper spring seat and upper bearing plate, and possibly sway bar end links. Stay with Volvo OE blue box parts.

After a refresh with these parts, the car will feel like new.

However, if you are going to do the work to replace the spring seats and strut bearing plates anyway, that's the time to do the front struts. Again, stay with Volvo OE.

If you insist on a slightly stiffer ride, consider the Volvo OE Sport or R-Design struts (a direct replacement). Do this only in combination with Volvo OE rear Nivomats (self levelling) shocks (expensive!) for a balanced ride.

GL.

 

IPD sway bars, HD end links, subframe bushing inserts and strut bar conversion are highly recommended! Added these all to mine at 100k miles (rest of suspension is original), and it changed the handling of the car pretty dramatically.

 

What PAX5 said, especially the part about using Volvo parts, and especially using Volvo parts for suspension items.

The poster above has a V8 Sport, so much of the "upgrades" (including speed sensitive steering changes) were already done by the factory for this particular car and it will handle differently than the "stock" setup before any additional work being performed.

That being said, IPD sways are thicker than stock (IPD: 25mm front/28mm rear, Standard : 23mm front/23mm rear, Sport/R-design : 24mm front/25mm rear) so should firm up the ride and reduce the lean when going into corners. Only downside is the labor to install (front/rear sub-frame needs to come off I believe). Sub-frame bushing and strut bar poly inserts will make things feel even stiffer but can lead to increased vibration and negative road feel if the suspension is not solid and tight (have on both my cars, in addition to poly rear hangers for the exhaust).

I'm on the fence about IPD HD end links frankly, not sure if they provide any noticeable improvement to either performance or longevity as compared to Volvo stock. In reality I think no, despite having a set on my car, but let's see what happens over time.

There are a few variations to suspension setups, can see what you have in the car today by looking at the black label behind the passenger side B-pillar (see http://forums.swedespeed.com/showth...d.com/showthread.php?222694-Retrofit-quot-sport-quot-trim-XC90-suspension-parts for details).

My personal suggestion- take some time and refresh the front end (replace any part that's worn and/or rattles), check and replace any and all worn engine mounts, get the wheels re-balanced along with an alignment, and give the car another try. You might be surprised at how much better everything will feel. If at that point you still want to make improvements, get a pair of IPD sways and put them on followed by whatever else you might want to do (if you do sub-frame bushing inserts, use new bolts and plastic washers). The suspension refresh might make a big difference in how you perceive the handling to be (in doing so also baselining the suspension), with any change you make afterwards being a further improvement.

Good luck!

 

I agree with the above replies. focus more on other suspension parts. I think the factory suspension is good for how heavy our cars are. anything aftermarket wont be the same. Rear suspension if equipped with nivomats should be replaced with a replacement nivomat even if its a used one as long as its not leaking.

 

End links won't have any impact on handling as they don't dampen anything. The only difference that one brand could provide versus another is being stronger/thicker (which may be necessary for thicker sway bars), provide better longevity, or maybe add functionality like the ability to adjust the length or quick-disconnect. It's basically a rod with a ball joint on either end.

 

I'm gonna disagree strongly on Volvo blue box only parts. Volvo doesn't make their own suspension parts. You can buy the same part from the original manufacturer for significantly less money:

Control arms: Made by Lemforder - if you're handy in a shop, you just need to replace the bushing inserts, the metal is fine unless you have had damage. Getting those pressed out is usually not worth the time for the average person, however and people just replace the whole part. Some would say Meyle and Moog are decent as well (and less money) but I do not have experience with that.
Front struts: Volvo sources from Sachs - they make a good part. Some would argue that Bilstein is a step up - last I checked they have a lifetime part warranty.
Rear struts: Some models have an auto-leveling rear suspension called nivomat (actually made by sachs). I don't think a 2011 FWD had these standard. You can look under your car for a big fat black tube. Search the board for pictures. Nivomats are expensive and unless you tow or routinely carry heavy loads in the back (this includes people in the 3rd row) its not really needed.
Springs: These should not be worn out.

I find getting firm answers from shops about suspension upgrades is tough. Everyone likes a different type of ride and when it comes to replacing bushings (sub-frame especially), most shops don't really want the business cause its such a PITA.

 

I'm gonna disagree strongly on Volvo blue box only parts. Volvo doesn't make their own suspension parts. You can buy the same part from the original manufacturer for significantly less money....

I was like this once, then my time became more valuable than my money and I went back to only OE for suspension parts (still use Bosch and Denso, etc. for non-stress mechanical parts).

Had tried to start a thread a few years back about which aftermarket suspension part was PROVEN equal (in performance as well as longevity) to OE and specifically within the XC90 application. Not sure where it went, folks are welcome to start a new one.

This always ends up being a debatable issue, which aftermarket manufacturer, which exact manufacturer's part (example- not all Lemforder parts with Volvo PN cross-references are created equally). Would be nice to get something together that folks can agree on as relates to using non-OE for repetitive mechanical stress parts.

A review of my posts will reveal that I've tried over 10+ years (have owned my '05 since new) to get OE level performance out of aftermarket parts on my XC90 and, with some small exceptions, I've never had them last as long or perform as well as OE. Spring seats, end links, tie rod ends, ball joints, bearing plates, I've pretty much tried them all.

Folks will put whatever they want on (or in) their cars. I can only make suggestions based on my personal history (and driving style).

 

After going through a bunch of issues with front control arms/bushings, I ended up getting Lemforder bushings, and had them pressed into the original Volvo arms. My garage charged me $60. The bushings can be found on FCPEuro for $65 +/-. It's a bit of a tricky job, but not terrible with the right tools. An extra set of hands is extremely helpful, especially when trying to get the ball joint back into the control arm. That's the worst part of the job.

Next on my list, and parts are ordered: inner and outer tie rods. After that, the only items left to eventually replace in the front end are the struts and related hardware. Eventually: subframe bushings and motor mounts. None of which seem terrible, so no rush.

Oh, mine was at 170,000 original miles when there were signs of control arm bushings and ball joints issues. Neither of which were completely failed. Same for the tie rods. They need replaced, but aren't failed yet. I'm hoping to do that job on Sunday. The parts from FCP (ordered yesterday with free shipping) will be here Friday.

 

After going through a bunch of issues with front control arms/bushings, I ended up getting Lemforder bushings, and had them pressed into the original Volvo arms. My garage charged me $60. The bushings can be found on FCPEuro for $65 +/-. It's a bit of a tricky job, but not terrible with the right tools. An extra set of hands is extremely helpful, especially when trying to get the ball joint back into the control arm. That's the worst part of the job.

Next on my list, and parts are ordered: inner and outer tie rods. After that, the only items left to eventually replace in the front end are the struts and related hardware. Eventually: subframe bushings and motor mounts. None of which seem terrible, so no rush.

Oh, mine was at 170,000 original miles when there were signs of control arm bushings and ball joints issues. Neither of which were completely failed. Same for the tie rods. They need replaced, but aren't failed yet. I'm hoping to do that job on Sunday. The parts from FCP (ordered yesterday with free shipping) will be here Friday.

I did the exact same thing. My Meyle Hd control arm bushing lasted only 2 years. I bought the lemforder bushings and took it to my local shop to have them take out the control arms and press the new bushings in. He did all the work and charged me $180.