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Will new struts make my suspension stiff?

howlett10

New member
Joined
Sep 22, 2020
Location
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
So, 6 months ago I finally was able to purchase a Volvo 240 after months of trying to find one in decent shape, almost immediately I cut all of the coilsprings, 3 coils on every spring. I know, this is a stupid way to lower a car and heavily frowned upon. I had intentions on buying coilovers in the summer but I lost my job due to good ol COVID so those plans came to a halt, now that it's getting very cold where I live I want to make my suspension as best I can so I don't run into any problems throughout these next 7ish VERY cold months, the front end of my car is crazy bouncy, every pothole or bump my car will just bounce and honestly it doesn't feel good at all, annoying honestly. So today I purchased a set of struts with hopes that they'll stiffen up the front end with my cut springs, is this possible? I had my car on a lift yesterday and my struts did look pretty worn out in all honesty.
 
Get some stock springs and install new struts. Then when you can properly spend some money, do it right with coilovers.
 
The spring rate is all messed up now if you cut 3 coils, so you will never get rid of the bounce even with new shocks.
 
Will new struts make my suspension stiff?
Yes and no. It'll IMPROVE your ride quality over larger bumps and reduce your bouncing, BUT, you will still be bottoming out your suspension with regularity and causing the crap ride quality and initial bounce. If your car keeps bouncing after the initial hit, that's because the struts and/or shocks are blown. Your initial impact and crap ride quality comes from not having suspension travel and/or not having sufficient stiffness to prevent you from hitting the limits of your travel(or bump stops, if they exist anymore).
The spring rate is all messed up now if you cut 3 coils, so you will never get rid of the bounce even with new shocks.
Yes, and no. If his problem is blown struts, his bouncing will be greatly reduced with a good set of struts. The problem is, he is likely also bottoming out the suspension and that is going to create an initial impact harshness that will not disappear with good struts that will dampen the resulting bounce back up from bottoming out.

So today I purchased a set of struts with hopes that they'll stiffen up the front end with my cut springs, is this possible? I had my car on a lift yesterday and my struts did look pretty worn out in all honesty.
What struts did you buy? Your struts can't "look pretty worn out" unless they're leaking fluid. Otherwise, their internals that wear are hidden from your view.

Your ride will likely improve with new struts, but it will still be far from ideal and you will still crash hard over larger bumps and potholes. The continued bouncing after an initial impact will be reduced, though.
 
So today I purchased a set of struts with hopes that they'll stiffen up the front end with my cut springs, is this possible? I had my car on a lift yesterday and my struts did look pretty worn out in all honesty.

Did you buy just standard replacement struts? If the old ones are blown it will help, but you'll still bottom out over bumps as they're made to work with the factory length/stiffness springs.

When I cut springs on my 780 I also swapped to bilstein hd's. The ride was more stiff but rode fine.

3 coils is a lot to cut. On my old 240 I cut 2 coils off the front and wouldn't do any more than that. If you don't have any money, just find uncut springs to put back in, or maybe cut one coil off until you have more money.
 
The spring rate is all messed up now if you cut 3 coils, so you will never get rid of the bounce even with new shocks.
If by "all messed up" you mean somewhat stiffer, yes. But stock volvo springs are less than half the rate they should have been in my opinion. Any plush 3000 lb car today has 150# springs. His problem is being almost on the bump stops on soft springs with no damping..
 
If by "all messed up" you mean somewhat stiffer, yes. But stock volvo springs are less than half the rate they should have been in my opinion. Any plush 3000 lb car today has 150# springs. His problem is being almost on the bump stops on soft springs with no damping..
:nod:
 
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