Volvo 480 Club Europe

The kit has arrived... KYB excel-g gas front and rear and lesjofors springs. Looking rather bright colours! (pics later)

Any tips on fitting? I believe i need a spring compressor..

I will be looking in the shanes manual but a little bit of forum knowledge is always useful so I can picture the job before I get going on the weekend.

Cheers!

pol

For the rear it's very easy. Put the rear on axle stands (let the car rest on the stands, not the axle). Remove both wheels, remove the old dampers and undo the connectingrods to the stabiliser (an if neccesary the Watts linkage to the rear).
This should be enough to lower the rear axle enough to remove the springs without having to compress them. The bumpstops are mounted within the spring, this will come off from the axle too. Remount them by using some soap.
Reinstall all the links and install the new dampers. Presto! the car is ready to be put back on it's wheels.

For the rear it isn't hard either. Put the fron on axle stands and remove the front wheels.
Undo the two bolts which connect the strut to the hub. Undo the bolt of the connecting rod of the stabiliser. (use two spanners 17mm)
! for newer types of 480: pull out the brake line
! for older types: if you want to take the entire strut from the car, than the fuelline must be disconnected from the car, thus meaning that the system must be bled afterwards
The strut is now only mounted to the car by means of the two 13mm bolts on the strut dome (under the hood)
Remove the strut from the car.
Use springcompressors (available for 10 to 15 pound (Halfords maybe?)) to compress the old spring.
(It is wise to undo the big nut on top somewhat while it's still mounted in place and the car is on the ground, make sure the nut stays on)
Undo the big nut on top and remove the top plate, the old spring, the bottom plate and the bearing underneath.
It is adviceable to replace the bearings for new ones, but it's not entirely neccasary.
Put the nearing on the new strut, the bottom plate, the spring(compress it first!), and the top plate. Put the nut on top an tighten it.
The strut is now ready to be inserted in the car again.

After mounting both new struts, the wheel alignment on the front has probably too much toe in. It is thus neccasary to realign the frontsuspension.

Have fun...

Cool, thanks!

Oh man, you mean i need my tracking done again?! Only got it done a few weeks ago!

The front KYB's have the hole for feeding the brake line through while I think mine clip in? Might have to modify the bracket on the strut if so..

mine was 94 and had a clip in brake lines. So the fronts where easy as well. Took about 15 min when you know what to do(first one took 1,5 hours, cos but all things back together the wrong way ). And for spring compression use good and strong cargo belts. And your gona lowe your setup

Well i'm going on both of you guys advice so i'm sure it'll be good!
I'll probably go buy some nice spring compressors first thing tomorrow. Dont think we have any cargo strap things... Might do...??? Maybe i'll make some super go go gadget shoes out of my old springs..

pol