Is the FCP Groton Front + Rear Suspension Kit a Good Deal for me and my 2003 XC70?

[cheapo]

Volvo Front & Rear Suspension (XC70 V70XC) Full Complete Kit OEM supplier - $950.00

Some of you might remember that I have asked quite a few questions on this forum in the past. You may also have noticed that I haven't been spending much time on this site lately. That's because, by and large, the car has been behaving itself and there have been no mechanical crises.

But, I have always known that the suspension needed doing, and, over the past year, the car has been absorbing bumps in increasingly poor fashion. Finally, as of this week, something in the rear is clunking. On a 2003 car, with the struts and shocks never having been replaced, am I smart to spend $950 on this kit? (Am I likely to spend more on parts if I let my mechanic figure out which parts truly need replacing, even if his list doesn't include every item in this kit?)

[KevinR]

I bought their front end only kit for my wife's '04 C70 and was very happy with the resulting improvement. More importantly, she was happy too.

The labor is going to be the same whether you replace all of the parts or simply the ones your mechanic says need replacement. I personally hate having to pay for the same labor twice because a part I didn't replace wore out soon after the work was done. Others may feel differently or are willing to gamble.

Your call...

[kamiar]

Don't forget the frot coil springs, considering the salt we have in Canada roads.

[cheapo]

The springs are only a few years (60-70,000 km) old. Are they due for replacement?

[billr99]

The springs are only a few years (60-70,000 km) old. Are they due for replacement?

I wouldn't worry about that but I would take a good look at them just to make sure. I had about 180K on mine when I discovered a crack in the lower pigtail of one of my front springs. I'm still convinced that at that point and after being back in NS for over a year it was due to the horrible roads we have down here in Queens County. I never had to replace a Volvo spring for a similar reason when I lived in Norther Ontario despite the amounts of salt that were used on the roads (much smoother) there. I have to say as well that the Eibachs I used to replace the stock springs have shown no signs of any kind of failure or stress so if you do replace them think about some kind of upgraded spring rather than the stock ones.

BTW, I've had to replace springs for the same reason on both of my son's VW TDIs this summer, so it is not an uncommon thing across manufacturers these days.

Cheers,

Bill

[cheapo]

I'll look them over, but I won't be ordering new ones from FCP as they only carry OEM springs.

[billr99]

I'll look them over, but I won't be ordering new ones from FCP as they only carry OEM springs.

Yeah, I got mine from Tire Rack who had a sale on at the time. Worth it to look around as quite a few places have them available.

Cheers,

Bill

[Astro14]

I just finished installing front struts, HD Spring seats, strut mounts, lower control arms, balljoints and rear shocks on the XC and have 2 thoughts:

1. it's easier to do the whole front end at once, with the LCA off and the strut out, you can put the knuckle on the bench for the balljoint, then the balljoint just drops into the LCA instead of having to wrestle the LCA down under the knuckle...

2. I bought the same parts from IPD, but paid more (well, about the same cost, and they were Sachs struts and shocks, but I didn't get out tie rods or swaybar links or the miscellaneous washers/nuts...) so this kit is a good deal.

Bottom Line: were I to do the job again, I would get this kit for the XC.

[UCrazyKid]

I just ordered this set. 5% off right now at GCP Groton

[UCrazyKid]

So the kit arrived. I also went ahead and ordered new coil springs for the front and rear after reading so many stories of they catastrophically failing, hoping to avoid and accident. Once installed and aligned in combination with the new Michelin Pilot A/S Plus (225/60/16) installed it should drive like a new car!