Removing & Replacing Volvo x40 rear suspension rods is not rocket science, but there are some things that are good to know. So here is  a small tutorial how to do it.

First unbolt the longer (upper) suspension rod, that should be fairly easy and straight forward job to do.

After that you can start working with the shorter (lower) suspension rod. It looks to be as easy as the upper rod, but usually it is far from being easy…  Mostly because the bolt that connects the rod to the chassis rusts and gets stuck inside the rod unbelievably tightly. Only way to get the bolt out is to grind it to pieces, or at least I haven’t invented any better alternative.

Structure of the rod is a bit like an onion. There are three metal layers that you need to peel away layer by layer. First remove the ellipse spacer which has been under the nut and then rotate the rod with 18mm wrench so that it points downwards. Using the grinder, this is how the first layer should look like until it surrenders:

Needless to say, but you need to be careful not to cut the brake line, the hand brake cable and the ABS sensor wire. Also you probably don’t want to cut accidental notches to nearby structures. So there are not too much space where to play. It might be a really good idea to take the ABS sensor cable loose from its holders and also take the brake line fastener away so you can move that as well slightly further. Here is how’s the second layer should look like until you can knock it out:

Second layer is when the things go smelly since there is a rubber layer under it. Depending at how good/bad condition your rods were there could be some rubber still left on the top of the last remaining metal layer. If the rod is really at the very end of its lifespan all the rubber usually peels off with the second metal layer and grinding the last layer is not that smelly business. Here is how the last metal layer will look like until you can try to bend it open a bit and then knock the bolt out:

I was using very strong screwdriver and large hammer to bend it open. I have never succeeded to knock the bolt out without first bending the last layer open a little bit.

When putting it back together I always start with the longer (upper) rod. First bolt at least one of the small bolts to car chassis (very loosely) and then put the outer bolt to its place. After you have managed the outer bolt, tighten the small bolt at the chassis side almost as tight as you normally tighten the bolts. Then you can use large screwdriver or some other suitable tool to make the second small bolt holes to match. After that just tighten the bolts.

Next bolt very loosely the shorter rod outer mount. After you have done so it is fairly easy to get the chassis side bolt in, at least from the first end. Don’t forget to add grease to the bolt so it will not get stuck anymore… But after the bolt is halfway there you can use a jack to level the other end so that it will go though easily:

Yes, I have already knocked the bolt through… Here is a close up view:

After this it will be very easy and straight forward thing to finish. Just tighten all the shorter rod bolts and you’re done! Of course remember to mount ABS sensor cable and brake hose back to their holders if you have removed them. And make sure you have not forgot the ellipse spacer under the nut of the shorter rod. 🙂

Here is the end result:

And also passenger side:

Please remember that after this operation you need to readjust the wheel angles. Usually you don’t have this kind of tools available, but it is not that expensive operation to do at your local tire shop.

Maybe it was about the time to do something:

But now both sides are looking like they should be looking:

These parts have arrived for my weeked activities.

I need to change rear suspension rods to two similar Volvo V40’s. This is now the first one and one side is now dismantled.

I just wonder why the heck Volvo could not afford to add even a tiny amount of grease to make sure these won’t get stuck:

This shorter rod is always so stuck that only way to get it out is to cut it to pieces. And you need to do it carefully not to harm the bolt inside.

Today I got a SMS message from my dad where he said that the driver’s window is not willing to go back up… So I needed to open the door panel at the evening and remove the lifting mechanism. And here is the problem:

It turns out that the rubber gear inside the motor’s bevel gear had broken off from it’s vulcanization.

After a some thinking and test cutting I decided that this can be fixed by welding some metal if I’m lucky enough:

That cut you see at the picture was totally unnecessary and I’m not recommending that you do such thing. It was a test which did not worked out. Luckily the welding held and after cutting the excess piece out:

I also decided to put a piece of that rubber gear back and added some grease:

Then I put the motor back together and amazingly enough it worked. I also assembled the window lift mechanism and put it back inside the door and still it worked. 😀

Let’s see how long this works but at least it is now working… Downwards the window goes like earlier, but upwards it is a bit slower. Later I will add some silicone grease to window seal to see does it help.

New lift mechanism would have cost 140€ from Motonet and the delivery time would have been long since they did not had it at stock. If this brokes down yet again then I need to order a new lift mechanism but so far so good. If I need to do this to the other door most probably the end result will be even better (or so I hope).

Actually I got it ready yesterday afternoon, but forgot to post anything about it.

Today my plan is to assemble Sierra’s viscous coupling unit and the spare gearbox. I got the X-rings some time ago, but it took a really long time to get those. Luckly I wasn’t in a hurry with those.

I was able to get the heater block out without breaking anything, but the new heater block was smaller than the earlier… Width of the block for this Volvo is 187mm, but the spare was only 175mm and it also was thinner. I didn’t want to use the too small heater block since it is that hard to replace if it is not working as expected.

Now I need to return the incorrect block and order a new one… So this project is now officially delayed at least a couple of days. :-\

Heater was leaking which means the whole dashboard need to be removed:

To be continued….

Yesterday I was traveling with my mother-in-law’s Volvo V40 and started to listen that something is wrong at the left rear suspensions. Today I decided to take a look of it and found out that both rear springs were broken.

Luckily I had used spares available which were quite easy to change. The main thing is to dismantle the shock absorber and spring while they are under the car:

Other-ways you need to dismantle the whole suspension structure away which is not that easy. It is rather easy to get the parts out from the car and back this way.

Seems that for x40 Volvo about 10 years and/or some 200000 kilometers is the time when you need to change plenty of suspension parts. But I think this is quite reasonable for an everyday use car.

Finally. 🙂

This was supposed to be rather fast r&r operation, but the lower suspension rods were rusted to their place very very tightly. But at the end of the day they also surrendered and now this task is completed.