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UPDATE – (original posting follows) 22nd May 2015 at dismantling of old front strut: The cause of the damage can now be ascertained, of the broken spring seat currently fitted to the car. The bonnet is nearly punctured, as I write this having removed the strut. No pic on this video but my background in Engineering helps me to determine, the problem is caused by 2 main factors.

ONE – the bump stop, or ‘spring helper’ as it is commonly known. It is a rubber bung that sits at the top of the damper rod (that’s the main spindle rod thing sticking out of the heavy bottom steel unit with the mounting lugs on). On moderate to hard bumps, this is struck by the lower unit, that is its purpose, but this puts massive strain on the spring seat, badly designed to start with.

I note, the strut unit was replaced a year back, but not the spring seat. The new unit has a bigger bump stop/spring helper/rubber bung so it gets hit more – this was a good thing but not for the spring seat, it lasted ten years under the old strut, the new one killed it in one.

TWO – corrosion. There seems on the worn damaged one taken off the car, a lot of old, satin-polished rust on the small steel pipe that is the bit that slides over the damper rod. In combo with the massive forces placed upon this seat by the car hitting the rubber bung, the spring seat hasn’t a chance.

SOLUTION – New spring seat, I will try 2 big flat stainless washers top & bottom to spread the load, cut rubber bung shorter, fit some coil spring assisters or similar, to try and stop the bungs being struck as much. You cannot ask superglue steel/rubber bond alone, to stop the mass of a bouncing front of a Volvo, from breaking this component. Bad design, and my cheap new struts stopped damping within 18 months, exacerbating the issue (more impact on rubber bung, bouncing more times)..

BACK TO ORIGINAL POST:

My 2003 Volvo has a damaged front strut spring seat, it generally manifests as a bad clunk on severe bumps or potholes. It is not unheard of for the strut to punch into or even through the bonnet (hood) but things have to be let go pretty far for that to happen – I hope!

This is just a description of how much extra the heavy duty IPD component weighs, compared to the more OEM-type like the Febi one here. Febi are a good make, but these designs are inherently weak. Febi might even be better than most – dunno, it is of German manufacture at least.

Costs: Febi one was sold to me for nearly £20 each. IPD Heavy Duty or uprated one, about £40 each. The bog-standard any-old supplier ebay ones of uncertain pedigree are as cheap as £12 each including postage.

In the end, the Febi one is 581g in weight from an Amazon listing, and I work this IPD uprated one out as about 750g in weight using that Febi as the standard.

Some of these last less than a year in a V70, it’s a job that you don’t want to do in British weather, on an annual basis.

This video compares the design improvements and the weight difference, obvs IPD HD uprated ones are bigger-built and heavier. Fitment date soon on my vehicle, weather-dependent.