Axle Length

Technical ArticlesRear Wheel Drive Suspension OverviewRear Wheel Drive Suspension Overview Cameron from IPD goes thru the suspension components of rear wheel drive model Volvos and explains the basic setup and identifies the primary parts. "All right Cameron from here and today we're going to talk about some of the basics of suspension on a rear-wheel drive Volvo what the main components are where they are and what you should look out for. Here on the lift today we have a Volvo 242 so we'll talk about the main components on the front of it. First a lot of this is very much the same as you'll find on a Volvo 740 or a Volvo 940. As far as the front strut assemblies going and what the basic components are, even though they look a little different in those cars this should still give you a good idea of kind of where everything is and what it does. Looking also right here what you'll see is this, this is the sway bar end link bolts here to the control arm. This goes up and attach this to the sway bar right here which then goes across. Sway bars up you should be pretty familiar with on your car because it's IPD's flagship product and we've got huge upgrades for these that make the car handle ten times better and make it a whole new car. That's kind about it for the front it's a pretty basic suspension system there's just the control arm, ball joint, strut assembly, sway bar, and end link and the associated small pieces like control arm bushings that are here and here. Looking from the other side of the rear end of the car to show you some of the other components. We've just got a couple more pieces that complete the rear suspension system. This one is obviously the coil spring it is mounted on the back of the trailing arm here. If we follow that up we're going to see what is called the Panhard bar what its job basically is to locate the car over the rear axle. If you watch it here it bolts through the chassis of the car follow it down this way and it connects to a bracket on this side on the actual rear end. So, it's what is suspending it left to right and holding the car balancing it left to right over the rear end of the car. That's about it for the suspension very simple setup on these Volvo 740s and Volvo 940s are a little bit different but the basics are pretty much the same they use the same kind of components and hopefully, this helps you identify what's under your car you know what you're looking at any education is always going to help you maintain your car better. My Account My Garage My Orders Account Details Sign Off Shopping Products Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Returns & Warranty F A Q Company About Us Contact Us Careers Blog Tech Tips Engage Classifieds Project Cars iPd Employees Community Links IPD Volvo Forums Volvo Club of America IPD is the Volvo Parts, Accessories and Performance Specialists Since 1963.