Shock absorbers fail after 24 hours, or my mistake?

[Barking Mat]

See what the MOT man says and order some coils..

 

[pedrobedro]

How could that affect the height of the suspension?

Can only just get a trolley jack under.

Shock absorbers don't affect the ride height that is governed by the springs. Any noises are usually caused by the drop links on the anti roll bar in my case. I had a run of broken springs on the front of the Berlingo, I even bought a hydraulic compressor it was cheaper than having them fitted at the garage. Best of luck with them and keep us informed.

 

[Morrisman]

what makes you think they have failed ,,, just asking , not being funny
did you stand the shocks up right before fitting and move them a few times ,, some old shocks like that , it primes them.

That’s a mistake I have made several times over the years, and only remembered after fitting..... It bleeds the shock internally to make sure the air gap is in the right place, and the oil is where it should be.

Get it wrong, and you have minimal damping, and/or you get squishy slurpy noises and poor damping.

Best to fully compress and fully open several times while upright.

 

[brightspark]

shockers only there as dampers they dont hold the car up the springs do that . are they the same length as the old ones and not shorter

 

[Ton-up]

Very, very unlikely but dampers could hold the car down, but they would have to be manufactured wrong or full of crap etc. If the damping oil was pushed through the valves when the car went down but couldnt get back up to the top to let the car up again then they could. But this would be an extremely unlikely scenario!

 

[Moose McAlpine]

Just seems the ride height has dropped since yesterday.

Have you checked it on perfectly flat level ground? May appear lower on that side if the ground there is actually slightly raised from the other side and it's just throwing you off.

 

[jsf55]

That’s a mistake I have made several times over the years, and only remembered after fitting..... It bleeds the shock internally to make sure the air gap is in the right place, and the oil is where it should be.

Get it wrong, and you have minimal damping, and/or you get squishy slurpy noises and poor damping.

Best to fully compress and fully open several times while upright.

I would be pulling the shocks again to be sure that one hasn't failed or jammed up

 

[Barking Mat]

In reverse order, and thanks all rojnd.

@jsf55 , they do still have bounce, when I stand on the rear bumper and bounce.

@Moose McAlpine , good point, but funny noise I'll get on to that in a mo..

@Ton-up err possibly?

@brightspark , yep exactly the same length.

@Morrisman , this I didn't do and they were horizontal for several days before fitting, possible...

Wife describes the noise as an intermittent noise on cornering or roundabouts, a gentle tsst noise, only when weight is transferred to the rhs of the car, coming from the rear.

I'll go for a drive tomorrow, laying my dpm and polystyrene right now.

Thanks all.

 

[keithski122]

Noise could possibly a slightly bent dustshield rubbing the brake disk, you might of knocked it while changing the shocks.Ride height might just be that you haven't really noticed what height it should be, I know I wouldn't know what height my car is.

 

[bricol]

Some shock absorbers can indeed affect the ride height - various versions of my Challenger used to come with self-levelling shocks. A Subaru forester that used to live here had them - I didn't know it had until I swopped the leaking originals for ones specced by local factors using the number plate - which was when it sat its bum on the floor! I had to change the rear springs for stronger ones - common issue.

The originals pump up in use and keep the ride height - the replacements didn't. A quick google reveals some V70 have nvomat shocks fitted - self-levelling, self pumping up shocks. If the old ones are rather larger in diameter than your replacements . . . then you got the wrong shocks - and the right ones will be expensive. I bet the owners forums will have the info on what springs to get to get it back to the right height - but you will have lose the self-levelling.

 

[bricol]

https://www.ipdusa.com/techtips/10024/what-are-nivomat-shocks-and-does-my-volvo-have-them

 

[Barking Mat]

@bricol , well I be damned, I think you've hit the nail on the head.

Yes, they were wider, with rubber gators at the bottom.

I just assumed different model, different design.

I've read the link, and that could well be the problem.

I'll buy you a pint!

Thanks alot!

 

[Barking Mat]

Exactly....

If your car seems to sag all the time, it’s possible that the Nivomat shocks are worn out or were mistakenly replaced with ordinary shocks. Since the Nivomat shocks actually play a part in holding the car up (conventional shocks don’t), when they’re removed the car will be about 2 inches lower in the rear, even if new shocks have been fitted. Often, we get calls from customers and even repair shops wondering why a particular Volvo now rests low in the back after installing new shocks.

 

[Roger440]

Errghh, I ordered them from my numberplate, as a reference, and the company, knows exactly what my car is from the internet database like DVLA in the uk, I've checked and everything corresponds.

Bingo. I suspect you have removed Nivomat self levellers and put normal shocks on. Pretty common mistake.

On a nivomat, part of the load is carried by the shock, so a soft spring is fitted to carry the other part of the load. In service, the motion of the shock, allows it pump up to the preset ride height.

Take this away, and you are now reliant on a spring that was never designed to carry the full weight. Car now sits low.

I know this, as my company offer conversion kits for a number of cars, to fix this very issue as nivomants are crazy money. But not any Volvos

Your only fix is to get springs from a non self levelling model.

Im not THAT up on volvos, but some certainly use nivomats. I see this issue daily on forester, sorrento's, santafes, cruze, etc, etc.

 

[bricol]

Glad you found it - it sounded strangely familiar to my issue with the Subaru. Forums pointed me to some Australian springs for that car - easily obtained and it was back up - but lost the levelling, meaning the previously wonderful trailer and caravan towing was now less wonderful. But when shocks were several hundred quid each!

Quick solution is to put the originals back - and then go hunting for heavier duty springs - or start saving.

Annoyingly for me, if I had the self-levelling pump up shocks on my Challenger, I coudl have left the original HID lights in for the IVA test when I imported it . . . as it didn't I had to fit different lights.

 

[minimutly]

Bingo. I suspect you have removed Nivomat self levellers and put normal shocks on. Pretty common mistake.

On a nivomat, part of the load is carried by the shock, so a soft spring is fitted to carry the other part of the load. In service, the motion of the shock, allows it pump up to the preset ride height.

Take this away, and you are now reliant on a spring that was never designed to carry the full weight. Car now sits low.

I know this, as my company offer conversion kits for a number of cars, to fix this very issue as nivomants are crazy money. But not any Volvos

Your only fix is to get springs from a non self levelling model.

Im not THAT up on volvos, but some certainly use nivomats. I see this issue daily on forester, sorrento's, santafes, cruze, etc, etc.

Result then - pair of springs and another morning under the volvo - how could you even doubt the Monroes?

 

[Roger440]

Result then - pair of springs and another morning under the volvo - how could you even doubt the Monroes?

I might not be right, but i believe volvo offer their own conversion "kit". One of the reasons we didnt do the volvo ones as i recall. Enlightened enough to see the market. Dont know which models. I think it was for V60 at least.

 

[tom2207]

Glad you found it - it sounded strangely familiar to my issue with the Subaru. Forums pointed me to some Australian springs for that car - easily obtained and it was back up - but lost the levelling, meaning the previously wonderful trailer and caravan towing was now less wonderful. But when shocks were several hundred quid each!

Quick solution is to put the originals back - and then go hunting for heavier duty springs - or start saving.

Annoyingly for me, if I had the self-levelling pump up shocks on my Challenger, I coudl have left the original HID lights in for the IVA test when I imported it . . . as it didn't I had to fit different lights.

original one was leaking , hence the mot fail at the start ..

 

[dobbslc]

Interesting about those shocks, I never knew that!
The Surf got new standard spec rear springs and dampers earlier this year as it was bottoming out really easily and now sits about 2" higher at the back! It's probably back to where it was when new , front springs got an advisory on rust last mot so I'll treat it to some new struts soon ££££

 

[dobbslc]

Just a thought @barking mat
That tsst noise might be the tyre rubbing on the inner arch liner on corners if the back end is now riding 2" lower. You'll probably see some witness marks where the mud is scrapped off.