May I inquire about suspensions for a 740?

I've gotten a LOT of great help here, so I apologize if I ask a lot of
questions. I'm currently on a 3 phase plan restoring my 1987 740 GLE.
Phase 1 - get it running and solid mechanically. Phase 2- tires,
suspension, steering and brakes. Phase 3 - paint and trim.

I am preparing to move from Phase 1 to Phase 2. So far I've been told I
need struts, tie-rod ends, ball joints, etc. - the stuff that wears out
on the front end and shocks on the back.

Well, part of me says stick with OEM or near OEM as far as tires and
struts go. Another part of me says spice it up a bit, maybe go a little
stiffer on the struts and maybe a little more performance on the tire.

Personally, I am not a guy who likes the look or style of dropping an
average car and trying to make it a performance machine. To me, if I
see a family sedan dropped a few inches, with fancy rims, a loud
muffler and some stripes - it doesn't look impressive to me at all.

You know how you have your standard passenger car, then you have the
sport edition of that car? That's kind of what I am looking for and
really need some help.

So, basically I need to understand more of a range of options. If
someone can help me understand "What would happen if..."

Example: As compared to OEM shocks, struts and 14" tires, what would
happen to the ride/handling if I --

A -- just put a slightly thinner tire on?

B-- kept OEM tires and put Bilstein TC shocks?

C-- OEM tires plus Bilstein HD shocks?

D-- Bilstein TC shocks plus a thinner tire?

E-- lowering kit plus slightly thinner tires?

What I cannot get an appreciation of is how much things will change
with these options. Will thinner tires make the car slam and slap the
road, jolting me around?

I haven't been able to drive this car any significant amount yet, so I
don't have a feel for it yet. What I want is for the ride to be tight,
I want to have a sport feeling for the road and have the car feel
responsive to driving.

I want it to be more like a European driving machine and not a floating
lincoln town car.

Please advise.

 

IPD swaybars would make the biggest improvement towards handling, some
slightly firmer struts will have a noticeable difference too. In almost
any case though, more sporty handling means less soft ride, everything
is a compromise.

 

Thanks James,
I looked up the IPD swaybars and they seem to be something I am
interested in. I was looking at my car and with the 14" wheels, I think
I could stand to lower it about 1".

The thing I can't judge is when they say the ride will become more
stiff, do you say "it will become more stiff and feel like a BMW," or
do you say, "It will become more stiff, handling the curves beautifully
while banging the hell out of you on the straight roads?

I think the sway bars would be a good start. More responsive steering
is what I am after, but I still want to take road trips with my family
and not feel every bump in the road.

 

Does my car (1987 740 GLE non-turbo) have any kind of factory front
sway bar already? I've located a front swaybar from a 1990 740 GL. If
I have no sway-bar, then this would be an upgrade. If I have one, this
would be a waste of money.

 

AFAIK all 700 series cars have a front swaybar and all sedans have a
rear bar, wagons don't for some reason.

Thicker bars will make the car much more stable and responsive, it won't
lean nearly as much in curves, but driving on uneven surfaces will feel
much rougher. I'm pretty sure IPD has a money back guarantee which you'd
obviously want to verify the details but in that case you could try out
the bars and send them back if you don't like the effect.

 

OK, I think I understand now. My 740 sedan must have a set of sway
bars, but these would be stiffer bars. I thought my car had no bars and
I would be adding something that was not there before.

Cool.

 

You'd be replacing the existing ones with stiffer ones. IIRC the
stiffness increases with the square of the diameter, so a mm or two
larger bar is much stiffer.

 

Non-turbo cars have a 21mm sway bar, turbo cars have a 22mm sway bar and
sports option have a 23mm sway bar. Worth thinking about rebushing the front
end with polythene bushings (can give same ride as various grades are
available and last much longer). However standard bushings are cheap and you
can also add the sway bar struts with new bushings. The sway bar holding
bushes may also need to be replaced (brackets attach to front chassis
members). Of course swivel ball joints will need replacing as well.

All the best, Peter.

700/900/90 Register Keeper,
Volvo Owners Club (UK).

 

Thanks for the insightful explanations!