Volvo 240 wagon suspension upgrades?

I have an '89 240 wagon. Does anybody have experience with upgrading the suspension? The lowering springs, suspension bars and dampers offered by IPD intrigue me, but I could like to know your opinion about the cost and benefits. Thanks.

you may be able to find a money of info by coming and looking into the forums at turbobricks.com. The forum address is simply:

forums.turbobricks.com

Look under the "maintenance" tab near the top. There are lots of guys on that web site that have older 240 models and have done broad work to them. IPD is a great site for suspension merchandise catered to the Volvo community.

Sway bars will assist give you firmer suspension when you make a tight turn. For lowering, the cheapest way could be to just cut or heat your springs, but it'll give you a bumpy ride and may be unsafe. In my experience, spending a more money for better parts creates a safe, satisfying ride. keep in mind you get what you pay for.

Don't know about the springs and shock stuff but I had some customers with the sway bar and front suspension stiffing parts. They made a obvious difference in handling and in general feel of the car. I could say they were worth it.

the benefits are super. I built a 79 242 for my daughter and bought the factory style chassis braces, lowering springs front and rear sway bars, upper strut reinforcement plates,boge "turbo" struts and shocks, adjustable pan hard bar[re centers diff with lowered springs many other mods have also been made, car is hard dependable corners like on rails [much better than my old spitfire and is neutral on corner entry [neither pushes or feels loose and best of all it absolutly doesn't beat you up on long journeys, over less than ideal roads. go for it, ipd merchandise do exactly what they claim
note : I haven't tried the urathane bushings as they by nature harshen the ride [this is my daughters car not mine but for all out performance these could be suggested [any camber caster change throughout an autocross event must be avoided
but for the street I personally feel that they aren't needed [they are pretty though

buy all of the IPD parts you may be able to pay for. they'll make your car handle like a sports car. When replacing all of the new suspension parts, make sure to replace anything that looks worn. safety 1st.

turbobricks.com is a good volvo fan web site.
I just put on lesjofers lowering springs and bilstein hd shocks/struts on my 244 turbo. obvious difference, corners much better, at higher speeds. comfy on long journeys too.
IPD are good, but costly, register at turbobricks and keep an eye in the for sale part, I saved over $100 purchasing my suspension parts there, and the guys are good sh t.
cheers

It's a Volvo. Nothing can make them handle good. purchase a Subaru or a Toyota.

calnickel clearly can not drive/modify his car.
they may not handle also as a modded toyota or subar with ind. rear susp etc. but volvos can still handle well