Volvo Suspension Strut - Bilstein B4 Touring 22-155344

I have a 2005 Volvo S80. After the OEM struts bit the dust. (way too soft to begin with) I tried Monroe, hated them; too little damping and way too little rebound control. Switched to Bilstein HD's after <5,000 miles on the Monroe struts. These were too harsh, nasty harsh over low speed frost cracks and grit your teeth rough over highway expansion joints or bridge transitions. Finally decided either: (1) KYB brand which I had liked in the distant past on European cars, or: (2) Bilstein Touring. I went with Bilstein from FCP and put them in myself along with control arms, ball joints, sway bar links, engine mounts and a passenger side CV axle. Mostly bought from FCP. Best struts I have ever installed. They may be too firm for some, but for my taste they, are perfect. Excellent damping control, better rebound control. Keep the tires on the road where they should be. For the record, my Volvo is stock appearance. It has 215-50-17 tires with a W speed rating. The brake rotors are larger than OEM, cross drilled and slotted. The springs are off a S60 type R. The sway bars have urethane bushings and the ECM is tweaked for higher HP.

Installed these along with all the components that go with this job, less the springs. Huge improvement over my worn out factory struts. I've read some comments about these being too stiff. Not for my preference of wanting excellent response and firm ride quality. I'm ordering the rear shocks to match!

I replaced my worn, busted shocks on the T5 with these, the b4 touring model, and I'm very pleased. They start off a bit too firm for comfort but when you kinda break them in (500 miles) they yield the perfect balance for me: the drive and steering is tight and precise like on a sporty car, but the ride is still smooth enough for a family volvo wagon. Can't go wrong with these...

I searched all over and found everything I needed to fix my 02 s60. This is a quality strut from Bilstein that will last. I have only just installed these and replaced some Surmeg 334611. The previous owner apparently paid a guy $750 to "fix" her struts. He re-used all the factory parts and then used a cheap no name strut mount on the pass. side that failed before the factory mount on the drivers side, and caused more damage.

Even with only 500 miles on the new suspension, I've been surprised with it every mile. The roads around here are a constant struggle to keep repaired and with the factory Sachs shocks passing 100k miles, they had lived a full life, but it was time for a change. I had done the install of the B4 Touring Class shocks both front and rear with the only outside help coming from a mechanic to tear down the old struts at their shop and align the car after wards. The rest was done in a driveway. On the first trip with the new shocks and struts, I was in awe of just how well dampened the suspension was over larger bumps and ruts, but I was pleasantly surprised by their ability to reduce the side to side bounce created by thousands of logging trucks on the main roads near my house. One surprising thing was the ability of the shocks to transmit the minute imperfections like light washboarding without making the ride harsh or springy. The poor condition of bridge transitions (sudden bumps between 55mph and 80mph) were met with loud booms, but nothing more than a moderate kick of about 1/3rd of the originals. With new spring seats and upper strut mounts, this really shines as a nice compromise of back road runner and daily driver, with only a bit of rear axle wallow before setting quickly during faster transitions (55mph S-curves, taken somewhere between 60-70mph). With that being my only gripe about the Bilstein B4 shocks and struts, I'm more than willing to get the set again. They make this Volvo S60 feel more like a Focus or Protege with a good entry level handling pack, but with a bit more heft. Almost Germanic, some have said. I have to agree with them. For a mere daily driver with only a hint of sporting intentions, I can see no other solution than this. For going more than 7/10ths on a back road, I would choose the B6 HD shocks, but for a compact Volvo, it's perfect.

A bit firmer than stock when compared to my T6 that uses the stock Sachs but does an excellent job damping the hits and gives a bit more road feel. Not as harsh as the yellow super duties but definitely an upgrade over stock and worth the modest added cost. I just wish they offered rear shocks to match the front.