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  • Volvo 240 Diff mounts or bushes

Hi, I am trying to buy all the rubber bushes to cure wayward handling and rattles and clunks in my 1990 240 wagon. So far I have done the rear torque rod bushes and front engine mounts. Next I was planning on doing the front and rear control arm bushes and the bushes or rubber that holds up the diff. Its the latter i cannot seem to find. FCP Euro and IPD have the aforementioned bushes but nothing that holds up or isolates the diff. What kind of bushes are they? Where do they go and what are they called.

Also does anyone have a set of new rubber bushes they would like to sell.
Related, have you checked the panhard rod bushes? In my old 740 that one probably made the biggest single difference to handling. If they're failing you'll feel the car do a little sideways shunt just after you pull it into a hard turn. Makes a huge difference to feel I found!
Thanks James and O&D. So are you saying they are Panhard Rod Bushes
@Salman, we're a superpro dealer. Let us know what you need. We can make suggestions/recommendations on where you should use rubber and where you should use urethane.
Hi Ash. I would like to stay with rubber bushes because I want to keep the feel of my car stock. I am looking for the big round bushes that hold up the diff and the front and rear sway arm bushes. Thats for the front and rear sway arms.

Do all Volvo 240s have a Panhard rod. If so I will probably need their bushes as well.

Could you please PM me what the prices are.
I still recommend you use urethane bushings for the panhard rod. It won't increase "harshness" but it WILL make your car feel much nicer when turning. In my opinion it actually reduces harshness.
James, thanks for the input. It kind of makes sense.
+1 for the urethane for the panhard rod. Definitely keeps that back end under control.
OK then I will use urethane for the panhard rod but no one has told me if there is any bush holding up the diff. To me it appears to be the rear one in the control arm. The one that has to be pressed out.
The diff is only connected via the panhard rod. It is otherwise held in place by the axles which are then connected to the trailing arms.
Have a look at the Superpro link I posted and you can see a diagram of the rear end of the 240.
Yes that makes sense. The bushes in question are the rear trailing arm rear bush. The large ones with the voids. Are Superpro competitive with FCPEuro and IPD?
That's more an Ash question. I've heard the Pro Parts Sweden ones are not so great.
Contact Ash as 240 suspension IS his specialty and won't steer you wrong.
no pun intended, I am sure :)
btw, thanks everyone for your help. This is a great community.
A mix of urethane and rubber bushes is the best way to go for most applications.
urethane used in an automotive application obviously has much higher shore rating than rubber does. As such while it's use provides a more 'solid' mounting, it isn't as happy to stretch and return to its original shape as many times as rubber will. In automotive applications, it sometimes also needs lubrication.
Harder mounting of a suspension component in a car results in an increase in NVH - in some applications the increase is minimal and you don't notice, in others it can be extremely different.

In short, in some applications, in a road car, urethane is great to increase 'firmness' if used in the right places, without any adverse effects.

On a track day car (particularly one running a grippy tyre), typically urethane isn't used - it simply wouldn't last - and instead everything is solid mounted by way of rod ends/heim joints or whatever you want to call them.

For the nerdy, here's a good chart that shows shore ratings of various 'things' we come across in day to day life - the examples are tangible ones that are easy to relate to.



Oh, and by the way, @Salman‌ , you have an email. :)

Several years ago I talked to Ash about what bushes to use where, and I was VERY happy with the combination he came up with...
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