Has anyone had to replace the front strut mounts on their S40? My car has a rattle up front whle driving and makes groaning/squeeking noise over speed bumps. I know there aren't any grease fittings under there so I'm looking for the cause. Any suggestions appreciated.

They are a weak point on the front suspension on S/V40s although earlier phase 1 cars suffer more with the strut mounts wearing. If you look at the top of the mount and bounce the car you may well see them moving where they have worn.

i think that there is a new piece that is stonger and doesn't rot out as fast. i think that it is a recall piece from volvo. not sure, something that i had heard. good luck.

The squeak could also be the anti roll bar bushes. The design was altered for the phase 2, and they can be retrofitted to the phase 1 apparently. I just put up with it for now on mine :)

The rattle may well just be the drop links (anti roll bar links) or control arms (wish bones). I replaced both on mine and the rattle disappeared when I fitted the drop links.

I was bouncing the car up and down while looking at the top of the shock towers they seemed to be swaying within the rubber mounts. I thought this was normal. Does this mean they're worn?

Mine did it and it was the Sway bar bushings. It cost me $350 to get fixed and Volvo is the only one that carries them. Mine got worse to the point the rubber actually cracked apart and fell out making a clunk and bang that you wouldn't even believe. I actually thought the frame broke or something when it happened.

Got the new bushings put in and it back to smooth and quiet no squeak or rattle.

The reason it costs so much is because you have to take the whole front end apart and remove the sway bar to put the new parts on.

I am pissed about the whole thing because a 4 year old car SHOULD NOT need new sway bushings. I never saw anything wear out that bad in only 4 years.

I get an clunking/bang on the rear. I removed the anti-roll bar links and bar completely and the noise doubled.
If you drive slowly, it makes no noise.

If you speed up it starts to rattle, or if you drive off a kerb at some moderate speed it makes a noise.

I thought it was anti-roll bar linkage that had gone but they were fine and springy.

Maybe the shock has gone?

Car is lowered 35mm and only 3 years old. Been lowered for about 7 months.

Any ideas?

If the car is only three years old it would it not be a Ford Focus based (modern) S40 though as they came out in 2004.

If it is a classic it could be a shock playing up. The thing with lowering the car the suspension componants take a bit more of a hammering and will wear out slightly quicker. Its common for alot of the bushes on the rear of these cars to wear and start causing knocking noises anyway. What sort of mileage is on the car?