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Air Suspension Lowering Kit (SLAMMED!)

33K views 66 replies 21 participants last post by  marc_vall 
#1 ·
Just kidding...not slammed, just slightly lowered (1"). :p

The known lowering options are:

  1. Heico Selected Leveling Kit ($1,900 + installation) - Installation appears to be complicated and may require a VIDA reset. Off Road mode retains full height. Height adjustment is 30mm (~1").
  2. Adjustable leveling links (Ghostlinks - $225) - Easy DIY install, height adjustment is consistent across all drive modes. Off Road mode doesn't retain full height.
  3. Deflate your tires?
I'm not going offroad anytime soon and, while technically impressive, I think Heico's solution is too expensive for what it is.

I got the lead on Ghostlinks from MrJackNYC. He worked with Ghost Motorsports to develop properly sized links for his XC90. Fortunately, I was able to verify the sensors for the SPA XC60/XC90 are the same (including the linkage arms).

The lowest drive modes (T8), in order, are: POWER -> PURE -> HYBRID -> OFF ROAD. In POWER mode, my measurements (ground to top of wheel arch, level slab) were:

FL: 32"
FR: 32"
RL: 32"
RR: 32.5" (I asked the dealer about this and the answer was "within factory tolerances" :rolleyes:)

The stock linkage arms measured 42mm (inside edge to inside edge) and Ghost recommended a 5mm adjustment (front +5mm, rear -5mm) to achieve a 1" drop. It turns out the rear geometry is different and required a -8mm adjustment (RL: -8mm, RR: -10mm).

Height after adjustment is 31" (ground to top of wheel arch) for all four wheels in POWER mode. My initial impression (~15 miles) is handling is tighter (less body lean) and you do feel more bumps, but the ride is not anywhere near harsh. My lowered 2007 S40 with Eibach springs and Bilstein Pro shocks was harsh. ;)

A few pics (sun glimmer was unintentional):

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Sport utility vehicle

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive tire Motor vehicle

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#2 ·
That’s awesome!


Sent from my iPhone X using Tapatalk
 
#4 ·
Ya, additional -2mm in RR to compensate for [unexplained] factory height difference.

The kit comes with basic instructions, but it's very simple if you have small flat-nose pliers and ~1hr of your time. Basically, park it in Off Road mode (max height), disable auto-leveling in Sensus, and swap the links (fronts are accessible from the wheel well, rears are accessible from under the vehicle). You shouldn't use a jack or ramps. I used a digital caliper for link measurement/adjustment.

I'm not concerned about warranty issues. In HYBRID mode (default), it's 32.5", so higher than OEM POWER mode. ;) Heico offers a kit with the same lowering height and they thoroughly test their products. Worst case, if you're concerned, you can adjust the links back to factory length or swap the OEM links before bringing it in.
 
#7 ·
I like the idea of being able to lower the car a bit. One inch seems to be in reason. On other cars when I added Coilovers and lowered the car I had to be concerned with changes in camber. As stated 1" should not be a problem. Let us know if you experience any tire ware out of the ordinary. I did not see Volvo on their site. This is a new product for them?
 
#9 ·
Visually, I don't see a difference in camber between 32" and 31". From the factory, my alignment (HYBRID mode - 33") was: front camber -0.5, rear camber -1.0. I'll get it checked when the PZeros wear out...so, within a year or 10k miles.

You can test this yourself by manually lowering the rear to 31" using the controls in the hatch and inspecting the camber.
 
#12 ·
Most shops near me wouldn't warranty a textured valance or wanted ridiculous $$$, so I smoothed it myself with multiple coats of high-build plastic primer. Came out great.

Excluding MAACO, the best price I could find for tri-coat paint was $205 with a 5yr finish warranty.
 
#21 ·
Quick update - On our Sweden road trip, I noticed the T8 would tend to track left (not a steering wheel pull, just an inclination to steer left on certain roads). I mentioned this as delivery and the dealer performed an alignment. They adjusted the toe (+1.0), but it still tended to steer left.

After leveling all four air bags (RR was +0.5"), the left-steer behavior has disappeared. Makes sense because the T8 was slightly tilted towards the front-left wheel.
 
#22 ·
So with the arm install and it being on lowest setting, how is the ride? Like lowering spring on stock struts bad or does it ride well? With those wheels Im assuming a little more crack feel but still.

Also, I come from the P2R world, where we use VIDA for everything. Are yall using Vida on your own still or other software solutions for code checking, resets and adjustments? I have VIDA but it's 2014
 
#23 ·
So with the arm install and it being on lowest setting, how is the ride? Like lowering spring on stock struts bad or does it ride well? With those wheels Im assuming a little more crack feel but still.
Rides great on the air bags, even with the hard (35 profile) pzeros. Noticeably better cornering in all drives modes with the lower center of gravity.

I normally drive in PURE (second lowest ride height) with the 4C shocks in "soft" mode. It's a good compromise for everyday driving, except when I want to go fast.

Also, it tows best in POWER mode (lowest ride height, "hard" shocks) because it better resists load-force transfer (jerking) from the surge brakes, bumps, etc on my trailer.

Also, I come from the P2R world, where we use VIDA for everything. Are yall using Vida on your own still or other software solutions for code checking, resets and adjustments? I have VIDA but it's 2014
You have to purchase a VIDA subscription (e.g., 3 day) and use an OBDII dongle on SPA vehicles. For code checking and CEL resets (limited), most are using an inexpensive OBDII reader and a phone app (e.g., Torque Pro). I'm still in warranty, so this is sufficient.
 
#25 ·
@lamarguy can you please post more pictures of her slammed please?

I am in a heavy internal heed about ordering a V90 or an XC60, a lot has to do with looks and I really want to know exactly how it looks slammed, it would probably make that decision for me
 
#26 ·
#29 ·
I'm not concerned about warranty issues. In HYBRID mode (default), it's 32.5", so higher than OEM POWER mode. ;) Heico offers a kit with the same lowering height and they thoroughly test their products. Worst case, if you're concerned, you can adjust the links back to factory length or swap the OEM links before bringing it in.[/QUOTE]

Hallo, you said that in hybrid mode the car is even higher than OEM. I put the links on mine, and it's the same, in comfort mode it's same height....What to do? Because in dinamic and parking, all seems to be ok.
 
#30 ·
Hallo, you said that in hybrid mode the car is even higher than OEM. I put the links on mine, and it's the same, in comfort mode it's same height....What to do? Because in dinamic and parking, all seems to be ok.
I think you misunderstood - it's lower in all drive modes.

The links come with instructions for how to lower the drive height uniformly (front and rear are opposite - lengthen or shorten). I'd suggest playing with the link length and measure the wheel arch height with a tape measure.
 
#33 ·
Is there any chance you could take a photo of where the rear links are? I have the Ghostlinks ready to install and have rolled around for about 20 minutes and cannot for the life of me find the rear links... The photo that Ghostlinks provides didn't really provide context either. I'm sure it'll be obvious once I see them though.
 
#34 ·
I just did this to my XC90 which should be similar to the XC60... the rear links are on the forward part of the lower control arm (towards the front of the vehicle) and a bit in... I had to take the wheels off to install them for the rear.
 
#39 ·
So I want to share this little trick I did to my car, to be able to lower it without any 3d party equipment and It works on all drive modes as well easy exit/entry.
It costed me $72. What is it? VIDA, it's basically tricking the car via calibration settings

there is a diagnostic option in VIDA where you would calibrate the car's air suspension. basically it would ask you to place the car in a flat area and enter the measurements from the center of the wheel to the fender. I can't remember the golden value (I think it was 760 front wheels and 740 for the back), I basically increased the number a bit the car would adjust it self again lowering it to calibrate it.
let say for example the factory recommended value is 760, so you would enter 780 front and 760 on the back, it will bring the car down 20 mm, then it will ask you to measure again and retype the values, you can type again a high number to bring it lower, after that if you are happy with the results just enter back the recommended value on the calibration screen, the car would assume everything is good to go.
It will be lowered across all drive modes.

I know it might be a wrong from my side to do that and someone is going to say how wrong I am to do that or how I'm missing up with the car using VIDA, but I was bored one night and wanted to play around with VIDA

Hopefully I was able to help someone with this little experiment.
 
#43 ·
Just as a FYI for future searchers, you will need VIDA 2015 which is a cloud based program as opposed to VIDA 2014d which most people have

You need a VOE cable to make VIDA work with SPA cars as well as some decent knowledge on modules and how to use VIDA. It is not an easy program to use by design, I would recommend you have experience with VIDA to try to use it or don’t bother as you run the risk of incurring a lot of damage to your vehicle’s modules

Getting VIDA 2015 isnt easy either, you need to setup multiple accounts with Volvo and follow a comlplicated process to gain a $80 3 day subscription to use the program - without the subscription active you cannot use it.

You also need to have the correct drivers and programs on your laptop for it to work

All that to say, unless you already have VIDA experience, I woukd recommend not going down that route. I can also help via DMs if needed I have a lot of experience in it
 
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