IPD HD Front Lower Control Arm Left - XC90

For several years IPD has been working and testing to find solutions for the control arm bushing failures on the P2 chassis line. The issue is common to all of these cars, but is worst on the heavy XC90 package. There are products on the market already that use more rubber in the bushings (which doesn’t really address the issue) and there are products made with polyurethane (which does not adhere).

The design of these cars relies heavily on the quality of the rubber used and its ability to recover and remain stuck to the metal components. Failure of the rubber causes the car to lose alignment under acceleration and deceleration even though the alignment appears fine at rest. This manifests in inconsistent response to braking, bumps and lines in the roadway. In other words, the car will pull different directions at different times without much rhyme or reason.

The heart of the issue is recycled material. Sometimes recycled material is used to lower the cost of manufacturing but Volvo intentionally uses high levels of recycled materials as part of its corporate “green” identity. This is something that the average Volvo customer would usually applaud and part of what makes us fans.

We have aimed these IPD HD control arms directly at the core of the issue causing unacceptable failure rates in these vehicles. Using recycled rubber product in bushings is typically done by mixing in pulverized old rubber with new rubber during the manufacturing process. This recycled rubber then acts as a filler, but doesn’t bond as well with the new rubber. Using rubber that contains far less recycled material increases the ability to recover and the ability to adhere. This means the bushings are far less likely to develop cracks, tears and separations when stretched and flexed in the way that the Volvo engineers designed when this chassis was on the drawing boards.

We feel that using the best quality materials is the only real answer to lowering your maintenance costs and increasing your driving enjoyment. The rubber in these control arms will give extended life and consistent performance allowing you to keep your money in your wallet and behind the steering wheel.