98 v70 AWD left axle in 98 V70 NA non-awd

[98v70dad]

I believe I had seen an extensive article on the different driveshaft used throughout the P80 life. Mostly covering the AWD models. But, I recall seeing some info on the NA versus AWD and compatibility for the main driveshafts.

Thanks, as I said, I spent hours looking and found nearly nothing about this topic both here and on other websites. I found extensive articles about boot compatibility and rebuilding, but nothing at all about putting an AWD axle in a FWD car. So, knowing that there might be something out there after I've spent a long time looking and didn't find it doesn't get me any further down the road. If you could suggest a search term or keyword or provide a link I would really appreciate it.

[erikv11]

Got any good ideas how I can compress the axle to get a measurement that is useful to you? I don't have those long clamps, but I have three driver side axles sitting on the garage floor. Two are factory Volvo units.

[98v70dad]

Got any good ideas how I can compress the axle to get a measurement that is useful to you? I don't have those long clamps, but I have three driver side axles sitting on the garage floor. Two are factory Volvo units.

Thanks,

I appreciate the response. I don't really know what the compressed length is supposed to be. I'm just trying to determine if the AWD part is similar enough to invest the time and effort into rebuilding it.

The axles are a little tough to compress even with the woodworking clamps because they keep wanting to buckle laterally at the CV joint. If I didn't have the clamps I would probably take 4 C-clamps (2 on each end) to clamp some 2x4's to a workbench and use the space between the 2 x4's to compress the axle. It might take two 2x4's, one on top of the other at each end to be as high as the axle. You could also turn the 2x4 the tall way if you have a big enough C-clamp.

However, this is a good bit of work for you and it really wont prove much - so I would advise you not to bother with it. I appreciate the offer, though.

The two axles I have differ by about 1/4 of an inch based on my measurements which aren't that accurate. I found some info on ebay from one of the rebuilt part vendors. They list the end to end compressed length of a FWD left axle as 22.625" and the length of a an AWD left axle as 22.8". That's a little less than 3/16" difference (close to my 0.25" estimate). This is the best data I have but I on't completely trust it even though I get similar measurements.

The big question is does that length difference matter? I'm inclined to say that it doesn't since its fairly small but I don't want to bet the farm on it. Also, all the other detailsfor the axles I'm comparing are exactly the same except the diameter of the outer hub which will affect the boot needed. What I wanted to accomplish is a) reworked front drive axles both sides, b) new front rotors and c) new front wheel bearings while its all torn apart. Then the entire front end is as good as its going to get and I can be done with it. All of that said the only item that I think I absolutely need to replace right now is the right side axle - that's my diagnosis -but I've been wrong before.

[98v70dad]

Well, I guess nobody knows much about the AWD axles. I'm just going to put new boots on mine and see if it works. I don't need a left side axle at the moment, so it can't hurt and I wont have to invest much in the boots. Now I'm shifting gears to find the correct boot part numbers.