Extreme axle restoration - good or bad idea?

[erikv11]

Automatics? You sure the axle geometries are different?
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... 14#fitment

[scot850]

The bearing I bought for my 99-00 axles is the same as the one for the -98. The 99- is no longer listed and you can't buy it separately like you can for the older ones.

Your 00 NA has a 5 speed auto trans, a 99 has a 4 speed auto. So there may be differences. I know when I had to replace the RH axle on my 2000 NA I had great difficulty finding one. The only one I found was at Erie Vo-Vo and naturally the shippers they used damaged it in transit. The managed to cut the inner CV boot. So I had to rebuild it with new CV boots. So the 2000 auto 5 speed axle may be hard to find.

That nearing you have looks different to the earlier ones. They should have square edges not rounded. The later ones like I said, were not listed as a separate item, so I used the earlier one.

The bearing I mentioned earlier I used was a one cn90 found for me in Turkey and used on a Ford Transit if I recall. This thread should help with the info you need:

viewtopic.php?t=80884&hilit=carrier+bearing

Neil.

[FireFox31]

Thanks for the input. Your above 2017 thread is what gave me the confidence that I could do this. I reread it (after many years) and saw that you used the rounded edge bearing in your 2000 and it worked fine. I just had a machine shop replace the bearings on both axles with the rounded ones. I'll check the old bearings for part numbers. I'll try to find the flat edged one before swapping the bearing on the third axle I have.

[WhatAmIDoing]

I good machine shop should be able to find any bearing equivalent to what is being replaced. If they think the provided bearing is a suitable replacement, and it will ride correctly in the cradle, then it should be fine.

[scot850]

Agreed. I did include bearing dimensions in that thread for guidance.

Neil.

[FireFox31]

A belated follow up to close this thread:
I had a local machine shop replace the carrier bearing on two front right axles; one from a 2000 V70 5-speed automatic and one from a 1999 V70 4-speed automatic. I didn't see them do it but it seems like they grabbed the axle shaft with something that slightly dug in to the metal, then used a fork to get behind the bearing and pull it off. They gave me the old bearings and they're quite unharmed. To reinstall the bearing, I trust they grabbed the shaft again and used a cylinder to press the new one on. I've read that the cylinder must press the correct spot but I'm not sure if that's the inner race or outer race.

Of key importance, the machine shop did not require the axle to be disassembled at all for the work. The Haynes manual says it must be disassembled, last year the shop told me to disassemble it, but this year they simply pressed them off and back on again within an hour.

To repair the shaft rust, I used a wire wheel to scrape away the flaking rust and powder coat, then applied a coat of POR-15 to the shaft. Bearing replacement came after the painting, the shop dug into my paint a little, so I touched up those spots with POR-15. Within a month, specks of rust across the entire surface had pushed through the POR-15. I should have applied a second coat before the first was fully dry according to the instructions.

I easily replaced the reluctor ring with the Febi version. I carefully cut off the old one with a Dremel and gently sanded the mating surface on the CV. Then I heated the new ring with a MiniDuctor inductive heating device and quickly transferred it to the axle. It easily fit over the CV and cooled/shrunk firmly into place.

Reinstalling the axle was as difficult as removing it. As I removed it by beating on the carrier bearing with a hammer, I reinstalled it by firmly tapping the outer end of the axle over a hundred times until it fully seated in the transmission. That was way more abuse than I wanted to apply to the moving parts of the axle. Next time, I'll apply some lubricant to the axle splines as detailed in the linked thread.

I didn't end up replacing the inner CV boot which is beginning to crack. I ran out of time and may try to do it in the future. I really don't want to remove the axle again so it will be tough to replace while on the car.

Ultimately, the axle restoration was worth it, much better than buying an aftermarket axle Would have been better if I did the boot with it off the car. The bearing hasn't presented any problems in a few thousand miles (though I haven't stress tested it by accelerating hard with heavy loads). The rust protection was decent but may fail but isn't too important.

It turns out that my left axle is aftermarket, rusted, CV joint binds terribly, horribly rusted reluctor ring, new ring wouldn't fit on the CV, non-GKN boots are cracking, and center bumper is missing. I promptly replaced it with an OEM axle from a 2004 C70. Aside from a little rubbing which I haven't diagnosed, it's beautiful. This is the value of keeping OEM axles in good shape; the aftermarket ones are junk.

[BlackBart]

In my world, that goes in the scrap metal recycle bin. Sorry.

[scot850]

Check your brake dust shield is not rubbing on the rotor.

I should add, with any bearing, you should only hammer it in on the bearing that is in direct contact with the surface it contacts. So in this case the inner race only.

Neil.

[FireFox31]

In my world, that goes in the scrap metal recycle bin. Sorry.

Why should it be scrapped? I ask because I want to learn if I'm missing something or could do something better in the future.

I chose to rebuild due to low quality of aftermarket and scarcity of OEM. It's a discontinued OEM axle which used to cost $600 and it functions perfectly after adding $115 of parts and labor. Yes, I found a front left axle on the shelf at a junkyard for $40, but that's quite rare around me (it was two states away). The aftermarket left axle I replaced had a terribly binding CV after fewer miles than the original right had, suggesting that aftermarket quality is risky.

The car is a 360k mile beater which had everything wrong and should have been scrapped. It was rehabilitated due to the previous owner's need and my compulsion. Maybe it would die before an aftermarket axle failed. However, it's my hope that whoever I sell the car to takes me up on my future offer to buy it back in any condition so I can strip the known good parts, hopefully including this good axle.

[BlackBart]

If you can make it work, great. I'm all for using original parts and OE parts.
If you take off too much metal where there's deep rust, is it now out of balance?
If you're anywhere near a seal surface with a rusted or galled surface?