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1998 v70 is it possible to remove rear axles permanently ?

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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volvolugnut
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Re: 1998 v70 is it possible to remove rear axles permanently ?

Post by volvolugnut »

Maybe expanding rubber stoppers used by plumbers to assure they do not pop out.
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V50M66
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Post by V50M66 »

Do the delta link swap to make the car permanently FWD. Saves a few hundred lbs, deletes all the NLA AWD crap, boost mileage, makes for easy manual swaps, etc. Solves so many issues and is doable in a couple days with a same-year FWD parts car and some wrenching skills. Easily the best thing I've done to that car.

See bmdubya1198's thread on the swap here: https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/fina ... ap.644281/

And my thread on the same swap, starting at post #929 on page 47 of my Emerald's thread here: https://www.swedespeed.com/posts/8234559/
1998 V70 AWD - Emerald Green/Tan - M56/Delta link swap, VAST tuned, lots of fun
1998 V70 NA - Nautic Blue/Charcoal - Factory M56/slicktop track car
2006 XC70 Ocean Race - workhorse
2002 S40 1.9T - daily

2004 XC70 - Mystic Silver/Black - former workhorse, parted
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abscate
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Post by abscate »

V50M66 wrote: 21 Jun 2025, 19:29 Do the delta link swap to make the car permanently FWD. Saves a few hundred lbs, deletes all the NLA AWD crap, boost mileage, makes for easy manual swaps, etc. Solves so many issues and is doable in a couple days with a same-year FWD parts car and some wrenching skills. Easily the best thing I've done to that car.

See bmdubya1198's thread on the swap here: https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/fina ... ap.644281/

And my thread on the same swap, starting at post #929 on page 47 of my Emerald's thread here: https://www.swedespeed.com/posts/8234559/

HAve to come up and say hello sometime, I’m on the other side of the Long Island Sound from Bridgeport. This summer maybe?
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V50M66
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Post by V50M66 »

abscate wrote: 22 Jun 2025, 03:51
V50M66 wrote: 21 Jun 2025, 19:29 Do the delta link swap to make the car permanently FWD. Saves a few hundred lbs, deletes all the NLA AWD crap, boost mileage, makes for easy manual swaps, etc. Solves so many issues and is doable in a couple days with a same-year FWD parts car and some wrenching skills. Easily the best thing I've done to that car.

See bmdubya1198's thread on the swap here: https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/fina ... ap.644281/

And my thread on the same swap, starting at post #929 on page 47 of my Emerald's thread here: https://www.swedespeed.com/posts/8234559/

HAve to come up and say hello sometime, I’m on the other side of the Long Island Sound from Bridgeport. This summer maybe?
For sure. Feel free to shoot me a message next time you’re heading towards Boston
1998 V70 AWD - Emerald Green/Tan - M56/Delta link swap, VAST tuned, lots of fun
1998 V70 NA - Nautic Blue/Charcoal - Factory M56/slicktop track car
2006 XC70 Ocean Race - workhorse
2002 S40 1.9T - daily

2004 XC70 - Mystic Silver/Black - former workhorse, parted
2005 V50 T5 M66 FWD - Black Stone/Black leather - former garage queen, sold

bronco
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Post by bronco »

I'm finally getting around to this project. I pulled the passenger side knuckle off today. Kind of strangely it indicated the wheel bearing was bad from the way the tire was wiggling around when jacked up but my first thought when I got the knuckle off is the bearing isnt too bad.
The axle shaft isn't bad either. :?

I have new bearings so I'm going to proceed . Tentative plan is to remove both axles slice the outer ends off and put the ends back in and bolt them in.

The rear diff will just be sitting there doing nothing and I'll cork the holes for now

The axles ends need to be in the wheel hubs obviously but if they are just in there is it possible the nuts could loosen up just from driving around?

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Post by MoVolvos »

bronco wrote: 12 Aug 2025, 12:11 I'm finally getting around to this project. I pulled the passenger side knuckle off today. Kind of strangely it indicated the wheel bearing was bad from the way the tire was wiggling around when jacked up but my first thought when I got the knuckle off is the bearing isnt too bad.
The axle shaft isn't bad either. :?

I have new bearings so I'm going to proceed . Tentative plan is to remove both axles slice the outer ends off and put the ends back in and bolt them in.

The rear diff will just be sitting there doing nothing and I'll cork the holes for now

The axles ends need to be in the wheel hubs obviously but if they are just in there is it possible the nuts could loosen up just from driving around?
.
Are there two setups? Lug nut vs lug bolts?
.
https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/prod ... 40844.html
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... 44-v950223
.
V70 Rear Axle .png
V70 Rear Axle .png (77.74 KiB) Viewed 484 times
V70 Rear Axle.png
V70 Rear Axle.png (72.95 KiB) Viewed 484 times
.
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bronco
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Post by bronco »

Its the bottom diagram , with lug bolts

I've actually just recently seen a Volkswagen which i'm working on for a friend that had axles removed and just rolling around and or sitting still destroyed similar wheel bearings.

The car in question had no engine or transaxle in it and the axle shafts were removed. Tires bolted to the hub with no axles thru the front wheel bearings hada good 3/4 inch of lean in at the top. looking at it it was very obvious that it would be a disaster.

I mean obviously the car wouldn't be driven with no engine but that was a very light car with no drivetrain and the bearings were ruined very quickly just from sitting

scot850
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Post by scot850 »

One thing to consider if you remove the axles completely is your ABS will not work as the reluctor rings for the rear ABS signal are on the ends of the axles. Going the full-fat FWD route might be the better move.

Neil.
2006 V70 2.5T AWD Polestar tune
2000 V70 R - still being an endless PITA
2006 XC70 - Our son now has this and still parked in our garage
2003 Toyota 4Runner V8 Limited
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bronco
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Post by bronco »

scot850 wrote: 12 Aug 2025, 16:30 One thing to consider if you remove the axles completely is your ABS will not work as the reluctor rings for the rear ABS signal are on the ends of the axles. Going the full-fat FWD route might be the better move.

Neil.
Leaving the end axle stubs would leave the reluctor rings in place. That being said the ABS stopped working I think when the rear driveshaft was removed. It was already removed when I bought the car in around 2014 so I'm not positive thats true just a guess.
I don't even know why the driveshaft was removed the PO never said whether it was like that when he got it or he removed it.

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Post by scot850 »

They tend to fail on the front joint due to proximity to the cat, and the center support bearing fails and is a specialist repair like Colorado Drive-shaft in Denver.

Removing the prop-shaft should not affect the ABS. The system is a dumb system with no electronics. Is your ABS/Tracs lights on?

Neil.
2006 V70 2.5T AWD Polestar tune
2000 V70 R - still being an endless PITA
2006 XC70 - Our son now has this and still parked in our garage
2003 Toyota 4Runner V8 Limited
2015 Kia Sportage EX-L - Sold
1993 850 GLT -Sold
1998 V70 XC - Sold
1997 Volvo 850 SE NA - Went to niece in California - Sold
2000 V70 SE NA - Sold

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