Stripped driveshaft - advice needed

Ardent

I recently purchased a 2005 Volvo V70 and brought it to my local garage for servicing. It was pointed out to me that there was a problem with the driveshaft.

The threading on the driveshaft is stripped where the hub bolt goes in. Apparently these bolts are stretch bolts and should only be used one time. It seems that some genius in the past tried forcing in the same bolt and ruined the threading. According to my garage, the bolt was sticking out of the shaft quite a ways!

The car has a full service history with a main dealer prior to me purchasing it. I suppose I should be surprised...

Anyway, my garage is recommending I replace the entire driveshaft at a cost of €450, including labour! For now, they've put in a new bolt in along with some loctite, which seems to be doing the trick.

I'm a little worried about safety, I don't want the wheel coming off on the motorway!

The solution to this problem is obvious I guess. Just wondering if anyone else knows these cars and has been in this situation or has any advice to offer?

Supergurrier

J+R in Birmingham do driveshafts.

Might work out cheaper than from Volvo.

Is the thread on the bolt or the shaft itself that is threaded.

I'm guessing its the bushed bolt on the wheel end of the shaft. If its only the bolt a replacement one should be only 40e at most.

Ardent

The bolts are cheap, I wish it was just the bolt. The problem I was told is that threading inside the shaft is stripped.

I may need to get a second opinion. The general consensus on the Volvo forums appears to be that stripping inside the shaft is almost impossible - the bolts are softer than the driveshaft. Only way it could have happened is if the bolt was airgunned on!

Also, it seems that these bolts coming loose is not uncommon - even if the bolt was to come out completely, the driveshaft will just rattle about and there's no real safety problem. I think I'll get someone else to look at it again down the line when I need to change pads or discs.

jayok

Why not get a 2nd hand drive shaft from a breakers and fit that with a new bolt? Then don't worry about it again. I'm imagine the bulk of the €450 cost is for a new driveshaft. Labour should be reasonable.

Ardent

jayok wrote: »

Why not get a 2nd hand drive shaft from a breakers and fit that with a new bolt? Then don't worry about it again. I'm imagine the bulk of the €450 cost is for a new driveshaft. Labour should be reasonable.

Yep, the cost of the part from Volvo is €330. Finding a second hand one is not easy.

Interslice

You could look into just replacing the outer driveshaft or getting it retreaded to fit a larger bolt. Might work out cheaper if you can find someone to do it.

Ardent wrote: »

I'm a little worried about safety, I don't want the wheel coming off on the motorway!

The drive shaft doesn't hold the wheel onto the car so no panic .

Chimaera

This sounds a bit strange to me. Usually that bolt goes into the end of the CV joint, not the driveshaft, so it's only the CV joint that'd need changing in this case.

Interslice

Chimaera wrote: »

This sounds a bit strange to me. Usually that bolt goes into the end of the CV joint, not the driveshaft, so it's only the CV joint that'd need changing in this case.

Would be my first choice too. Had a look and thet're 67 euro on micks garage for this model.
SP Cv Joint
Volvo V70 Mk II (P80_) 2.0 T
1984cc. 180hp..
From 03/2000 to 08/2007
http://www.micksgarage.com/search.aspx?fffMake=Volvo&fffBasemodel=Volvo%20V70&fffModelDescription=V70%20Mk%20II%202000%20to%202007&ffftd_car=2.0%20T&fffBHP=180&fffDepartment=CV%2BJoints

15% off CV joints with CV15 code too. Not a big job. 20 minutes more work than swapping the full shaft.

wildefalcon

Is the bolt that you need to replace with the bolt from an XC90?

Apparently it doesn't stretch as much, has more rubber and thus remains tight.

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?60005

dougie-lampkin

It doesn't need a full shaft surely, just the outer CV at worst. To be honest it probably just needs a new bolt and a tap ran through the shaft, a stretch bolt would get stripped before the CV is damaged, due to its soft nature.

Supergurrier wrote: »

J+R in Birmingham do driveshafts.

Might work out cheaper than from Volvo.

Undoubtedly the best driveshaft supplier I've seen, I replaced two complete shafts including the carrier bearing on my old Focus daysul for €65! Ford wouldn't sell me one CV for that price, in fact they were asking more for just the carrier bearing on its own.

They're asking €20 for the outer CV kit, which is quite reasonable - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140889541357