Well I ran my V70R AWD into a tree.. the tow truck driver towed it with a regular tow truck--NOT A FLAT BED.... I was not there when it was towed so I couldnt say, I found out the next day. So is my AWD system completely ruinged now? and should I sue the tow truck guys if it is. let me know!! I am lost.. pete

Peter-

I have seen damage to the viscous coupling in the driveshaft and also damage to the angle drive gear in the front that connects to the driveshaft. If the car was moved AT ALL with the rear wheels rotating and the front wheels stationary there will be damage somewhere in the system. I have seen damage caused by a mismatch in tires. The tolerance for tire mismatch seems to be around 1% of rolling diameter so when you get your car back make sure you keep your tires rotated to keep the wear equal. One percent of rolling diameter is roughly equal to 8/10 of an inch and a new tire compared to a worn tire exceeds that merely from tread depth differences. Never, never, NEVER replace tires on a Volvo AWD unless you replace all four with four identical tires.

Dave the Volvo Tech

Quite interesting,

as the opinion here in Germany (and Netherlands) seems to be slightly different about changing tires on Volvo AWD.

I got a flat tire (front) last December and

asked several (official Volvo) dealer about changing how many tires, and two dealers had two different opinions,

in the end I ended up with every possible solution.

In the end, I changed both the front tires and

did not have any problems since then.

In fact, measuring brandnew tires, I even found slight

differences in diameter, up to 2 mm.

Shop said, this will level out, but did not know how or

why.

Doesn't matter, luckily it worked out for me, as I do not want to spend money for 4 new tires just because of one

flat one. This sounds to me like donating money to Pirelli, Michelin etc.

Regards

Ralf

(V70 RAWD '98; Coupe Fiat 16V Turbo)

Ralfi-

2mm is not a significant difference in rolling diameter. The 1% variance would be approximately 20mm- a figure unofficially given by a Volvo Field Technical Specialist who had seen a number of angle drive failures and had concluded the problem was caused by drive train windup due to mismatched tires. If you have tires with mismatched tread wear, the better tires need to go on the front.

If it was towed with the front wheels raised and held stationary damage to the viscous coupling will occur. The rest if the transmission may or may not have been damaged.

Have a reliable tech check it and charge the towing company for the repairs.