After many years of owning 245s [seven over a 20 year span] I found a very nice 96' 965 four years ago. In that time i have put over 100K on it and last July used it to move from Las Vegas to the hinterlands of NE Washington. Couple of runs back and forth towing a 16ft trailer loaded with household goods, in and out of town with construction material, propane, etc. Couple of weeks ago the inner joint on the rear axle went out. I don't have a shop built yet, I'm still living in the Airstream and my tools are covered with a tarp but since the alternative transport is a 1 ton Ford diesel dually of primitive vintage, I manned up and tore the Volvo down. Seems that the rubber mounts for the transverse leaf had broken retaining bolts probably due to electrolysis and location. But they are 10mm threads so should be more sturdy. I have reluctantly concluded that REPLACING THE SHOCKS would have helped: old shocks= too much undamped suspension travel=too much stress on weakened bolts=bad stuff that requires lying in the snow to repair. Now if I could only find a decent manual for this year 960.