Hi guys,

It's been a while for me since I last posted on the board. I've been out enjoying my 245 too much without issues. The time has now arrived to rebuild the Dana 30 rear axle. The car is now in the garage and the axle is being torn apart and readied for a new Eaton TrueTrac torsen limited slip and all new bearings, shims, and seals from a Yukon Gear D30 master overhaul kit. I'll be re-using my factory 3.73 ring and pinion. The rear end has been noisy for the last few years and it's the last major thing I have not overhauled.

Digging into this job has also allowed me to get to some deferred maintenance items like: rear rubber brake lines & rear parking brake shoes. A few years ago I replaced my brake master cyl along with the front lines and the octopus distribution block and the 4 front rubber brake hoses. I didn't do the rear because they were too crusty and I have not been able to find any info about this mystery part inline with the rear hoses. These are just aft of the fuel pump and filter and look like some sort of accumulator. Does volvo offer these for sale? I've not found any of the normal aftermarket suppliers that sell them or give any explanation of them in the system. Looking in a Jegs catalog, I found inline check valves that prevent fluid drainback to the master cyl and keep a light pressure in the rear lines. Would this be a replacement for these "accumulator" looking things? What function do they serve? Anyone know?




As a tip to anyone pulling off the rear diff cover to investigate noisy gears, get some gear marking compound and brush it onto 4 teeth. Rotate the ring gear while holding a rag over the pinion flange to provide a bit of resistance to get a good mark. Just looking at the shiny wear patterns told me nothing. They looked very evenly worn. Backlash was still very tight between the ring & pinion teeth.




Here you can see the "coast" side of the gear. Contact is centered at about 1/3 toward the crown or apex of the gear and 1/4 from the HEEL of the gear. Next, you will see the "drive" side of the gear and how the pattern is still at 1/3 toward the crown/apex of the gear, BUT it is 1/3 from the TOE of the gear.



This wear pattern indicates that the pinion is too far forward of the ring gear. The bearings have worn and a thicker shim is needed to re-use these bearings.

Anyone willing to attempt this job should get a copy of each of these books:
"High Performance Differentials, Axles & Drivelines" by Joseph Palazzolo
"Jeep, Dana & Chrysler Differentials" by Larry Shepard
optional, but also very good: "Ford Differentials How to Rebuild the 8.8 and 9 inch" by Joseph Palazzolo

Happy 4th of July, Brickboard!
Steve