Thanks to all who responded to my "towing disaster" post on Sunday. I was just one hour into a cross-country trip in my 245, towing a 1975 Fiat Spider, when a trans cooler line ruptured. Had both cars towed to an independent Volvo shop in Victorville (CA), where I made my post to the Board and waited for the shop to open on Monday. Consensus of the group was that the trans cooler line rupture was unrelated to towing, and I should continue the trip as planned.

You ended up being exactly right.

They got me right in first thing Monday morning. Did some kind of splice on the trans cooler line and insulated it from the other vibrations which had ruptured it. Whole job cost about $80, and it took me longer to hook the Fiat/Tow Dolly back up than it took for them to fix the Volvo. Was back on the road at 10am. I would highly recommend this shop: Action Automotive. Extremely professional. Extremely competent. Very well stocked shop.

I've always had a lot of respect for the 240 series, which is why I've owned so many of them. But the remainder of this trip cemented my opinion. The wagon was pretty heavily loaded with household items and tools, plus towing a 2300 lb car. Granted, I'd just put in a 3-row all metal radiator and done all kinds of other maintenance. But get this: even with all that load, THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE BARELY EVER EVEN BUDGED, even with multiple climbs to 7000 feet (Flagstaff and Albuquerque). Yes, I was sometimes climbing in 2nd gear and over 4000 RPMs. And spent the rest of the trip in 3rd gear at 3500 RPMs. And got about 16-17 MPG. But did that car ever run! After the first day's problems, it never again missed a beat.

With that, our move from California to Illinois is complete. Settling in to a five acre farm spread. There's a 40' x 60' heavy equipment shed on the property, and I'm looking forward to making it a personal workshop. My wife gets a big garden plot. I get a big place to work on my cars! Good deal.

Thanks again to all who responded. It all turned out great.