Hi there. I'm posting this in the V8 section because I'm betting you're the people most likely to have experience with swaps. :)

Why does the 240 axle interchange (Hollander Manual?) specify 1979-82? That's the very pervasive response I've been getting from *every* junkyard I've called. And some of them also indicate that another interchange range is 1985-91. None of that makes any sense, partly because I know Volvo changed very little of anything on the entire car between 1976-93 (which is the year range that Volvo's green shop manual #46 -rear axle- indicates it covers, by the way.)

The only applicable drivetrain changes I know about are from cable to electronic speedometer in (1986?) which required a tone ring on the differential, and then ABS in ('91?) which required a slightly different tone ring on the differential. So yes, if I were replacing an axle in a late-model car and wanted my speedo to function, I could not use a 1982 axle. But to replace one in a 1982 car, why not use any year axle I can find, and simply ignore the tone ring if present?

I'm aware there's a 1030 axle housing and a 1031 housing, that use different diameter ring gears (7.2 and 7.75, respectively), and have differences in the castings (the "ears" on the 1031 so that it can use Independent Suspension when fitted to the 740 series)... but I simply have a hard time believing that the mounts welded on the tubes for attaching the trailing arms and panhard rod and so on would have changed at all. So my suspicion is that any 240 rear end I stumble across ought to bolt into my 1982 wagon without modification.

Thoughts? Experience? Wisdom?

Thanks!

- Erik


1982 5.0 wagon, oooooodles of fun. :)