i have an 05 model volvo and a 96 model volvo,i have been using the older for donkies now and havent encountered any major probs.the 05 is brilliant but have had hassles with the disc brakes,calipers seizing damaging hubs and replacing bearings very costly.Also the electronics sensors are ■■■■ expensive.
late last year couldnt take it anymore so went out to a scrapyard and bought the front,mid and rear axle of a gen 1 volvo.the front and rear fitted as if it belonged and the rear required some out of the box thinking.I now have a gen 2 volvo with old drum brake axles and am so happy with them.
what is your experiences with the new volvo brake disc systems?
I had a version 2 on discs, I replaced the vented discs with solid ones, in all honesty I had it two years & did’nt have any aggro apart from a sensor on the rear lift & I only replaced the discs & pads the one time, I must say in all honesty I thought the discs where a far superior way to stop than a drum brake…
I have had a few version 1 FH’s & the 4x2 ones where a PITA on the steer axle, the worm drive adjusters on the rear where a constant mither as I recall too, if you relined the front without the false drum thing the bloody lorry was all over the road for months untill they formed a leading edge on the shoe. Getting the 4x2’s tested was a carry on too with the handbrake on the drive axle only.
Sounds like your happier with the drum brake system though & a big well done for doing it your way & retro fitting them, I imagine it was a pig of a job, have you had to take it down to VOSA as a major change to the vehicle■■? & what about the EBS/ABS etc how much fettling did that take■■?
hi
thanks for the feedback.I guess we have had very different experiences with our volvos.
I reckon i have the answer-our roads down here in botswana are not the best and parts availability is only via volvo dealership hence very expensive.also we tend to load 34-38 ton loads on our double trailers and as a result more stress on the brakes.
Its a point of interest that the new volvos in africa are still made with drum brakes not discs,and my volvos are uk specced as i imported mine from there.
It was not much of a job on the fron and mid axle,they just slipped in,the rear diff axle fitted in but mods were require to reposition the brake boosters and the u bolts to hold it in place ,all in all was fun and works a dream.
incidentally it cost me £2800 to supply and fit the old axles whereas the quote from volvo to redo front calipers,bearings and pads and sensors was £7000.
Well, ig ot both series, and series one is a lot simpler with less electronics and less greif, they ftch good money still for export, my 2 series i shift mucks about a bit now, and is too complicated to fix cheaply, i reckon a series 2 manuel is a good truck.Little story, i bought a used fh12 from volvo a few yrs back, the ex eddie stobart paris hilton, we had the truck, had a light load and took it up to leicester, , tipped thne reloaded with a heavy load, midlift axle down…midlift calipers seized, to be fair vovlo repaired it overnight all new calipers discs pads and a free jacket and an apolagy…
