I have recently bought a Volvo c304

I bought it for the axles for my off-road suzuki, but I am going to try and make the truck work on landrover axles or else I will have to break the whole truck up for parts.

I am based in the uk not far from London.

The truck does have a pto but NO winch

Please let me know what you think of the truck, it is right hand drive and Australian import, it used to be a crop sprayer.

Zitat von: Mike-harris am 03.August 2023 14:28:53

I have recently bought a Volvo c304 I bought it for the axles for my off-road suzuki, but I am going to try and make the truck work on landrover axles or else I will have to break the whole truck up for parts. I am based in the uk not far from London. The truck does have a pto but NO winch Please let me know what you think of the truck, it is right hand drive and Australian import, it used to be a crop sprayer.

If that C304 is anywhere salvageable (it should be, otherwise it would not have been exported from AU to UK, as a whole, right?), you are committing automotive sacrilege of the highest order, this one being such a rare version (civil, 6x6, RHD).
Possible the rarest of them all (only Malaysia had some of these as well).

Btw, probably LWB, 272+105cm, not SWB, 230+105cm, right?

Or it could also be a C304/4x4, MWB, 253cm?
Just as rare, no less sacrilege.

You will be cursed by many future generations if you do not conservate this rare piece of automotive history.
And be warned: even cannibalising axles from 'ordinary' Swedish military vehicles is vehemently detested in this forum, and rightly so.
If you really must drive a sissy-soft vehicle, don't go Frankensteining from the real stuff.
Either drive (& maintain/conservate) that real stuff, or book yourself an early ticket for an elderly home, and be pampered with plush soft pillows....

Was the winch removed by any previous owner, you think?
Volvo did supply PTO-only also, even though most of those with PTO also came with winch.
(several Tollarp firetrucks only had PTO, no mechanical winch (in favour of a Laxo-cradled/-transportable (front/rear) Warn 8274, in combination with a hoist-triangle setup; triangle stored on the roofrack, operated by attaching 2 points of the triangle to the front bumper, the far end of the triangle attached to a roofmounted attachment point, with a separate steel 'leg'....mostly used to lift roadkill (deer/elk) from the ditch....:))
(or horses from swimming pools, I recall vaguely)

NB: we need pix, of course!
(you can't upload them here directly, sadly (but understandable (legal issues)); use photo-storage site elsewhere, and put link/URL here)

Il work out how to add pictures

It’s 100 inch wheel base I measured it today

It’s a 4x4 model but rear axle I think is from 6x6 as it has the plate above the pinion on the diff housing.

Inside the cab is good seats and dashboard are there

Rear body is missing, cab has had a lot of the repair work done already.

Pto prop goes to a drive pulley, doesn’t look like the winch versions I’ve seen.

I have a set of these axles under my suzuki already, from the 6x6 version 7.55 gear with 4 pin diff 9x33 teeth

These axles are the 7.10 ratio I think as pinion is different 9x 31 teeth

Zitat von: Mike-harris am 04.August 2023 22:57:56

It’s 100 inch wheel base I measured it today It’s a 4x4 model but rear axle I think is from 6x6 as it has the plate above the pinion on the diff housing. Inside the cab is good seats and dashboard are there Rear body is missing, cab has had a lot of the repair work done already. Pto prop goes to a drive pulley, doesn’t look like the winch versions I’ve seen. I have a set of these axles under my suzuki already, from the 6x6 version 7.55 gear with 4 pin diff 9x33 teeth These axles are the 7.10 ratio I think as pinion is different 9x 31 teeth

As a crop-sprayer, the PTO was probably used to power a (belt-driven) pump.

Diff ratio's are indeed 7.1 versus 7.6 for 6x6/SWB & 4x4/MWB versus 6x6/LWB respectively, but with the notable exception of the civil/Swedish C306 firetrucks (Tollarp & others, 26 units total), *and* most likely all the C304/LWB/6x6/4t/4sp that were common in Malaysia.
(the civil/Swedish firetrucks share the same frame as that Malaysian C304/6x6: preparation for steering gear on both sides, unlike all other civil & military Swedish models.
Including 2 civil 6x6 units in Danmark (from which only the frames survived at some point in time).

A c304/6x6/LWB/4t is also shown in the older manuals, with a pickup bed, serrated/corrugated metal bed panels side & rear (unlike the military TGB20).

Hello, welcome to the forum. I'm also in the UK, I'm up near Newcastle upon Tyne. I have a standard LHD C303/TGB11.

As WJM says, RHD models are very rare nowadays. There were never that many to begin with and most have already been scrapped and cannibalised. It really would be a shame to cannibalise one if it's salvageable.

Can I ask why you want these axles if you already have a pair on your Suzuki? Is it just for the lower ratio diffs?

Mo

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Mo

I’m keeping the axles as I use my suzuki to compete in offroad competitions all over this country and Europe.

I will get the truck running and driving on land-rover axles and put it up for sale , hopefully some one can restore it back to its former glory. There are a couple for sale at the moment but it will be very cheap when it comes onto the market, it’s registered as an agricultural vehicle so no tax or mot.

interested in a set of axles and money for the truck and me leave it original, but I can’t see anyone doing that, I think it being a cheap truck going onto the market will make it a good start for someone getting into these vehicles, as I will probably want a very reasonable price for it. 

You remind me of all those fancy UK-tourists, inscribing/chiseling their name in precious & irreplaceable monuments & statues all over the world, and then wondering why they get chased out of town with tar & feathers, or even their head put on a spike (or any virtual equivalence on social media).

Even the wheels/rims are unique on this one.
That's probably the first thing that would go lost forever.

Any images of the original crop-sprayer configuration, by the Australian seller (or was it sold to you in the UK?), or even the original owner?

Pix of the PTO/belt-drive unit & interior would also be interesting; perhaps some of the crop-sprayer controls are still left?
(any idea whether that crop-sprayer constellation/contraption was re-used, onto another newer vehicle, or just scrapped, for being disfunctional/rotten (in favour of shipping weight/size))

Cannibalising such a rare Volvo configuration would make the Automotive Gods angry, very angry.
You might not win any further competitions.
Don't blame them, you were warned....

BTW, we already had one such LR-axle-retrofit in this forum before.
Members here still cringe how close that final Frankenstein came to a full scrap.
Saved by the bell, or better, from Automotive Hell.
Don't be that next Frankenstein, please.

You *will* have to look over your shoulder more carefully, everytime you plead to the Automotive Gods for any assistance.
A lighning bolt might be send to you instead....
Turning every vehicle you drive into scrap metal, just like you now threaten to do with this one.

Also, after such an axle multi-session refit, the finer historical details of any market-peculiar bolts & stuff will also be lost forever, no longer being able to be studied by anyone in the restorative business, for future generations.

Don't do it.
Another, already dismantled set of (medium speed you wanted, right?) portal axles could never as highly priced as what this intact vehicle is worth to a Volvo lover, even less to future generations.
It's like melting the royal crown juwels, just because you need a diamond to cut some piece of window glass.

Just don't do it.

Way too many civilian Volvo C3-series have been lost to Automotive History already (even including some firetrucks, not even for their axles, but stripping the entire interior, and butchering the rear body into oblivion).

You will be cursed by next generations, possibly even your own greatgrandchildren....and rightly so.
Once gone, it can never be restored to it's full splendour & historical charm....

Thankyou for your input

Btw, good to see it being transported properly & safely, on a wide low-bed/low-wheel trailer.

That mistake (with full-bodied/top-heavy Volvo's on a tall/narrow trailer) has already cost another precious camper-modified-stretched Volvo C303/RHD its life (also in UK, 10-15y ago).
(don't think that was a C304/MWB/4x4 originally, for having the original rear body (though stretched by 1m or so (330cm wheelbase))
(I do vaguelly recall that the UK military tested some of these, at any point in time?
(there were also some dark blue Cosco-modified/-boxed C304/MWB's, with the same Mazda diesel that was default in UK-taxi's)

Now this one just needs protection from a cannibalising owner....:))

Someone bribe this guy with proper axles, thereby also saving him some work....:))

Zitat von: Mike-harris am 04.August 2023 22:57:56

It’s 100 inch wheel base I measured it today It’s a 4x4 model but rear axle I think is from 6x6 as it has the plate above the pinion on the diff housing. Inside the cab is good seats and dashboard are there Rear body is missing, cab has had a lot of the repair work done already. Pto prop goes to a drive pulley, doesn’t look like the winch versions I’ve seen. I have a set of these axles under my suzuki already, from the 6x6 version 7.55 gear with 4 pin diff 9x33 teeth These axles are the 7.10 ratio I think as pinion is different 9x 31 teeth

Btw, do front and rear diff's match?
Not even sure whether the 7.1 ratio was also available as 'clean' non-6x6 (no secondary gear, not even a blind plate)....so yours could still be a factory original (then matching front & rear ratio's, of course).
(too lazy right now to check the parts-manuals; possibly falsifying this right away)

I also have been pondering about retrofitting such a 'middle-diff' to the rear-most axle of a 6x6, to create another (continuous running) PTO, to drive something small, like another alternator, or even a retarder....:))
(to compensate for the poor engine-braking of a gasoline)

Zitat von: Mike-harris am 06.August 2023 18:57:04

https://i.imgur.com/7oKsxGg.jpg

Thanx....that's one weird drive pulley, or at least an oddly wide belt.
(even though we recently (finallly) established that the Volvo PTO can deliver a significant amount of power (like LR, but unlike MB-G & others (TLC?)).
(and a single V-belt can only transfer about 5HP, for more power you need more belts, or teeth-belts indeed)

Btw, if you want to include the image directly in this forum, you can embed the URL within the commands {url} & {/url}
(replace accolade with square bracket)

(one of the editor-buttons ('YABBC Tag') can also do this for you)
(#9)

Like this:

https://i.imgur.com/U8na0gb.jpg

I have had a look and price of these in Europe is very high

There are a few for sale over here at the moment 12k/ 15k gbp

Il be looking for around a quarter of that.

So even without the axles, of which do come up it won’t take much to put it back to a portal truck.

I have checked the text on the diff build plate both the teeth count are the same.