Since buying my 2000 Volvo S80 T6 in 2001 I've been puzzled by an occasional noise coming from the front of the car and would mention it to the pat patterson Volvo, memphis, tn service writer. He would pass my comments on to the mechanics but nothing was ever found. On Saturday 8/5/2006 I made a trip in the mountains of central Arkansas during which I drove on a rough, gravel road. After a little over a mile I heard a noise something like that caused when there is a flat tire. I was fortunate in finding a mechanic to look at the car. He was able to get me on my way and I thus was not stranded on a weekend a hundred miles from home. Mystery of the long time noise solved! the problem was a bolt loose on the right front hub. The mechanic stated the bolt had been loose for a long time and theorized that driving on the rough road had caused it to finally come all the way out. The reason the bolt came loose, he said, was that lock-tight wasn't applied by the factory. The local mechanic removed the bolt on Saturday but didn't have a replacement so I took it back to pat patterson Volvo (ppv) yesterday. The lack of lock-tight having been used by the factory was confirmed.

- Jonesboro, AR, USA