Towing with a Volvo

[EllPea in CA]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

While I respect Volvo's long lived reputation for reliability, that's a claim that they have been using at least as far back as the 140 series. That's all great information if you have a Volvo in the UK, but can be very misleading to attempt to apply to U.S. versions in the U.S., Just ask Ellpea.

NOW NOW!

I'm fully behind the reliability of the U.S. versions of the Volvo! I can testify that getting the European-style "factory" drawbar setup to speak electronically to the NA trailer's system can be a bit of a challenge (and had I to do it over again I'd do it all differently), but the vehicle itself is a gem.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Ellpea in CA

NOW NOW!

I'm fully behind the reliability of the U.S. versions of the Volvo!
...... but the vehicle itself is a gem.

No doubt Ellpea. I was recently reading an"on the net" towing article reviewing the X70. Here are some of the highlights of the article....

"Volvo's have the 3,300 lb tow rating, every year, every model.

This is the rating from Europe and they just bring it across to us.

Adding to the quiet feel is it's strong body structure, which also helps with handling stability.

The same properties that make this vehicle handle so well make it a great handling TV."




If anyone is interested in reading the RV Lifestyles mag Volvo article let me know and I will relay link info.

[redbarron55]

I think that the 6% grade that is called out in the test is the Davis dam road where this test requires maintaining specified speeds towing at the rated weights (MAX) at a temp of at least 110*F with the A/C going full blast.
No overheating. no warnings etc. This is the real test of towing weight capacity. This is where the trucks ran into trouble.
Stability tests etc. are required as well.
Volvo knows towing. At one time they were one of the leading long haul truck manufacturers in the world. I think the truck division bought White and formed Volvo Trucks. 2nd largest truck company in the world. Of course the cars and trucks are different now, but Volvo made trucks since 1928.

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by MC1

No doubt Ellpea. I was recently reading an"on the net" towing article reviewing the X70. Here are some of the highlights of the article....

"Volvo's have the 3,300 lb tow rating, every year, every model.

This is the rating from Europe and they just bring it across to us.

Adding to the quiet feel is it's strong body structure, which also helps with handling stability.

The same properties that make this vehicle handle so well make it a great handling TV."




If anyone is interested in reading the RV Lifestyles mag Volvo article let me know and I will relay link info.

Sounds like the first two items disagree with the owners manuals in US versions. Why don't you just post the link to the article so everyone can read it?

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

I think that the 6% grade that is called out in the test is the Davis dam road where this test requires maintaining specified speeds towing at the rated weights (MAX) at a temp of at least 110*F with the A/C going full blast.
No overheating. no warnings etc. This is the real test of towing weight capacity. This is where the trucks ran into trouble.
Stability tests etc. are required as well.
Volvo knows towing. At one time they were one of the leading long haul truck manufacturers in the world. I think the truck division bought White and formed Volvo Trucks. 2nd largest truck company in the world. Of course the cars and trucks are different now, but Volvo made trucks since 1928.

I couldn't care less about the Davis Dam road.

Ginny wouldn't allow me to drive a road like that when it was 110F, certainly I would shut off the AC, and lastly I would not care if we didn't maintain 40 mph.

I guess I don't expect my vehicles to be designed for 'falling off a cliff'. I'm smart enough to stay away from cliffs. Does anyone believe a loaded semi could do it? Is it necessary?

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

I think that the 6% grade that is called out in the test is the Davis dam road where this test requires maintaining specified speeds towing at the rated weights (MAX) at a temp of at least 110*F with the A/C going full blast.
No overheating. no warnings etc. This is the real test of towing weight capacity. This is where the trucks ran into trouble.
Stability tests etc. are required as well.
Volvo knows towing. At one time they were one of the leading long haul truck manufacturers in the world. I think the truck division bought White and formed Volvo Trucks. 2nd largest truck company in the world. Of course the cars and trucks are different now, but Volvo made trucks since 1928.

I'm only guessing that the "test" is the one mentioned in the Volvo UK literature. If true....

Last time I looked Davis Dam Road was a long way from Death Valley.
Here is a link to that as well as comments on towing tests
That Dam Towing Test: New SAE Trailering Standards Explained - Tech Dept. - Car and Driver

If both statements are correct, so much for truth in advertising.....

[redbarron55]

They never said all of the testing was in the desert. What is your point?
The whole idea is to bring some standards into the mix.
The hope was that the manufacturers would apply these standards to cars and trucks to give standards to more cars as well.
I think I would avoid the Davis dam road in the heat of the day as well Norm.
The thought is that modern cars could tow quite well compared to light trucks, but the ratings have been pretty arbitrary.
There is little difference in the testing standards in Europe and the SAE standards, but there are big marketing pressures to rate trucks high and cars lower.
The now disgraced VW TDI has high ratings of the reasons is the fact that there is less waste heat from the Diesel and better low end torque. ALso the better suspensions and lower center of gravity affects the handling both on tow and off.
I still wonder what is the point of post #26?

[Bob Miller]

Seems pretty clear, at least to those of us with limited education, that Volvo wants the reader to believe that the grade test was done in Death Valley.


But the included link in Post 26 has a lot of good info about towing specs as well.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

Why don't you just post the link to the article so everyone can read it?

The towing article is not Fiberglass egg related but a larger, heavier trailer the X70 was set up for so I didn't post it here. The positive information resulting from the test shows the strong capabilities of the Volvo's. That is great info for folks like Ellpea who are towing the small lightweights.

[Bob Miller]

If I had three guesses as to the source I'd bet I wouldn't need two of them.

[EllPea in CA]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

I think I would avoid the Davis dam road in the heat of the day as well Norm.

Why? I'm sure that Norm is just as nice in the heat of the day as he is any other time!

I still wonder what is the point of post #26?

Now, now! BOYS, BEHAVE!

[EllPea in CA]

To get back to the OP's question, I tow with a V70 and it handles an egg like a dream. The aerodynamics are wonderful... I feel no wind resistance at all, nor is there anything noticeable wind-wise broadside. I've yet to pass (or be passed by) semi's on the freeway, so MMMV at that point.

What I learned through this process though, is that although Volvo recommends their factory hitch, the wiring on their factory hitch does not communicate well with NA trailers.

ORshepherd (member here) hitched up without difficulty -- they had an "OEM Volvo" hitch installed. (I don't know anything about this hitch, I just know that it was plug and play out of the box).

Everyone wonders why Volvo, with such a great towing background, is being so difficult about making towing easier in NA. To further illustrate this, I just took my V70 in today to get a transmission cooler installed. Volvo Steve reported that VOLVO NO LONGER MAKES A TRANNY COOLER FOR THE V70!

wtf?

He's installing an after market cooler, but is unhappy he'll have to do things to the undercarriage to make it fit, whereas a Volvo cooler would have fit right in.

Regarding tongue weight, the V70 is limited to 165 pounds, which is more than doable with a 13' egg. When we hitched up, the rear end of the car barely moved... it held up under the hitch weight very nicely.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

The whole idea is to bring some standards into the mix.
The hope was that the manufacturers would apply these standards to cars and trucks to give standards to more cars as well.
?

Which is what the SAE J2807 Tow Test Standard does - PER SAE International website the standard "establishes minimum performance criteria at GCWR and calculation methodology to determine tow-vehicle TWR for passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles and trucks. This includes all vehicles up to 13 000 lb GVWR. "

The above limit of 13000 GVWR means most heavy duty pickups that are used to pull large trailers are actually excluded from the test. ;-)

Bottom line it was not written for just trucks to be tested as some seem to think it was and most of the auto manufactures are using it now on all vehicles they have a tow ratings spec on & have been for a couple of model years now.

It has put an end to auto manufactures each doing their own separate tests on their vehicles before putting a tow rating on it, leaving the consumer to speculate on what the test was and how it differed from the other auto makers.

The SAE J2807 is a precise method of testing that the manufactures put the vehicle through before they can claim a vehicle can tow X so many pounds.

Its a win win for the consumer.

And nope I would not tow a trailer up the Davis Dam Road in 100 plus degree weather either but at least I know how the tow rating on my vehicles was determined and that is was not some pie in sky number made up by some R&D guys who took a few trailers for a spin on a race track outside their development center

[honda03842]

It is a pie in the sky number where the rating is based on a condition that is extreme a condition I have not seen in 15 years of RVing, a perfect storm condition.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by honda03842

It is a pie in the sky number where the rating is based on a condition that is extreme a condition I have not seen in 15 years of RVing, a perfect storm condition.

Surprised you have not seen it in all your travels as I sure have! A number of times just in the past 6 years.

The uphill towing is actually only a small portion of the overall test & it requires a rear single axle vehicle to be able to maintain 40 mph on 12 miles of the Davis dame road which involves grades that vary between 3- and 7-percent with an average over 5-percent. During this test, the minimum acceptable ambient temperature is 100-degrees F. and AC systems must be operating on the maximum cold setting with no recirculation and the blower at the highest possible setting.

There are a number of other very popular highways with grades within that range and some well over & on any given day in the summer months you will see thousands of trailers being pulled over them.

One of them here in BC is the Coquihalla Pass that has one stretch of 10 kms or more at a grade of 8.5% & the lead up to it of 20 or so KMS is at over 5% and temps get well into the 90's and over on that pass in the summer so you can be sure the vehicles pulling trailers over it have their AC going full blast!

The same can be seen every summer in the Cascade mountains in Washington state where the grade is 7 percent at Washington Pass and 6 at Rainy Pass. There are many days in the Cascades were the temps are in the 100's.

Test appears to be pretty real life to me. ;-)

[EllPea in CA]

We had a 6% grade heading from Redding over to the coast (and four pretty impressive mountain passes). Hitting that on the way home, hubby stopped his van and instructed "no AC until you get to the top, 3rd gear all the way."

It was pretty hot, but I did as he said... I'm sure we would have been fine ANYWAY. No change in the engine temp at all. Also, the transmission cooler was not yet in. Volvo Steve recommended 3rd gear on uphill grades to save the transmission from shifting and shifting. That went fine.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Ellpea in CA

We had a 6% grade heading from Redding over to the coast (and four pretty impressive mountain passes).

.

There are many roads that people frequently tow on with grades over the 5% grade average of the section of the Davis Dam road that that SAE J2807 Towing Test is conducted on.

Another very popular road that I know many here have towed over is the I5 between Ashland Oregon and the Siskiyou Summit thats 6% over 7 miles.

Sit at the summit of any of the steep grade highways in NA for a few minutes and you will realize quickly that there are a lot of people who don't give a second thought to towing over such passes on a hot summer day.

Not everyone is retired and has the time to pick and choose the days they travel and don't travel.

[EllPea in CA]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Another very popular road that I know many here have towed over is the I5 between Ashland Oregon and the Siskiyou Summit thats 6% over 7 miles.

That stretch of road was our first steep encounter when bringing home the Lil Bigfoot from Grants Pass. However then we were towing with the 1989 Aerostar, which handled it like a little champ, like the little engine that could.

The Volvo took the 6% grade without any effort, but even so, my inclination was to be kind! Take it easy, turn off the AC. The car is doing a fine job, no need to make a tough grade tougher.