Tow bar rating
 

Anyone any idea what rating this tow bar might be?

Came off a 940 saloon.

Worth its weight in scrap i'd say Tony. Have a look at pages 4-9 of this accessories pdf :

https://accessories.volvocars.com/Le...R_GB_NL_DE.pdf

None remotely resemble a banana but yours does sadly. Also appears to have had extra welding in the corners, perhaps as remedial work for the banana bend?

Purely guessing, i'd say someone tied a rope/chain around the main cross beam and tried to tug something that didn't want to be tugged, possibly bent their chassis out of shape as well! :err:

I did think it looked bent, but the thought it might just be camera angle if it was sort of V shaped from behind, but looks like it should be straight. I agree the corner looks to have been been reshaped and rewelded.

Look closer :

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/attac...5&d=1590507187

You can see the bend clearly! Now compare to the equivalent section on mine :

https://i.postimg.cc/NMb28XNW/IMG-20...-114800019.jpg

You can see mine is straight as are all the ones shown in the Volvo Accessories catalogue i linked the pdf to earlier.

Why/how yours got bent i can only guess at but i wouldn't use it, for one thing it wouldn't tow straight, the load would be off-crntre which could cause serious handling, roadholding and general balance problems. Might be ok for caravan racing on an oval track but not on the road :nah:

And if the accessory pic are anything to go by the ball and shaft have been replaced with some bolted on bit.

That's what i thought but the Accessories brochure was a bit blurry for me earlier so couldn't be sure. My eyes have cleared now so can definitely see what you mean.

Yep that's got a lovely kink in it on one end.

That’s all sorts of knackered!!

While we are on the subject, what is the rating on the tow hook fitted to 940's instead of the tow bar? Just in case I need to tow anyone home I don't want to be ripping it out of my chassis!

Now whilst it is bent to me it looks like that one is designed that way, look at the length of the end plates where it attaches to the chassis, the bent side is shorter to account for this, also the bend looks deliberate as nothing else is damaged.

Still a very strange design and I can’t tell why it’s been done unless it’s to allow the towing eye to be retained.