960 Mk2 - highest permitted caravan towing speed?

[V-Jet]

Hi,

I have recently purchased my first caravan and towing it with my 1996 Volvo 960.

In the 960’s owner’s manual, under “Towing a caravan or trailer”, it states “Highest permitted speed 50mph (80km/h)”, but further on there’s a Note which says “The maximum trailer weights and speed limits given are those recommended by the Volvo Car Corporation. Keep in mind that national legal requirements in force in your country could further limit these weights and speed limits”.

Does this mean the highest permitted speed whilst towing a caravan is 50mph (80km/h), but this could be further reduced by national legal requirement? Alternatively, does this mean that the 50mph (80km/h) limit is purely a recommendation and it is safe to exceed it?

[Laird Scooby]

That's a good question - what are the speed limits in your state for towing a caravan? Do you also have laws about Maximum Authorised Mass (the weight of the car and the van combined) and different speed limits for towing whether it's a single carriageway (two way traffice, one lane each) or dual carriageway/highway?

It's difficult to advise without knowing your local laws but, on a rule of thumb that most people used to use in this country (now seems to be largely forgotten) the weight of the trailer/van shouldn't exceed 80% of the kerb weight of the tow vehicle. Again i don't know if you have any restrictions on weight so would be worth checking that locally too.

The 960 should be good to tow at up to 60mph (100kmh) on the open road, assuming other conditions mean it's safe to do it. However, i wouldn't recommend doing that if you've not towed before, build your speed gradually until you feel comfortable. Again, check your local regs for towing speed limits.

Probably not the answer you were hoping for but should give you a few pointers i hope.

[classicswede]

The chassis plate has the weight limits on, legally you need to stick to these (the 80% rule is just a rough guide and nothing more)

For the speed, most caravans will have a maximum safe speed, old caravans could be 40, then 50 and now 60 is the standard and regardless of state speed limits you should not be going over the max speed the van is rated to.

With Auto gearboxes Volvo do suggest a lower towing speed due to heat. If you plan on doing a lot of towing then you should add a to air oil cooler for the gearbox oil.

[Bjorn960]

I wouldn't worry too much about the speeds, keep it to the legal limits and you should be fine. Weight distribution and ATF temp are better things to worry about.

[rogerthechorister]

Apart from a recent fault of very bad running my 960 (MkII) has always been perfect to drive when not towing. But show it a hill on a motorway when towing and push on up at 60 and the temperature gauge heads for the red and I have to slow down. This is despite having fitted a MONSTER DO88 radiator and taken the atf cooling out of the rad - the standard 960 rad has a heat exchanger atf cooler in it but I now have two gigantic atf coolers ahead of the rad.

Until I got the two atf coolers in, even with the standard atf cooler and an auxiliary air atf cooler, the AW43 autobox would get grumpy on twisty A roads going up and down a bit.

This was despite following the standard advice of using sport mode to tow.

So my advice about towing with a 960 would be "Don't". Use a 940 (or a 960T in stead.

[V-Jet]

Originally Posted by rogerthechorister

Apart from a recent fault of very bad running my 960 (MkII) has always been perfect to drive when not towing. But show it a hill on a motorway when towing and push on up at 60 and the temperature gauge heads for the red and I have to slow down. This is despite having fitted a MONSTER DO88 radiator and taken the atf cooling out of the rad - the standard 960 rad has a heat exchanger atf cooler in it but I now have two gigantic atf coolers ahead of the rad.

Until I got the two atf coolers in, even with the standard atf cooler and an auxiliary air atf cooler, the AW43 autobox would get grumpy on twisty A roads going up and down a bit.

This was despite following the standard advice of using sport mode to tow.

So my advice about towing with a 960 would be "Don't". Use a 940 (or a 960T in stead.

The genuine Volvo ATF cooler kit for 960 Mk.2 has the cooler mounted behind the bumper, just to the left of the O/S fog light. This kit is NLA but I managed to find a Setrab cooler that’s just the right size and did the installation as close to the genuine kit as possible, using the parts diagram for the genuine ATF kit as a guide. This also means keeping the standard ATF cooler in the radiator rather than bypassing it. So far towing my Swift Major 6 with an MTPLM of 1,500kg and traveling at no more than 80km/h or 50mph I’ve yet to see any noticeable increase on the coolant temp gauge.

I’ve got a fleet of S/V90’s (standard S90, S90 Executive & V90) and towing with a 940 is not an option as I’m not willing to part with any of my cars & I’ll be signing divorce papers if I buy another Volvo. I actually like my fleet of S/V90’s as all 3 cars are mechanically identical so I can swap parts for diagnostics, controls & handling are also identical, and I only need to study 1 lot of green book to get to know all 3 of my cars in depth. At the moment the V90 is my only tow car but I’m preparing the standard S90 as my backup tow car.

[rogerthechorister]

50? Not an option!

[Forrest]

In view of the OP’s location I guess this is the definitive guide.

https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/saf...es/towing.html

I should have thought that exceeding the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended maximum towing weight and speed, if not illegal, might lead to insurance complications in the event of a claim.