Towing with a V90

[craigy85]

Does your R-Design have the Active four-c chassis, with self levelling suspension? If not, I'm sure it'll be fine...

[Berkshirebob]

Apologies if this has already been said -

My (non-air) D4 sits much lower at the rear than the one pictured. Sat empty it looks like off down the tip with a full load!

[big square car]

Yes, mine's the same, very racy looking! Thanks Craigy85, no it doesn't. It seems OK to me.

[Bash D Bishop]

Originally Posted by craigy85

I have asked Volvo numerous times what they will do for the thousands(?) of cars with illegal towbars already fitted, but have not received a straight answer... If you have a Volvo towbar fitted to an SPA car with air suspension I'd urge you to check your vehicle and if it is affected, make sure you report it to your dealer!!

It might be worth contacting the DVSA - https://www.gov.uk/contact-dvsa/y - and ask them if they are aware of the issue and if they are planning to force Volvo in to recalling all affected cars.

[craigy85]

That's my next port of call

Mike - I got your PM but can't rely as i haven't had 30 posts?! If you can PM me your e-mail address i'd be happy to drop you a reply!!

[Barneywood]

I have an XC60 R design pro with the active air suspension, and reading this has interested me as I tow a twin axle caravan. Certainly without it attached, there is no way the towbar height meets the required level, depending on the setting it can be between 10mm and about 40 mm too high. Will need to go and hitch up to see what happens.
I notice in the printed supplement to the handbook, it states " To facilitate towing a trailer on a car with air suspension, select a) Dynamic driving mode or b) the Suspension control➡️Dynamic setting in Individual drive mode. I guess this is to try to get it to lower???

I also see it states " the cars system for level control endeavours to maintain a constant height regardless of load(up to the maximum permissible weight).
Thus, I guess whether the car is laden or unladen, will make no difference to the height of the towbar as it will be kept constant by the air suspension.

[volvocamper]

Originally Posted by Barneywood

I have an XC60 R design pro with the active air suspension, and reading this has interested me as I tow a twin axle caravan. Certainly without it attached, there is no way the towbar height meets the required level, depending on the setting it can be between 10mm and about 40 mm too high. Will need to go and hitch up to see what happens.
I notice in the printed supplement to the handbook, it states " To facilitate towing a trailer on a car with air suspension, select a) Dynamic driving mode or b) the Suspension control➡️Dynamic setting in Individual drive mode. I guess this is to try to get it to lower???

I also see it states " the cars system for level control endeavours to maintain a constant height regardless of load(up to the maximum permissible weight).
Thus, I guess whether the car is laden or unladen, will make no difference to the height of the towbar as it will be kept constant by the air suspension.

Been reading this with interest. I have a 2018.5 XC90 R Design Pro (so with air suspension) and regularly tow a 2000kg MTPLM twin axle caravan. I tow in standard (Comfort?) mode and use the easy entry/exit setting for the suspension. When suspension at its low position (ie before starting engine) the caravan sits low at the front. Once up to standard height the caravan sits dead level (just as it did on my previous Touareg) and have had no issues at all with it.

[craigy85]

Well... Volvo have replied to say "The information that we have to date indicates that the stability of the vehicle is not impacted to a level that presents a safety concern"! Clearly they have not actually towed a caravan with my vehicle!!

As a result I've reported the issue to the DVSA myself... whether anything will come of it is another matter.

For a company so safety conscious I'm really disappointed by their handling of the situation... although I have to say I am loving my BMW even more than I expected to, and it drives and tows like a dream, so it's worked out ok in the end!

[isleaiw]

Originally Posted by craigy85

Well... Volvo have replied to say "The information that we have to date indicates that the stability of the vehicle is not impacted to a level that presents a safety concern"! Clearly they have not actually towed a caravan with my vehicle!!

As a result I've reported the issue to the DVSA myself... whether anything will come of it is another matter.

For a company so safety conscious I'm really disappointed by their handling of the situation... although I have to say I am loving my BMW even more than I expected to, and it drives and tows like a dream, so it's worked out ok in the end!

Glad you are enjoying the 6GT. I know that there is some division over the looks but I think the 6GT and 5 series touring are amongst the best cars out there, and a 640i XDrive is very high on my list for my next car..

[LordLucan]

I thought I would add my experience to this thread. I took delivery of a v90 moment (standard suspension) at the beginning of April. I've since used it to to my caravan and for the most part it was good but there was a some swaying and pitching similar to that described by the op. I set about checking the car and caravan and found that one of the friction pads in the Alko 3004 stabiliser hitch was completely missing. It was the ones that lines the top and front of the hitch. Since replacing it, the van is totally stable.