XC70 (2008) Volvo towbar – a cautionary tale

[hymerbeliever]

This is a story of what might have happened – Volvo fitted towbars don’t break off the back of Volvos, do they?

I have owned my XC70 (2008) since 2012. I bought it from a now defunct Volvo dealership in Lincoln. When purchased, a Volvo fixed towbar was already fitted to the vehicle. I have enjoyed six years of caravanning since then, towing to the Med or Northern Italy each summer and touring all over the UK, too. I tow pretty light at about 1300kg loaded, with a noseweight of around 75kg. I have had no incidents when towing. I drive over speedbumps like a snail!

When I detached my caravan after my last trip a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to notice vertical movement of the towball as I lifted the van on the jockey wheel. The towbar was loose. I could lift it easily with one hand. I took it to my independent Volvo mechanic. He took a look underneath and told me that two of the four securing bolts were missing. There are two bolts each side, behind the rear wheels, connecting bar to chassis. Further investigation of the one visible missing bolthole showed that the bolt had recently sheared. The stub of it was still in the thread.

New fixing kit ordered (£56 inc vat!), and a dismantle and repair undertaken. The other bolt hadn’t sheared. It had fallen out and was living above the exhaust on a heat shield.

On the plus side, the caravan and towbar hadn’t detached during our last trip home. On the down side, I am £150 poorer, and I am shocked by what could have happened. How can this be? Was the towbar fitted incorrectly in 2008 – wrong torque, or just not tightened up at all? Does this mean we should all be checking those fixings every year? Two of them are behind the exhaust silencer, so that doesn’t look a likely prospect.

Does this mean anyone with a Volvo and Volvo towbar has something else to worry about? Or is everyone checking this anyway, and I missed the memo?

Oddly, when I spoke to Volvo parts, the guy said that he had spoken to ‘a technician’ about my case and that I should watch out because the bolts might have sheared. Is this a known problem, then? Anyone had a similar experience?