Beware 2010MY XC60 Owners Manual IMPORTANT Error

[Paddler Ed]

Originally Posted by XC90caravanpuller

All you VOC members with pre Ford cars which have done under 100K must be laughing at us foolish people who thought upgrading / renewing was somehow advantageous.
I'll be looking for 97/98 V70 XC sub 100k (just run in) diesel with all the toys.

You'll be looking for a long time.... they never came with a Diesel until the next generation, and anyway with that AWD drivetrain unless you keep the tyres within 1mm of tread wear you destroy the drivetrain!

Personally, I'd go for a 2nd Generation AWD equiped XC70 or V70AWD D5... the car was pretty much designed before Ford took over, the D5 is a Volvo engine and the transmission doesn't self destruct.

[minesa240x3]

Please be gentle with me But nowhere on my caravan does it state what the nose wieght is?Only the actual caravan wieght empty and what it can wiegh fully laden,1600kg MTPLM and unladen weight 1258kg,The manual supplied with the caravan says"try to make sure when loading that the nose wieght is around 75kg"It is a twin axle and I take very great care to make sure I am spot on,The wife and kids think I'm a bit to fussy as I make them sit in thier positions just prior to hitching on the van making sure everything is as I will be when going up the road.With a twin axle it has a tendancy to SELF LEVEL so making sure the height of the van hitch matches the tow ball and still achieving 75kg is an art in its own right.Now my volvo owners manual clearly states 75kg nose wieght on the towball.
My question is even with a small box trailer weighing next to nothing you could still overload the nose weight,but the trailer wont state what it's nosewieght is?how can it as prior to loading it could be anything?
So I understand the max min towing ability of any given vehicle as stated by the manufacturer but caravans and trailers don't actually state what nosewieght they have only what wieght van they can be fitted too.
Regards Brian.
By the way my owners manual for my 240SE 1992 clearly states I can tow 1500kg at 50mph and 1600kg at 45mph! with 75kg nosewieght!My car according to the owners manual is 1950kg permitted gross vehicle weight,but says the unladen weight can be between 2820lbs to 3080 lbs uk models.

[cumbrianmale]

For stable towing you should aim for a noseweight of between 4-7% of the trailer/caravan weight without exceeding the vehicles max. noseweight. So a lighter trailer needs a lighter noseweight. 75kg noseweight gives a towed weight between 1071-1875kg so a 1500kg caravan is pretty much spot on subject to vehicle max towed/train weights.

[gillberry]

All these noseweight calculations are fine for modern caravans but when we got our xc90 with towbar nose weight of 90kg we decided to check the noseweight and moving things around the best we could get was 82kg but our old caravan has an angle iron chassis and still has glass windows of which w=she has a bay window front and back . basically we cannot store anything up the front of the caravan as that increases noseweight .

Here is a pic of our problem



As said its not easy for us to reduce the noseweight anymore and as for storing gas bottles or batteries up front , no chance .

[niguk68]

Hi all, I know there is an issue with the nose weights. But I thought I would add this bit of information. All manufactures state maximum permissable / capable towing weight. This figure is not the weight you can legally tow in the U.K! This figure is what the vehicle is capable of towing from a standing start on a specific incline x% (I can't remember exactly). You will notice 4x4's with a low box always have high figures. This also explains why auto's do better than manuals and of cousre bigger engines. As a rule try to keep your trailer / caravan 85% or under. I have a class one HGV and I have just about towed everything including a caravan at 100% (car = caravan) and I don't recomend it even if your engine will pull it. On a windy day regardless of how big your engine is the bottom line is your trailer will drag you into the ditch.
As for the nose weight I use a set of bathroom scales and a bit of wood under the coupling, raise the jockey wheel and this should give you your nose weight. Also don't forget your caravan legs need to be up as well. If its heavy move stuff around till its o.k. I always get as close as possable to the 75Kgs to help push the back end of the car down.
Regards the law in this country if you pull more than 100% (trailer or caravan heavier than car) or you go over your axle weights you may be nicked by the police as this is regarded as unsafe.

HGV's this is all clear cut everyone knows what the law is. Its about time the ministry of transport made this information available and everyone can stop guessing. Possably on the driving test.

Niguk, 22 years HGV engineer/ mechanic.

[gillberry]

But if you have self levelling rear suspension then it doesn't push the back of the car down .

[niguk68]

O.k then push the tyres onto the road I meant to say.

[gillberry]

Our loose weight is securely stored over the axle .

[minesa240x3]

So still no definitive answer to my question then?
I have heard many variations of how much people THINK it's safe to tow but NO actual fixed point of law.
I'm not having a go at Niguk for being helpful and trying to make sure people are safe but"As a rule TRY to keep your trailer/caravan 85% or under"is as helpful as me saying try to keep your weight to 80% as I THINK it would be safe!
I guess until the powers that be stand up and make a definative rule then we better just keep guessing.
Volvo clearly state that my car can tow 1600kg so who has the technical knowledge to argue with volvo who designed tested and manufactured the vehicle,Who then clearly state this in thier owners manual for the driver to abide by.
It doesn't say "Well it might be ok if you take it steady".

As I said before I take very great care to match the height of the car ball hitch when it is fully laden with the caravan hitch and at the same time making sure the noseweight is 75kg,I also have twin swaybars as you can adjust the friction plates on them thus increasing the force needed to rotate them and although folks keep saying fit an ALKO hitch I personally can't see how such a small set of pads (2) about the size of pound coins rubbing on a grease free ball measuring 52mm can have the same amount of sway braking as the swaybars.
And just so everybody knows my car is underpowered but only if you want to chase after other maniacs zooming about forgetting they have a van on the back Lol.
I was truly amazed that she pulled the van very easily up the long drawn out hill heading past weston supermare towards bristol up the motorway,I truly had to ease off the pedal.
Anyways I have just realised that I have hijacked this thread so please forgive me And all drive safely and enjoy life.
Regards Brian.

[JMc_8]

I was looking to buy an S80 (2.4D) until I noticed that the recommended noseweight limit at that time was 75kg. Harratts then sourced a same-year D5 (also geartronic) for me which had a stated 90kg noseweight. I see that the literature now rates both MY07 models at 90kg, which makes sense as it seems that the cars are identical- except for a little de-tuning on the 2.4D. The issue for me is being able to justify the weights to VOSA if pulled-over.....