V70 suspension & towing

[Dunc]

Hi Everybody,
I am new to this forum and also recently new to being a Volvo owner,
I have a 2005 V70 2.4 d5 with geartronic transmission and am looking to tow a caravan with a maximum weight of 1500kgs, Has anybody had experience of towing this weight with this vehicle, if so any advice or problems.

Also how can i tell if my vehicle has Nivomats suspension or not.

Any advice on these queries greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Dunc

[Peter Milnes]

Being an estate it should be fitted with Nivomats from new. Providing the towed weight does not exceed the kerb weight you should be fine. Keep your speed steady and no more than 50mph on single carriageway roads, or 60mph on Motorways, observing any lower limits of course. You should find the car a dream when towing. Do not overload the van and ensure that it's noseweight is close to 50-75kgs. Spreading the load over the floor is fine but keep to the nose-weight limit. Is it a single axle van or twin axle one? Keep van tyre pressures to the van's handbook figures and increase your rear tyre pressures by about 4-6psi when towing. The van and car should present a level look when on the move.

All the best, Peter.

[bryan123]

Dunc

I also have a 2005 (55 plate) Volvo V70 D5 (Geartronic Auto) Sport, i.e. with lowered suspension. For the last 18 months or so I have towed an Elddis Odyessey 5 berth caravan with a max total payload mass (MTPLM) of 1475Kg; not too dissimilar to yours.

When purchasing the car I was unaware of the factory option for 'Load Compensating Suspension' (Nivomats), from the bewildering list of Volvo options. This is despite making it clear to the Volvo sales staff that I intended to tow a caravan and requesting a tow bar fitted. The standard rear suspension is likely to sag a little, but not dangerously so, with a caravan at 75Kg nose weight together with the usual compliment of luggage and bikes, etc, that could be located in the car.

The cost to retrofit Nivomats is quite high (over £1k); however I have fitted fitted spring assistors (circa £15) available from such places as 'Towsure'. These take approx 1hour to fit and effectively limit the movement of the rear springs to the extent that, in my case at least, the fully loaded car sits near level with the caravan attached. The only minor downside largely cosmetic is that the car sits slightly higher at the rear when not loaded.


I have always been carefull to ensure that the caravan is loaded within the MTPLM figure with the heavier items over the caravan axle such as to give a nose weight of 75Kg. Not wishing to speak too soon, but I have had no problems with instability or snaking with this set up. I find the V70 tows excellently and of all the various posts, on this forum and others, that view appears unanimous.


Regards

Bryan

[bryan123]

Dunc

On the question you raise on vehicle weights I am sure you will have seen the recommendations (Caravan Club, etc) for a maximum ratio of 85% for caravan weight to car kerb weight. This is recommended for reasons of stability and to limit the possibility of 'snaking' i.e. the pendulum effect, or the tail wagging the dog.

Volvo manufacturers data quotes a kerb weight of 1560Kg for the V70 D5 Geartronic. On the face of it with a 1500Kg caravan this would give a ratio in excess of the recommendation at 96%.

As my previous reply above, my car and caravan weights are similar to yours and initially I had concerns about exceeding this recommended maximum and having an unstable outfit or an outfit prone to snaking. In view of this I sought to check the actual kerb weight of my V70; actual kerb weight will generally vary from one vehicle to another due to different specification (auto gearboxes), fitment of extras, etc.

Under European Law, often used by car manufacturers, ‘Kerb weight’ is described as, a car in ready to drive condition with the fuel tank 90% full, a driver on board weighing 68 kg and luggage of 7 kg. Link (http://www.ntta.co.uk/faq/default.htm).

Having prepared my V70 as above I took it to a weigh bridge and found the actual weight in this condition to be 1750Kg; which with a 1500Kg caravan is almost exactly 85% which is within the recoommendations.

The Volvo V70 D5 owners manual (pg161?) describes the car ‘kerb weight’ in line with European Law which was the basis of my weigh bridge figure above. If you have any concerns over the car kerb weight you could carry out a similar weigh bridge check.

It is also worth carrying out a weighbridge check on your loaded caravan in order to ensure your caravan MTPLM is not exceeded and to have a weigh bridge certificate shoul the Police carry out a check.

[Dunc]

Thanks to Peter and Bryan for your advise it is greatly appreciated, with regards to your mention on vehicle kerbweight other people on different forums have also advised getting the car weighed as they to found their vehicle to be heavier than official figures, so this is something for me to sort in the near future.

Thanks again Dunc.

[tonyvolvo]

HI DUNC
I HAVE 2001 V70 D5. I TOW A BESSACARR 495 I55Okgs.I HAVE SELF LEVELING SUSPENSION . IT IS A MUST FITTED TO ANY TOWING VEHICLE.
THE V70 IS MANUAL BOX. IT TOWS LIKE A DREAM. KEEPING ITDOWN TO 60mph ON THE MOTORWAY IS A BIT OF A PROBLEM. ON MOTORWAY IT AVERAGE'S 30 +.
I HAVE FITTED S/LEVELING ON THE LAST 5/6 VOLVO'S. THEY MAKE A VAST DIFFERNCE.
THE V70 IS DIFFERENT .YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE SPRING'S +ANTIROLL BAR +SHOCK'S. I GOT MY KIT OF A SCRAP. COST £250 ??. VOLVO £700+FITTING.
GIVE ME A RING IF YOU WANT.
01873 853826