Towing capacity for 240 GL.

[Oilydad]

Just for you Lee. Our Lunar Clubman 500/4. If I recall, this was at Riverside Caravan Park Plymouth.



and that's my old 940 GLE on the front.

[Mike_Brace]

Originally Posted by Paul240480

Just looking in my 240 manual:

Max weights for trailers with brakes given by Volvo are:

Max 1500kgs not exeeding 50mph (80Kph)

Max 1600kgs not exceeding 45mph (70Kph)
Auto's must have an oil cooler.

Personally, I'd not be happy to tow such a weight with mine, the trailer would push the car about too much. As mentioned my Swift was 1395Kgs MTPLM so that was getting to about as far as I'd be happy with, and that was after some years with the Fleetwood (much lighter) as a beginer tow-er

Those figures you quote are the max recommended for an un-braked trailer. We do a lot of towing of cars on a trailer and certainly another 240 on a trailer (about 2 tonnnes) is a very easy tow (especially with a 2.3) Adequate nose -weight is essential and there is no problem of being pushed if the trailer brakes are functioning as designed.

My sone uses his GLT to tow a 22' 4wheel caravan about 1.5 tonne and finds it tows very well.

There is a question mark over legality of weight towed. The Vin plate does not specify a figure. If using a volvo towbar these are rated at 1500kg so you could be in trouble if the plate is on the towbar.

It is impossible to be prosecuted over weight as regards a specific weight the only possible offence would be drivng a car and trailer dangerously loaded. The one case brought against my son towing a classic Range Rover was dropped at court. It would have been hard to prove as we could give evidence of 100,000+ miles of towing similair weights without any incident over a period spanning 20+ years.

Mike

[57RKL]

I think you'll find they are BRAKED trailer weights. Unbraked 1500kgs behind you means you aint stopping quick.

[c_lee]

Originally Posted by Paul240480

Just looking in my 240 manual:

<snip>

As for your stabiliser, have you considered an ALKO hitch stabiliser? They are absolutely the bees knees, so much more effective than the old 'bar type' & no need for anything to bolt onto the tow-bar

I'm getting on with the caravan restoration as follows:

Repaired Carver Cascade 2 water heater ( leaking water seal on cylinder ) and fuse replacement in controller - now works OK - we now have hot water.
Checked the mains 240 volt RCB safety trip and wiring - all OK.
Checked the 12v power supply for on-board 12v systems and did a temp repair on the PSU - now working OK.
Checked the RM212 fridge - OK on 240v - fails to ignite on gas despite spark - 12v, from towbar electrics, not yet confirmed working.
Internal space heater fails to ignite despite gas present - more faulting needed.
In tank water pump faulty - used a spare 12v pump to replace and now performs OKish but pressure not good.

Iv'e replaced 4 joist ends and the floorboards in the small area under the toilet/shower tray where a ( probably long standing ) leak had caused rot - now solid and treated against further water leaks.

There had been a leak in the area of the rear nearside awning rail and that had contributed to the rot in the shower area floor and the timbers on the corner joint - now replaced and waterproofed.

The awning rail in that corner area has been removed for re-sealing along with the awning rail at roof level in that quarter.
I'm on with this as I speak - should be completed by the end of next week - off work for a week to complete it and some other caravan jobs.
The rest of the van is dry.

Re stabiliser :

I am on a tight budget so will not be buying the Alko stabiliser ( gee, they are expensive ).
I will be using existing stabs I have ( 2 ).
But I need a dropper plate for an original Volvo 4 hole tow-bar, preferably with a stab hook up slot.
( Not sure of the stab models I have for use - need to check ).

Does anyone have a redundant stab plate they would like to sell for an original Volvo, 4 hole, towbar.
If it suits my stab I would be interested to buy it from you.

TTFN - Colin

PS: BTW recently bought a new CO2 gas detector for the van.

[Oilydad]

Hi Colin.

Sounds like you're getting on with it nicely.

Try breakers yards for your stab bracket, amazing what they've got lying around. Place near us has an absolute mountain of old towbar brackets. Have you got a picture of what it looks like? Maybe off google images/Volvo catalog etc? I'll have a look for you next time I go over, but need to know what it's like.

Ref fridge on gas, and heater: we used to find that it took ABSOLUTELY AGES for the gas to pump through from the locker to the fridge and heater (there's very little pressure on bottled gas thru a regulator), but once it's through, it will fire up ok. Are the main gas taps for the fridge/heater open? I can't remember whether they should be in line or across the pipes, but we had this problem, and then they both came to life when we moved the main taps. If you can get the cooker lit, then all the taps should be aligned the same way. Might be worth checking. You just have to click till you get a flame, and it isn't that easy to see even when it's lit. Most sites are hookups these days anyway, so we just used to use ours on mains. Also remember that older caravan fridges don't make any noise at all when they start up.

[Paul240480]

Yes, the alko jobbies are pricey. I bought mine when my T5 came with a Volvo swan neck tow bar, no where to connect leaf stabilizer. When I bought mine the caravan place did a part-ex on my leaf type one. They gave me about £25 for it. That helped a bit with the cost!

[c_lee]

Originally Posted by Oilydad

Hi Colin.

Sounds like you're getting on with it nicely.

Try breakers yards for your stab bracket, amazing what they've got lying around. Place near us has an absolute mountain of old towbar brackets. Have you got a picture of what it looks like? Maybe off google images/Volvo catalog etc? I'll have a look for you next time I go over, but need to know what it's like.

Ref fridge on gas, and heater: we used to find that it took ABSOLUTELY AGES for the gas to pump through from the locker to the fridge and heater (there's very little pressure on bottled gas thru a regulator), but once it's through, it will fire up ok. Are the main gas taps for the fridge/heater open? I can't remember whether they should be in line or across the pipes, but we had this problem, and then they both came to life when we moved the main taps. If you can get the cooker lit, then all the taps should be aligned the same way. Might be worth checking. You just have to click till you get a flame, and it isn't that easy to see even when it's lit. Most sites are hookups these days anyway, so we just used to use ours on mains. Also remember that older caravan fridges don't make any noise at all when they start up.

Sorry for the late reply - had no broadband for 5 days till today - lots of emails/etc to get through.

Re the fridge - I got the cooker lit so I have now sorted the direction to turn the taps on the gas manifold. I'll have to try again with the fridge in a few days once I have finished sorting the damp/etc in the shower/toilet as I've had it completely stripped - had a leak from the awning rail, now removed, refitted and re-sealed and a leak from the shower tray - toilet floor boarding and 4 joist ends repaired etc. Almost finished the wall re-boarding in there today - rest of van appears OK and we knew about the damp toilet compartment before we handed over the relatively small amount of money.

Like I said before - I think I now have a project.

Hopefully most, if not all, of the time consuming re-sealing, re-boarding and re-building should be finished this week if my back lasts out. Hope to check the running gear and brakes too this week.

Re tow-bar attachment.
I'll get a photo of the tow ball fixing taken in the next few days and post it.

I'm off work this week just to sort the caravan but I'm up to my neck in it at present as well as reconfiguring my network ( cable modem & router changed for cable modem with router - and I have several static IP devices on my internal network ) since my broadband was restored today.

Anyway thanks for the reply Oily, some things there for me to think on.

Colin

[minesa240x3]

Hi colin I tow a 21foot twin axle which is about 1535kg.I have a 240SE estate 1991 Auto and it's a 2.0 Litre engine.Yes as said here it is a challenge but it copes very well considering.You get used to judging speed when going up hills that drag on and braking with plenty of time is common sence.I feel the van brakes coming on which really helps pull the car up.

As for the old style leaf spring stabiliser(Bulldog) I use two.I tried every where to get a twin adaptor but ended up prefabbing my own which was welded to the original volvo towbar.
I did find single adapters for the volvo bars usually covered in dust and reduced to sell.nearly every caravan place I went to had at least one in.Some shops did have two types.One was a dead square fitting that had to be welded on and the other was for the very early type towbar that was narrowed towards the towball.
You know the square bit that sticks out with the towball on.one is straight square box metal and the older one narrows as it gets to the ball.They weren't that expensive either.

I'm trying to pursuade the wife to let me tow with the Limo as it should pull with ease and the fact it wieghs 2235kg would make it super stable.
Piccies of my prefabbed bracket.
Regards Brian.

These are when I swapped to the 740 but the idea was similare.I just used two twin hole bolt on type plates,cut the square out and had it welded.But I joined two at apposites.

[c_lee]

Originally Posted by Oilydad

Hi Colin.

Sounds like you're getting on with it nicely.

Try breakers yards for your stab bracket, amazing what they've got lying around. Place near us has an absolute mountain of old towbar brackets. Have you got a picture of what it looks like? Maybe off google images/Volvo catalog etc? I'll have a look for you next time I go over, but need to know what it's like.

<snip>

Hi Oily,

Here is a photo of my 240 towball mount.
The towball has a Volvo plate on it.

It looks as though it has had a stabiliser mounted at some time - unfortunately the stab socket isn't the same as my stabilisers 'tail' and also the broken bolt in the socket won't budge.

In the photo the 4 hole mounting type is clear to see ( the upper vacant 2 holes are for adjusting the towball height ).

I think I will need to get a stab mount fabricated to this 4 hole spacing if I cant get one for a 4 bolt mount from a scrapyard.

Colin

[Oilydad]

Hi Colin. That's a weird one I have to say. I don't think my guy has anything like that.

I'd be inclined to simply unbolt the 4 hole mount from the towbar, scrap it, and then bolt a new towball straight onto the towbar, maybe with a spacing bracket, so that you can use your existing stabiliser.

If it's a fairly recent one (Bulldog say) then you won't have any trouble getting the right bolt on bracket for the stabiliser arm to go through.

Bit like this on mine: We have a Bulldog Major. Still use it. I'm a great believer in them.