Tow bar

[Rich850R]

Happy summer to you all

Just had a detachable tow bar fitted to our 09 XC, can’t fault the fitter etc

Took our van away this weekend using the XC for the first time

Little disappointed in the way the van sits

Nose heavy comes to mind which were my initial thoughts, the van which is a 2009 twin axle abbey spectrum sits worse on the XC than it ever did on our 2011 V70 D5

Although it’s a swan neck bar it’s a shallow bar

Measuring from ground up to the middle of the ball it’s 385mm

Anyone else encountered this issue at all with an XC



Thanks

Rich

[Harley Dave]

According to "Witter" (and they should know) https://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/knowledge-hub/towbars

"The EC Directive 94/20/EC states that the towball height should be between 350 and 420mm with the vehicle in the 'laden' condition."

Is your 385mm (which is right on halfway) measured when laden or unladen?

Cheers

Dave

[Whyman]

Was it a Volvo towbar?

[TruckbusUK]

Originally Posted by Whyman

Was it a Volvo towbar?

If its a Volvo bar it will be Brink/Thule.

[ltec]

It should be slightly nose down.
Is it towing poorly and unstable?
Check the nose weight of the caravan at the height of the towbar.
All you'll get in this forum is that the towbar is scrap if its not genuine.

[TruckbusUK]

Originally Posted by ltec

All you'll get in this forum is that the towbar is scrap if its not genuine.

Not very helpful nor true, and if that's your opinion of the forums then why participate?

[Tannaton]

I would be less concerned about how it sits and more about how it drives. All UK XC90 Mk1's had Nivomats (self levelling rear suspension) and regardless of the change in level that occurs when you attach the van, after a short period of driving it should return to near normal. This is the first post I've ever read where someone's not happy about an XC90 as a tow car hence I'd suspect other factors...

A bit of nose weight is good and helps stability in my experience, I'm mindful that the UK XC90's are rated at 90Kg (I think) but in Australia where in some states the nose weight must be a minimum of 7% of the trailer weight the XC90 is rated 250Kg.

[gmonag]

The problem is that yours is a twin axle caravan.
The nose weight will vary with the height of the tow ball. As the tow ball height varies so the weight is shared variably between the front and rear axle. The higher the ball the heavier the nose weight. It is not as straightforward as balancing a single axle.
What you have to do, is measure the nose weight with the hitch at the height of your laden tow ball. Adjust the loading the correct it.

[gmonag]

Originally Posted by ltec

It should be slightly nose down.
Is it towing poorly and unstable?
Check the nose weight of the caravan at the height of the towbar.
All you'll get in this forum is that the towbar is scrap if its not genuine.

That is just insulting. You will never get more honest or knowledgable advice than here.

[ltec]

Originally Posted by TruckbusUK

Not very helpful nor true, and if that's your opinion of the forums then why participate?

You left out my helpful bit before it. Up until that we were talking about whether it was genuine or not which was irrelevant.
I participate to ensure the genuine gang dont have people throwing away good parts and wasting money and educating them to do their homework and where possible buy parts just as good but cheaper were possible.
The answer to every question is. Because its not genuine.