Hello Bricksters !

I'm considering towing a pop up trailer ( 1700 lbs) with my Volvo. I’ve read several opinions here about hitches and decided that I will go with the U-haul type. My Volvo is a Turbo with 225k miles and still going strong. A slight piston slap is present but not really a problem. Can not hear it from inside of car. All ( ?) maintenance is current. I read that i should not tow in over- drive as the gears are week. A couple of questions come to my mind:
1) When going on incline with the trailer it is obvious I will have to drop to lower gears. How about when it is flat? Could some one use turbo gauge as a load indicator and down shift ( disengage OD) when going Red?
2) Do I need to install tranny cooler? I think I have a trany cooler just past the a/c condenser? Does Volvo make a biger one?
3) Did anyone loose a tranny when towing? Any specific information?

Thank you,


Would like to add that thanks to YOU i have been repairing and maintaining my Volvo for the last 125 K miles.
This place is great!!!!!!

Getting started is only half the puzzle. Don't forget you need good brakes to stop the whole combination....
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In Tacoma '86 245 200K+ and '86 740T- 215K+ both with M46

1700 Lbs is fairly light in towing terms. I towed my new 940 wagon home with my 940 turbo wagon a few weeks back. The car trailer I use weighs 1600lbs or so empty, and then stick a 940 on top of it, it's probably towing 4000lbs or so. There's a picture of it in the gallery

The fundamental problem with towing is that the gearing ratios in a car aren't really designed for getting big weights moving. Try to keep the whole thing rolling and when approaching hills do so at a speed that is appropriate. Ideally you don't want to be rowing down the gears, but climb the hill at a speed and in a gear that the car can maintain to the top.

The other thing is to distribute the weight sensibly, paying attention to the weight on the hitch. Even a light trailer that is badly loaded is an accident waiting to happen.

Regards


Pete

Peter,

What kind of hitch do you have on your car?

All I've been able to find for my '93 945T is a Class-2, 1.25" hitch mount & 3500# gross. Rental places (U-Haul, etc.) won't even rent you a car trailer with one of these. I'm not sure about a car dolly.

Thanks in advance for the info.

Jeff Pierce
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'93 945 Turbo (201K miles), '93 945 (140K miles/I maintain for a family member), '93 945 Turbo (sold w 145K miles), '92 Mercedes 190E (174K miles), '85 Jeep CJ-7 w/ Fisher plow (225K miles), '53 Willys Overland w/ Fisher plow (sold to a loving home)

I'm in the UK so I use a metric hitch. I use a genuine Volvo removable tow ball. All you see below the bumper is a small foam pad when it's not in use. I'll post a picture if you're interested.

All the mountings are in the frame underneath the car to mount the tow hitch assembly. All it requires is that the plasic skirt is removed from the bottom of the rear bumper.

Regards

Pete

Pete,

Thanks for the reply. I'm familiar with the Volvo OEM hitch -- it has the proprietary rectangular ball mount.

We can get an aftermarket item that's similar to it in the US, but the rating for it is only 3500 lbs... so not enough to pull a car on a trailer, and just barely enough to pull a Volvo on a dolly.

Jeff Pierce
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'93 945 Turbo (201K miles), '93 945 (140K miles/I maintain for a family member), '93 945 Turbo (sold w 145K miles), '92 Mercedes 190E (174K miles), '85 Jeep CJ-7 w/ Fisher plow (225K miles), '53 Willys Overland w/ Fisher plow (sold to a loving home)

Thank you for your response.

Encouraging !

I've been towing trailers and other Volvos behind my 86 245 with only a Hayden tranny cooler and the OD solenoid bypassed for over a year. The farthest tow was to get a 244 home (10 hours) from Western Kentucky over the mountains. If the detent cable is adjusted properly the transmission should shift up and down without having to manually work the button.

Regards,

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Will Dallas, www.willdallas.us, www.willdallas.org, www.willdallas.com 86 245 DL 222K miles, 93 940 260K miles, 88 765 GLE 152K miles.

1) That's the method I use in the '90 765T.

2) You already have a tranny cooler; it's plenty.

3) There's a hill in Humboldt county, California, that's killed a number of Volvo slushboxes. I've towed over it many times in a 245 and the 765 with no problems. With coolers(stock on the 765).

Keep the fluid clean; see the FAQ for flushing info.
Brakes may be a problem in steep terrain; I recommend PBR/Axxis Ultimates.

I have towed my '52 VW bug (at just under 1700 lbs.) without any real incident with my 88 760T, high miles (as in 300K plus). It's not perfect, at least not as tough as my old '69 Buick wagon was, which could tow my other cars all day faster than they could drive. I'd say that once you go into any boost at all, drop out of OD--meaning that you'll not be using overdrive anywhere except when going down an incline. I found that the coolant temp indicator showed above the mid-point for the first time since I owned the car--it got damn near the red zone while climbing big hills on the Interstate. I subsequently used premium fuel and the temperature stayed down, so when I plan on towing I swallow hard and tank up on the expensive stuff. In addition, I was being cautious, working my way up hills slowly, using the climbing lane, shutting down the a/c at times. So towing with a 4-cylinder Volvo isn't perfect, but with care and patience you'll have no problems.
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Steve--88 765T, 84 764T, 87 744 (RIP), 84 242 (RIP), 52 Volkswagen, 34 Plymouth