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What's the heaviest thing you tow with your Volvo?

deadken

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2009
Location
Long Island, NY
I'm not sure where to post this, but I figure that this might be the most relevant sub-forum:

I've always been interested in getting a camper ever since my father bought a used Shasta (maybe a 15'?) used it with us once, and then turned it into a storage shed on wheels (never to move, just to store stuff in the last spot of our driveway). Refusing to learn from my fathers decision to buy a trailer and only use it once, I still want a trailer.

Now, I have a 1992 944T stock with the exception of a KL Racing intercooler and a (IIRC) Curt trailer hitch with a 1.25" receiver and a 350lb tongue weight and 3500lb tow weight. I also have a 1992 745T with a Stealth FT rebuilt engine, larger turbo (can't remember if it was a 15 or 16), and will get a KL Racing intercooler soon. The 745T has a Volvo 2x3" hitch which has similar specs to the one on the other car (at least 350 / 3500lbs.).

I found that the 1992 740 owners manual says:
Max. trailer weight
(with brakes) 3300 lbs (1500 kg) 1500 kg
Max. tongue weight 165 lbs (75 kg) 75 kg

So, now that I know the rated limits, I want to know what the realistic limits are from people who tow things? Of course, I don't want to buy a bigger trailer than I could tow with the wagon (I'd use the 944T when necessary). Yes, I know that plenty of people like to use a SUV / Minivan with a V6 for this kind of thing. But, I'm pretty sure we here on the Volvo forums are a slightly different breed than most....

BTW: My father had a 1967 Chevy Sportsman van with a 283 V8 (located between the front seats), a 3-speed manual trans (3 on the tree), 16.5" wheels and a full floating rear (lots more, but these are the things that stick with me after all these years). So, he likely was way ahead of me on the tow vehicle!
 
I'd stick to the factory reccomendations to avoid any problems / liability.

That said the wider squat stance of a 7-9 tows well, so go for it to the limit.
 
a good trailer with brakes and a stability controller will go along way to making it safer to tow a lot of weight.
 
We tow a lot with our 240's. We use 240's as the plating on the 940 is a legal issue not that are not capable to towing just as much.

We use a 3 axle car transport trailer that keep the car you are towing low and and more stable. We very often tow other 240's and 940's etc with it for long distance and also often tow Range Rovers, Toyota landruisers. A good braked trailer is critical as is plenty of towing experience. We have towed more weight but I can not say it is exactly recommended.
 
I towed another 940 wagon with mine, towed the gold car several times, towed the tractor several times. heaviest thing I towed (and it was a relatively short distance at low speed for obvious reasons) was a 1995 ford bronco that'd lunched the rear diff. damn thing barely fit on the trailer.
 
Usually 740 max trailer weight is 1500kg and 900 1600kg but the hitch might limit it lower. Most later models(around 96->) have 1800kg from the factory.

Volvo has sold a reinforcement kit to up the trailer weight of the older models to 1800kg. It's really simple and OE-type is still available from Skandix for example. Found that 1900kg mentioned is valid in Germany?
http://www.skandix.de/en/spare-parts/accessories/car-accessories/load-carry/towbar-parts/reinforcing-kit-trailer-hitch/1015479/
 
011-M.jpg
 
Usually 740 max trailer weight is 1500kg and 900 1600kg but the hitch might limit it lower. Most later models(around 96->) have 1800kg from the factory.

Volvo has sold a reinforcement kit to up the trailer weight of the older models to 1800kg. It's really simple and OE-type is still available from Skandix for example. Found that 1900kg mentioned is valid in Germany?
http://www.skandix.de/en/spare-parts/accessories/car-accessories/load-carry/towbar-parts/reinforcing-kit-trailer-hitch/1015479/

interesting, where do those attach?
 
A 1200lb trailer with 3 dirt bikes, and all the gear for a weekend in the woods. I also towed 3k pounds to the scrap yard without any issues as well. Trailer brakes would be a good idea, but ain’t nobody got time for that!

244, b230f, m47, and 3.31 gears. I really need to swap out the rear end to a 3.73 or 4.10.
 
Thanks for all the replies, both helpful and humorous!

I was looking at the A-liner campers before my girlfriend and I drove the 745T from NY to CO and back (visited SD on the way out). While visiting my cousin in CO, her neighbor owned an A-liner and I got to check it out. But, while driving through Kansas on the way back, I saw a Casita and I've been looking at fiberglass campers ever since. I really want to buy an EscapeTrailer (https://escapetrailer.com/), and there is a 21' for sale a few hours away. But, the base trailer weight is 3365 and the hitch weight (which I assume is the same thing as tongue weight) is 350lbs. That puts it really right at the limits of the hitch specs and about 185lbs heavier than what Volvo suggests as a tongue weight. From what I remember, there are heavy duty springs installed in the 745T (which I would think might increase the tongue weight capacity). FWIW, I'm pretty sure that I've have had way more that 185lbs on that hitch (in my cargo tray).

So, I was wondering how well other people found their cars to tow when pretty much at capacity? I know that going up mountains won't be fun. But, I'm more concerned about how drive-able the car is when it's hauling a heavy load.
 
I once towed a ~1,300lb pop up camper with a Subaru Forester 750 miles round trip from PA to NH and back. First and only time I've driven a vehicle that was towing. I thought it did fine. I'm not used to towing, so I didn't really know how much the tow vehicle should move around when hitting bumps/dips in the road. No doubt I could feel the trailer back there, but it wasn't steering me. I couldn't make any sudden moves, either starting or stopping. Had some interesting times in the right lane with people not able/willing to speed up to get in front of me. Overall, I'd tow again with a similar size vehicle & trailer. A 940 Turbo would pull a bit better with the extra torque and I think curb weight is similar to the Forester. Go for it.

If you want to see bad ideas....our first trip to Alabama (from DC) broke down halfway and we had to tow from SC to AL with a n/a automatic 240.

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ded. lol.

need to get mo's opinions up in here, he just towed most (all?) of his stuff cross-country with a bertone.
 
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