'06 V70-R Valance design!

SimLyons · Post by **SimLyons** » 16 Apr 2011, 20:56

Basically, my wife and I hate the valance on the R (new and old, we have 850R and V70R). The 850 merely cracks and can be fixed with some fiber glass and/or epoxy. When pulling into a parking place the V70R hangs up on moderate curbs in parking lots and then when the car is backed up it pulls down and gets badly distorted/mangled and paint is ground into the plastic valance, or out of it! It looks like the car rode over a bolder (as far as paint goes)

We are thinking maybe cutting off the lower portion that keeps getting hung up, reducing the lower "lip" by a couple of inches. Agreed...the solution is to not drive over the curbs when parking! Easier said than done. It takes only 1 per year and when the blasted things are covered with snow or otherwise hard to see they just sneak up on us! An otherwise gorgeous car looks like it was just mugged!

Does anyone with experience like ours have a solution?

Post by **JRL** » 16 Apr 2011, 21:30

It's not easier said than done
You both need some lessons on how to park
I had two P2 Rs for a total of 7 years (03 -10) and NEVER caught my bumper.
Once caught it will droop, and every time you park thereafter the bumper is lower and you WILL catch it more and more, making it worse
At some point you can wind up with only 2" of front ground clearance and eventually you will just rip it off!

Buy a winter beater

SimLyons · Post by **SimLyons** » 16 Apr 2011, 22:45

Thanks for the comments. We bothhave driven many volvos (I worked for the corporate group and got them as company cars each year for many years). We got the latest V70-R used and the valance was already drooped a bit from prior use.

Some of the curbs are not uniform height. A slightly drooping valance will catch. Can't blame it on the driving since every other brand car we see is clearing them OK. Maybe not the Carreras and Lotuses, etc. I'm replacing my 850 R valance with one off a T5. Nicer looking and zero problems (Had a T5 for 3 years. Shoulda kept it)

SimLyons · Post by **SimLyons** » 16 Apr 2011, 22:49

Oh....JRL, I realize you mist be a far superior drive than most of us. But your snideness/smug self-righteousness is not needed here. It's a forum for help and information, not bragging and off-putting.

Post by **JRL** » 17 Apr 2011, 05:17

You did not mention it was already drooping, if you had, I would not have made that comment, I apologize.
I think if you repair or replace it you should be OK.
Once they have been caught and it's drooping, it's quite easy FOR ANYONE to catch it again and make it worse.

The quick and easy repair is to either pop rivit or tie wrap it back up to the airguide.
This has worked for me and others on a couple of R's I had for sale