V/Thule bike rack on V70 ('98) compatible for 855 ('96) ?

[Grzeggy]

Volvo bike rack used on '98 V70 being offered to me at a great price.
Can anyone tell me if this will be a good fit for a '96 850 wagon?

Thnx,
GreggD

[akitawagon]

They should fit.

However...You need to make sure that the mounting attachments for the load bars are either:

- coming from a V70 that has the factory roof rails/rack mounted on the roof and your 850 has the same roof rails

or

- the V70 has no roof rack and uses the load bar mounts that clamp onto the inner part of the door and your 850 has no roof rack also

You can visit www.thule.com to compare the differences.

[Helodrv]

I have both the Thule door sill mounted bars and the Volvo/Thule bars for a V70. I pulled the roof rails off a wrecked V70 and mounted them on my 1995 850 wagon after I found the Volvo/Thule bars at a great price from a local seller.

If you already have roof rails on your 850, you need to check that the V70 cross bars will fit. The roof rails changed a bit from the 850 models to the V70 models. The later rails seem to be a little taller and maybe thicker.

I debated for quite a while whether or not to add the roof rails. I liked being able to completely remove the older Thule rack from the top of the car when not in use. But once I was offered the newer crossbars, I decided to go ahead and add the roof rails. I have not been disappointed. The roof rails offer more options in placement of the crossbars. The doorsill mounted crossbars were fixed. In practical terms, this means I can easily adjust the bars back and forth to fit a rack mounted luggage carrier (roof box) while still mounting 1 to 3 Thule bicycle mounts on the system. I think I gained a lot more practical use with the roof rails. Plus, I can easily remove the bicycle mounts and the cross bars as a single unit in less than 10 minutes - the same for reinstalling...

Mel Hughes
Flintstone, GA