1998 V70 and Colorado Emissions / Keep or Sell Nordic Thunder? Topic is solved

[FlyingVolvo]

1) How terrible an idea is it for me to tow a moving trailer with my car ~2000 flat-ish highway miles? It seems cheaper than getting a truck, but my girlfriend thinks the ol' wagon will give up the ghost if we do that.

I recently towed a decent amount of weight with my XC at close to 260,000 miles. It's doable if you go slow and be gentle.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=84485&p=464035&hilit=report#p464035

[callahanoffroad]

Man you all are a bunch of enablers, telling me what I want to hear!

Couple other questions:

1) How terrible an idea is it for me to tow a moving trailer with my car ~2000 flat-ish highway miles? It seems cheaper than getting a truck, but my girlfriend thinks the ol' wagon will give up the ghost if we do that.

2) Maybe a tangent, but I removed the driveshaft because it was worn out and super noisy, and was contemplating putting a rebuilt one back in. Is there anything I should look at/ other parts that might be worn out (angle gear?) that might not make it worth it to do this? Local pickup on a Colorado Driveshaft for me is ~$350

Thanks!

I built a roof rack for my 850 wagon. I used the stock cross bars, some 2"x4"s to form a base and some 2x10" boards to form a basket. I then used three large plastic tubs to transport my stuff from Colorado back to Missouri. I've moved to and from Colorado about 6 times in total now. My experience has been that unless you have irreplaceable stuff it's cheaper to sell everything and get it all off Craigslist when you get there. Cheaper too. Hahaha

[bubbeck]

1) How terrible an idea is it for me to tow a moving trailer with my car ~2000 flat-ish highway miles? It seems cheaper than getting a truck, but my girlfriend thinks the ol' wagon will give up the ghost if we do that.

I recently towed a decent amount of weight with my XC at close to 260,000 miles. It's doable if you go slow and be gentle.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=84485&p=464035&hilit=report#p464035

Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone! I noticed you installed a transmission cooler - how necessary is that if I'm only planning on highway towing this one time?

[FlyingVolvo]

1) How terrible an idea is it for me to tow a moving trailer with my car ~2000 flat-ish highway miles? It seems cheaper than getting a truck, but my girlfriend thinks the ol' wagon will give up the ghost if we do that.

I recently towed a decent amount of weight with my XC at close to 260,000 miles. It's doable if you go slow and be gentle.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=84485&p=464035&hilit=report#p464035

Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone! I noticed you installed a transmission cooler - how necessary is that if I'm only planning on highway towing this one time?

Nobody really has any scientific data here on how much it helps or doesn't help... buuut I think on the highway you'd be fine without it. I did some high-heat mountainous towing and I think having an aux cooler in that case is beneficial. I opened up a dead radiator once though, and the stock ATF cooler inside is literally just one big tube, no fins or anything. Looks pretty easy to overwhelm the stock system. I don't recommend towing with the AC on. The most important thing is going to be that your ATF is in great shape (I also have an ATF filter installed). Personally, I'm a big fan of Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF. It's freaking expensive, but I think it holds up much better than conventional.

[SuperHerman]

Nordic Thunder should have no problems making the trip, but you need to address the old hoses and oil leaks before making the trip. If a failing hose blows in the middle of no where, that nice expanse mentioned by one of the posters, you are in trouble. Highway driving is easier on the car than city driving, but failing in no where land changes the question from car failure to car repair. Two totally different problems. Right now you control the repair options - once underway you do not.

Sort out all the issues (including the engine light) make sure every hose is in good condition change all of your oils especially your transmission and you should have no issues.

Right now Nordic Thunder is telling you it needs maintenance in MA. Leaking hoses are failing hoses.

Would I take Nordic Thunder cross country in its current condition - no. Would I drive it long term in MA - no. Engine lights tell you something is not optimal, oil leaks tell you something is wrong, fluids need to be at the correct level and within their life span. Nothing you mention sounds too expensive to fix, but the items need to be fixed otherwise you have a rolling time bomb waiting to go off in the middle of no where.

If I changed all aged, leaking and suspect hoses, changed the fluids and addressed all the lights the answer becomes yes. It is not the car, but the current maintenance issues that is of concern.

Regarding pulling a trailer - if the car is spec'd for it Nordic Thunder should have no issues. If you are really curious ask the rental place if you can do a test run. Hook it up and see how it feels on the highway and hills.

[bubbeck]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I ended up keeping the car and driving it out, which was definitely the right decision. Didn't end up towing with it because a the manual says the limit is 1100# for trailers without brakes, and Uhaul trailers smaller than the 6x12 don't have brakes and weigh 900# by themselves. Before heading out, I rebuilt the leaking oil cooler lines, and replaced the control arms. I should have done the coolant lines though, because about 10 mi out of Lincoln NE the low coolant light came on. Fortunately, it was a slow leak and we got it to a shop in Lincoln, where they replaced the leaking turbo inlet hose. That was a painful lesson - it cost what it would've cost me to do all the hose - but, it wasn't catastrophic and we made it out! Just finished replacing all the coolant hoses yesterday, and already passed emissions and got 'er registered. 300k miles here we come!