98 V70 NA automatic towing - how risky?

[kranz]

Personally, I'd rent a vehicle and spare my own the wear & tear. When I shipped my own kids off to college, I rented a van or SUV with removable seats. If you are reasonably clever online, you can get extremely low daily rates with unlimited miles. At the time I used National because you could choose the vehicle you wanted from the vehicles on their lot at the airport. I'd pick one with removable seats, maximum cargo area and low miles.

I've even seen some parents go to the extreme of renting a POD. They deliver an empty container to your home. You load it up and they deliver it to the destination of your choice.

Having gone off to school with little more than a suitcase myself, I marvel at the quantity of stuff that kids can't live without today.

[98v70dad]

Between the cost of U-Haul rental, extra fuel cost and potential wear/tear of the car (well a car at this age who cares anyway! LOL)...
An alternative is Fedex.

When my kid moved to college in Michigan, I shipped 6 boxes (around 24 x 24 x 24 inches or so).
Fedex charged $30/box. We shipped ahead of time, Fedex will hold the boxes at destination location for us.
We simply went there and picked them up.
No headache, no hassles!

Thanks. I thought of that, but there is no way to get her bed up there inexpensively. I could always buy another one but I already have a new one for her that we've been storing. This post was more about possibilities. Towing a trailer even a small one is not something I want to do. It would be an adventure though.

[98v70dad]

(I'm hypothetically thinking 1500 -2000 pounds - I'll have to check the limit but I think its 3500).

No, a lot less than you think.


Trailers without brakes: 1,100 lbs
Trailers with brakes: 3,300 with a 2" ball, and 2,000 with a 1 7/8 inch ball.
Tongue weight varies between 110 and 265 lbs depending on the hitch class and trailer weight.

Thanks. Helpful info.

[matthew1]

Here's my towing prep post. If I could do it over, I'd have sold all that junk... bed, furniture, bike even. For some reason I was "invested" in that crap. But since MVS isn't a philosophy site, I digress...

Here's the rather light on details after-towing post.

My 850 had only 82k miles on it, and was freshly Stage 0-ed. I think I averaged 12mpg and 55mph.

I wouldn't do it, 98v70dad. That's my unsolicited advice.

[sleddriver]

OP: Be sure to only use 93 octane!

[rspi]

Towing, interesting... I have towed a trailer from Little Rock AR to Cincinnati OH with a bedroom full of furniture (daughter's stuff). Car has about 235,000 on it, no problems at all. Then I towed a trailer from Little Rock AR to Albuquerque NM in the dead of summer (about 260,000). Had a water pump failure but really no issues. Both trips had nice hills and good climbing runs. The turbo did well, not sure if it would have been fun with a NA.

If you can, install an external transmission cooler. C70's Has one that fit great. Also, change the fluid once you get done. If you cook the fluid during the tow, it's damaged and you don't want to drive much with bad fluid.

The biggest hills that I recall are in NC and VA, not to bad. Take it easy going up long hills, maybe shift to 3rd and do about 50 mph. Don't worry about the RPM's being up around 3500, these cars can run at 4k all day.

I believe I took our trailer for less than 24 hours and dropped it in the town of delivery.

Volvo 850 turbo towing.