I had a roof rack on my v70, and it proved a valuable asset many times, so I found some junkyard rails for my new-to-me 2010 v50, painted them and went to put them on.
The process here turned out to have a few surprises, so photos and text follow.
SURPRISE #1:
You only need to pry up the ENDS of the channels, you don’t need to completely remove them, as the v50 does not have the center post for the roof rack that the v70 has. This cutting is made far easier if you cut the ends off the channel with sheet metal shears. So, you will destroy a maximum of 3 of the little clips per end, or 12 total. With care and luck, you will only destroy 2 per end (8 total).
SURPRISE #2:
The v50 is TAPERED! The roof is narrower in the back than in the front! The aerodynamic (airplane wing-shaped) load bars from my v70 fit fine in the front, but I had to cut 1.5 inches off each side of the aluminum casting to get it to fit at the rear of the v50. The spring-loaded mechanisms on each end of the aluminum casting fit nicely after the cutting, so no kludge required, just a hacksaw.
PARTS AND TOOLS:
You need 8 6mm x 25 (or 6mm x 30) stainless steel bolts and washers, as many as a dozen of the plastic trim clips that hold the covers that run down the channels on each side of the roof, and a tube of RTV gasket goo. In addition to the usual tools, you’ll need a pair of plastic trim tools, a hacksaw, a 1-foot square hunk of plywood (to protect the car from your hacksaw!), a vice, some old towels, and some painter’s tape. A pair of sheet metal shears is optional.
THE CLIPS:
The plastic clips can be 3D printed, here is the STL file https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various ... ip-8678600 (A big thanks to a member of this forum who will remain anonymous, who printed clips for me, but I will not send a stampede to his door, as I am informed that most public libraries have 3D printers.) Take care to get the right clips, there are many different ones out there, these are the same as the v70 clips that are NOT near the windshield. The good news is that one clip type works for the entire v50.
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I have seen several people talk about removing headliners. I have no idea what they were smoking, but I want some. You don’t need to do anything inside the car at all with the v70 or the v50. Threaded PEM nuts were welded in the right places for you.
PRY OFF THE END OF THE TRIM STRIP
Don’t be afraid, just don’t bend the trim strips. Yes, the plastic clips will break, there is only luck to protect them. Use the plastic trim removal tools, and pretend you are opening your cellphone to replace the battery.
Lay some old towels down to protect the roof and rails from scratches, lay the rails down on the towels, and measure the distance from the screw hole to the end of the “foot” of the rail. You want the trim strip to be under the lip of the foot, so that the rail will help hold it in place, but not blocking the rubber of the molded gasket that sits between the roof and the foot of the rail. Note that these were angled cuts for my rails, which came off a junkyard v50, but yours may vary, as trim parts are poorly documented, and change without notice. Take some care here. I have provided no dimensions, as you need to measure your own - don’t trust mine to be the same as yours.
Once you have the trim strips cut to length, remove the broken clips by sliding them until the come off the stud in the middle of the channel. Note that the first photo of the clips shows them as having a finger that points downward at each corner of the clip. These are what break off, so if you have a clip with all four fingers intact, the olde Norse Gods of Volvo have smiled upon you. If not, you’ll need to replace it with a new clip. Clean the grime and gunk out of the channel while you are at it.
TEST FIT EVERYTHING
But before you put the new clips in, test-fit everything by putting the rails into place, screwing in the bolts loosely, and sliding everything into place to see that clearances are good. If not, fix your cuts. (Remember the plastic snap-on covers on the ends of the rails will hide all your work, but you want to get the ends of the trim UNDER the “feet” of the rails so they don’t fall off some day.) Once you are happy, remove the bolts and the rails.
Slide the new clips on as far as they will slide onto the stud, and verify that the curved fingers are pointing downward, to grip the channel on the trim strip.
INSTALL THE ROOF RAILS
I put RTV gasket goo on each bolt hole, and another generous dab in the middle, as my rubber gaskets were old. You want to at least put some on each bolt hole, as people have worried about water getting into the cabin via these holes (naw – it’s their complete lack of or lackadaisical maintenance of the sunroof drains!), and the RTV will be a good “threadlocker” to keep the bolts from vibrating loose.
THE LOAD BARS
You may have 3rd party load bars, or the more modern style shiny ones, but mine are from my v70. They are anodized aluminum “airplane wing” type with notched rubber strips along the top to reduce wind noise. Thes instructions apply only to the aerodynamic “airplane wing” style load bars, as their flexibility is limited.
As I said, the v50 is TAPERED – the back is narrower than the front. Go ahead and measure. On mine, the rails were a good 3 inches closer together at the rear once installed. So, cut an inch and a half off each end of the aluminum casting for what will become the REAR load bar. The photo is of the load bar in place, reassembled properly with the little screw to the left that holds the metal finger that keeps the spring-loaded sliding “claw” in place, and the other little metal bit on the right that both retains the plastic top on a rubber lanyard, and also has the spring attached. The spring attaches to the “wrist” of the “claw” with the spring clip facing INWARD, so as to allow it to slide without snagging on the spring.
The tightening screw is a torx 30 “security screw” so you need a torx 30 with a hole drilled into the end to remove or put on the load bars.
Surgery is over. The patient is now a true descendant of the original “brick” Volvo wagons, and is ready to haul large objects, and happily accept many ratchet straps.
Here is the obligatory and completely unhelpful Volvo exploded diagram of the clip for a v50 (part #26) Part 25 is apparently the TAPE!
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