Steel dog guard in XC70: multi-position?
 

I spent about 45 minutes trying to fit the drop-down cargo / dog guard in the front position in my MY11 XC70. That is, I tried removing it from the normal position and fitting it behind the front seats so that it screened the whole cargo area with the back seats down.
I failed. It looks like it should fit. It nearly fits. But you can't engage the end bits properly - the recesses seem too shallow.
The user manual makes no mention of fitting it in the forward position.
My previous V70 had the cargo nets fitted into the rear seats, and these could be used in either the front or back positions.
Seems to me that the front fixings in the roof are only for the optional cassette-type cargo nets, not for the steel fold-down guard. Am I correct in this assumption, or am I missing something!
Thanks.
Alec

I'm pretty certain the front mounting holes are only intended for the cassette-type, or foldable cargo net (as seen in my P2 XC70).

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ps5f01b03d.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ps8d399834.jpg

You're right - the metal grill fits rear only - cassette nets use same fixings for front or rear.

Well that's another school day then. I had always assumed the drop down luggage guard would fit both positions. Does seem a bit silly as if using the full load area it's the driver that will get hit if the load moves, safety for rear seat passenger but not driver, well done Volvo. Has to be the ford influence.

Paul.

The metal guard is designed to fill the gap between the top of the seat and the headlining. If you were to position it in the front location, you would not have the seat back to form the lower half of the partition so your load / dog would just slide underneath.

Not really a Ford money saving thing as it been that way since the old 850's and V70's in the 90's. To make it work you'd need a metal guard that was twice as big....

That makes a lot of sense! Thanks for confirming this.
The puzzling thing is that Volvo don't acknowledge this in the manual. When it so clearly looks like it can be fitted in the front position.
Thanks again,
Alec