Thanks Whyman, at least its reassuring to to hear what you say.
Yes it seems obvious to just unbolt the sleeve from the 4' cross bar and replace it and the towball as both worn parts, and yes - no need to remove bumper. And according to Brink in Northants, this used to be a way forward, but not any more. Brink withdrew from UK back to Holland a year ago and whats left is an independant with distributer rights only (Brink UK), so there is a gap to bridge there between the companies. and...
Brink in Holland have a deal with certain manufacturers, volvo being one of them, so essentially they produce two towbars for every car; a Brink one, and also a Volvo Original part version which is about 95% similar. If your towbar is classed as a Volvo Original part then there is NO way Brink will sell you just the sleeve or any part of it - that is the contractual deal between them and Volvo, meaning you MUST buy from volvo and you must buy the whole lot including 4' bar (£400 supply only). You will know if its a volvo original part because the sticker on it will say "Volvo by Brink", or "Volvo by Thule if it was between 2006 -2016 (same thing though).
You can see folk selling the towball on places like ebay, even new ones, but unless you can change the sleeve as well, then its not known where the wear is and thus there is still a risk so not worth trying that route.
Basically I can only conclude I haven't cleaned it often enough, and have only once or twice in total have applied engine grease to lube the system. Add in the fact we tow often (Ifor = 760kg, 2 x ponies = 300x 2) about 1300-1400KG, with occasionally higher (bigger pony!) and the only answer I can come up with is that the Brink detatachable system is just not up to the job over the long term with towing higher train weights.
Like you say, it will probably be fine, but now we have heard a towbar specialist say its not safe and for 90% of the time its my wife and I'm not there, then i feel its a risk we cant take and the pill to swallow is a god dam new tow bar and be done with it!
And again, like you say, given all of the above, I think i will go with a fixed towbar; not worried these days about the look of the vehicle and fixed is just a bit more piece of mind.
So for all the enthusiasts out there who have stuck with this - if towing and towing reasonably heavy loads is part of your day to day routine, (and by that I don't mean professional level towing like pickups and Landrover defender territory), then definitely a fixed towbar is the only answer over the long term.
The car is booked in for a new fixed flange towbar on Tuesday - so please do message me if you can think of a way to replace the Volvo Brink sleeve before then!!
Thanks Everyone
|