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XC60 Towbar fitting guide

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Old Apr 25th, 2016, 20:35   #21
scuba0576
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Thank you for taking the time to post this informative and detailed instructions.
I now have the confidence to attempt this myself.
Your pictures have made it not such a daunting task.
Rob
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Old May 14th, 2016, 04:51   #22
somersetmale
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Smile Finishing Installing XC60 Tow-Bar

Well chaps, I did the tow-bar fitting last weekend with a little help from my bro as you do need two to drop the bumper assembly.
As per previously mentioned, the safety member does re-fit (with a Witter tow-bar from FP Jones) A bit tight, but will torque down and make the vehicle Type approved for Insurance purposes.
The one hiccup we had was having to loosen the tow-bar bolts after torquing them because the tow-bar obstructed access for the top two bolts for the two brackets that carry the heat shield, Doh!!

Now I have a question to all you knowledgable chaps!
Fitting the 'Right Connections' loom that I bought with the bar from PF Jones, not a problem, very straight forward, but there is a second loom which supplies a constant feed to the caravan fridge. I prefer not to have to run a constant live feed from the + battery terminal all the way through the car to the boot and my bro. found a live feed in the left boot well at the fusebox to avoid having to do this, but can't see how to free-up the electrical connectors from the back of the fusebox to crimp in the wires. Does anybody have any knowledge of how this should be done (without wrecking the box)?

As an aside, the rubber grommet which the tow-bar wiring loom passes through to the outside of the car was missing on my car, (obviously a previous tow-bar fitted), so I phoned my local Volvo dealer and after much confusion, they said there were three grommets despite my detailed explanation, but carried not stock of any of them, so would order all three. Delivery would take about a week as they had to come from Sweden!!!!
I said, Okay, as long as I didn't have to pay for carriage......
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Old May 17th, 2016, 19:53   #23
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A quick one about towbar suitability...

Is there any difference in fitment of tow bars for the later model?
I'm looking through eBay at loads of towbars suitable for 2015 d5 and d3 etc, yet none of them list as being suitable for my d4.
(Whenever I put the d4 engine it just throws back as not suitable for my car)
I thought the body and fitment was essentialy the same for all later series xc60.

Cheers

Jase
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Old May 18th, 2016, 17:33   #24
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Hi Jase,

I bought a used Witter towbar on ebay from a 2010 D5 AWD with a dedicated 13-pin wiring harness and easily fitted it to a 2016 D4 FWD.

The only issue was the wiring module, that I needed to buy the latest model from Right Connections for £50.

Regards - Mark.
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Old May 18th, 2016, 22:50   #25
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cheers!

I didn't think there'd be any variances tbh... Just settling the mind!
So that's the towbars ordered, and now the genuine Volvo electronics module + wiring. That'll need a trip to Volvo to activate properly but should do all the magic it's supposed to.

Cracking write up OP!
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Old Aug 2nd, 2016, 13:26   #26
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Excellent write-up. Did mine in an evening (no electrics yet).
As to the crash panel, I would not be too worried, my engineering head says that the sheer thickness of steel that the towbar mounting bracket is made from is way stronger than the pressed steel original item.
I have the old one if anybody wants it.
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Old Aug 2nd, 2016, 14:20   #27
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I agree completely. The Towbar is far stronger than the bit of folded sheet metal it replaced. I hope your bolts were long enough to go through both and have enough thread engagement to avoid smushing the nutserts they go into.

Only downside with the s60 is you are far more likely to crush a reversing sensor if something pushes the bumper in but that's what insurance is for.
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Old Aug 2nd, 2016, 14:31   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Agouti View Post
I agree completely. The Towbar is far stronger than the bit of folded sheet metal it replaced. I hope your bolts were long enough to go through both and have enough thread engagement to avoid smushing the nutserts they go into.

Only downside with the s60 is you are far more likely to crush a reversing sensor if something pushes the bumper in but that's what insurance is for.
And do you think that your insurance is going to pay if you have not fitted the crash bar as per Volvo instructions? The crash bar is part of the type approval of the vehicle and by its removal it therefore does not meet type approval regulations making your insurance null and void. Not a risk I would be prepared to make on such a costly vehicle.
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Old Aug 2nd, 2016, 14:46   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rkennedy View Post
And do you think that your insurance is going to pay if you have not fitted the crash bar as per Volvo instructions? The crash bar is part of the type approval of the vehicle and by its removal it therefore does not meet type approval regulations making your insurance null and void. Not a risk I would be prepared to make on such a costly vehicle.
Crash bar is not refitted (and indeed, is not possible to fit) with the genuine Volvo towbar for the S60. Even have the official instructions to prove it

At least for the S60 if you CAN fit it over the aftermarket it would mean the cross member was significantly smaller and almost certainly weaker - the hollow in behind the crash bar is half the height of the genuine member.

Edit: For the XC60 from looking through different accessories it looks like there IS enough for room as the instructions say to refit it. The genuine XC60 towbar member I'm seeing is round, not RHS like in the first post photos, though, and I suspect it wouldn't fit with that one in the first post.

I also added some locktite 243 to each of the bolts before torquing them, just to be safe. I doubt it is ever coming off but 243 wont make it too much of a problem regardless and it adds some peace of mind.
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Last edited by Agouti; Aug 2nd, 2016 at 15:25.
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Old Aug 3rd, 2016, 01:40   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Agouti View Post
Crash bar is not refitted (and indeed, is not possible to fit) with the genuine Volvo towbar for the S60. Even have the official instructions to prove it

At least for the S60 if you CAN fit it over the aftermarket it would mean the cross member was significantly smaller and almost certainly weaker - the hollow in behind the crash bar is half the height of the genuine member.

Edit: For the XC60 from looking through different accessories it looks like there IS enough for room as the instructions say to refit it. The genuine XC60 towbar member I'm seeing is round, not RHS like in the first post photos, though, and I suspect it wouldn't fit with that one in the first post.

I also added some locktite 243 to each of the bolts before torquing them, just to be safe. I doubt it is ever coming off but 243 wont make it too much of a problem regardless and it adds some peace of mind.
Thanks for that - I confirm that mine was fitted to an XC60, towbar member was round (genuine Volvo) and the crash bar fitted fine.
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