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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    New Hampshire
    Posts
    1

    Default XC70 On The Beach

    So here's the story. My wife and I have a house on Cape Cod and 3 Cocker Spaniels. One of our favorite things to do is to go down to the beach at low tide and let the dogs loose. They spend hours chasing seagulls and nosing around folks parked on the flats in their 4x4 and Land Rovers etc. We typically get to the beach by parking in a lot and walking in. It's a bit of a hike and for various reasons the walk is getting more difficult, so this year my wife asked for a beach car for her birthday.

    I picked up a 2006 XC70 on eBay for peanuts and did a complete stage 0 tune, it runs great and checks out fine with VIDA. I'm now starting to look at tires. I bought a set of IPD Pegasus 17" with the intention of putting 235/45s on them with all the proper steering stops etc, and thought that would be fine for a beach tire. Well, it turns out that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have some regulations that I probably should have looked into before starting on this path, specifically the minimum size they'll let on the beach with a 17" wheel is a 245/60. (http://www.nps.gov/caco/cape-cod-nat...ch-driving.htm) Boring!

    I've been knocking around the web looking for lift solutions and naturally found the IPD AT Concept and Bad Swede. I've had some good conversations with Rod at Bad Swede (http://www.badswede.com/), great guy, and it seems like just lifting the car won't solve the problem as the higher the car goes, the further forward the rear trailing arms move, making larger diameter tires rub against the from to the wheel wells--now it's clear why the IPD Team had to do so much cutting around the wheel wells on the AT Concept.

    At any rate, I was wondering if any of you have any ideas. There don't seem to be too many XC70 hot rods around the web and I've got to believe that someone has run up against this problem before. Any thoughts or advice other than "Toss the XC70 and get an XC90 or Land Rover" would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks in advance,

    pete.;1

    2011 S60 T6
    2007 V70 2.5T
    2006 XC70

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Western Head, Nova Scotia
    Posts
    3,089

    Default

    They have a regulation? There must be a rule or regulation on everything these days. Sure glad I moved out of the US years ago.

    Anyway, my 110 Defender wouldn't qualify as I run mil-spec 225s on my 16in wheels. I do a fair amount of beach driving and I've never had a problem that I couldn't drive out of. Perhaps Cape Cod has different sand than we do. In any event, I sure wouldn't recommend altering the suspension of an XC just to get qualifying tires on it. Presumably you spend more time on paved surfaces than on sand. Therefore, I'd keep the car as it is and what it was designed for. As far as getting out onto the beach, I guess I'd suggest either getting a vehicle that is designed to go out there or just hike in. Considering everything, the latter suggestion would probably be the best all way round for everyone involved anyway.

    Cheers,

    Bill
    Western Head, NS CDN

    '08 BMW 750i (Black Sapphire)-204K kms to-date
    '05 XC70 (Lava Sand)-296K kms to-date
    '02 V70XC-gone @393K kms
    '05 V70R (Magic Blue)-120K mi to-date - gone
    '96 854R (Red)-real CDN-spec 5-speed R - gone @270k kms
    And other Volvos and misc. Euro stuff

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Thurso & Leeds, UK
    Posts
    181

    Default

    Maybe if you drop the wheel size to 16" you'll be able to qualify.
    215 x 65 x 16 tyres have a diameter of 686mm, 235 x 65 x 16 have a diameter of 712, or 26mm more.
    I know for a fact that 235 x 60 x 16 fit without any issues, I would hazard a guess that 26mm more would fit without problems.

    I seem to remember a year or so ago someone was running XC90 17" alloys and tyres on a 70 so it looks likely.

    If you can get 15" wheels over the brakes (in the UK they won't fit, the disks are too big at 305mm) then you can certainly qualify, the reg is 225 x 70 x 15, which works out at a mere 10mm bigger. That's a certainty to fit

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Northshore - Great Lakes
    Posts
    813

    Default

    If nothing works, install a set of Sand tires, engage B and not W. LoL!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    NJ,USA
    Posts
    198

    Default

    How about a Jeep wrangler for a beach ride, cheap, easy to fix, plenty around.

    one very important thing about using any vehicle on the beach is that sand will eat your seals, axle seals, trans, engine, it will get in everywhere.

    Think about that because it will be much easier and cheaper to replace them on the jeep then a volvo & land rover


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    NJ,USA
    Posts
    198

    Default

    How about a Jeep wrangler for a beach ride, cheap, easy to fix, plenty around.

    one very important thing about using any vehicle on the beach is that sand will eat your seals, axle seals, trans, engine, it will get in everywhere.

    Think about that because it will be much easier and cheaper to replace them on the jeep then a volvo & land rover and U can put any size tires with a simple lift on a jeep, I know


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Devon PA
    Posts
    11,409

    Default

    Regardless, a 235/45/17 on an XC looks so stupid I can't tell you
    (Seen it) and it's the wrong size for an XC anyway

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    SE WI
    Posts
    1,308

    Default

    I sea kayak and am around the beaches on Lake Michigan all the time.
    The last thing I would do is drive on the beach. Kiss of death to your XC!
    Get a Wrangler if you simply must drive on the sand.-Dick
    '11 XC70 Silver/Off Black-Hers
    '03 XC70 Silver/Charcoal-His
    '99 XC70 Silver/Charcoal -Granddaughter's
    '87 740GLE Junk Yard@287K miles
    2013 Porsche Boxster
    2017 Porsche C4S

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    NJ
    Posts
    170

    Default

    Sounds like a fun project, but could smaller rims be an option? I don't think there are any other remotely simple solutions, unfortunately.

    I'm not sure how bad the beaches would be for the car, either. The way Volvo had journalists thrash the 2005 XC70 in Baja, however, I kind of doubt a slow roll on the sand would kill these cars.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Virginia Beach
    Posts
    4,116

    Default

    My 4 Runner sees quite a bit of beach...it's not the sand (though that can be tough on lots of parts...)...it's the salt...
    Current Fleet:
    2016 Tundra Crewmax 4WD 1794
    2005 MB S600 (126K, Michelin AS4, HPL 0W40)
    2005 MB SL600 (55K Michelin AS4, Mobil 1 0W40)
    2004 V70R (143K, six speed M66, HPL 5W40)
    2004 XC90 (235K, HPL 0W30 Euro)
    2002 V70-XC (295K, HPL 0W30 Euro)
    2002 V70-T5 (225K, IPD bars, Bilsteins)
    2001 V70-T5 (125K, IPD downpipe, cat back and other mods)
    1932 Packard Sedan (straight 8, dual sidemounts, original paint and interior, Shell Rotella 15W40)

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