Volvo trailer wiring and electric brakes

[unibrain]

I've almost convinced myself to buy a 2005 XC70 to replace my Jeep Grand Cherokee. The one thing holding me back is the desire to be able to tow a small trailer.

I'm trying to find out if the Volvo supplied wiring harness has provisions for electric brakes. If it does, yea! If it doesn't what are the alternatives for the wiring harness? If also seen reference to a European type connector in a post from 2002. Is this connector still supplied and will an adapter be necessary?

I've dug through the forums and found conflicting information and even called the dealer and still did not get a clear answer.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

[gibbons]

I don't know if they have one or not, but I would doubt it. Anytime you get into electric brakes, the trailer weight is substantial, and probably higher than you might want to tow with an XC. But then again, the more braking power, the better!

That being said, wiring a vehicle for electric brakes isn't hard. You need to tap the brake light circuit, and get a healthy 12V source to the dash area for the controller and then run the output from the controller to the back of the car to the integrated connector.

The only caution on a do-it-yourself here is that nearly everything electrical runs on the Volvo "CAN", controller area network. It's a pretty sophisticated communications network and protocol. Some message traffic has priority over others. I would hate to goof things up. I added capacitors to the positive leads of my speakers as a cross over before I found out about all of this other magic in the car. If I had known how complex they are, I probably wouldn't have messed with it.

All that being said, heck, buy and XC just for the fun of it, and get another vehicle for towing. This is the most fun, satisfying car I have ever had.

[Big]

I had a V70XC with towing and now have an XC90 with towing. No electric brake capability in the Volvo harness of either vehicle. I assume the XC70 is the same. You'll have to have the brake controller installed by a trailer shop or DIY. The XC70 specs say it can tow 1100 lbs without trailer brakes and 3300 lbs with brakes. As for the connector, Volvo started using a standard U.S. 7-pin flat in 2003-4 (the XC90 has a dual 7-pin/4-pin); before that they used a Euro 7-pin round.

[HeadXC]

I am not sure about the wiring on the Euro plug with 7 posts and have not checked them with a tester to see what each does, nor am i sure what the control does in the front of the car. I think that most trailers in Europe hve to have brakes nad do not recall seeing any actuators up front, maybe some of the those extra plugs in the Volvo receptacle handle this issue. Perhaps there is a Eurpean member that can answer this.

[Big]

I am not sure about the wiring on the Euro plug with 7 posts and have not checked them with a tester to see what each does, nor am i sure what the control does in the front of the car. I think that most trailers in Europe hve to have brakes nad do not recall seeing any actuators up front, maybe some of the those extra plugs in the Volvo receptacle handle this issue. Perhaps there is a Eurpean member that can answer this.
I explored this several years ago (we had the Euro setup on the V70XC) and found out that the 7-pin round connector is designated 12N and does not have a brake line. Europeans typically use a mechanical "push-pull" system or what we call "reaction" or "surge" brakes. The U.S. electric standard is more flexible but also harder to install. There are wiring diagrams on the web.

[unibrain]

Thanks for the information. The trailer I would be towing would be about 2000-2500 pounds so is in the ballpark to need brakes. I'll call around to some of the local trailer places and ask if they've ever installed an electric brake controller in a XC70 and look into a trailer w/ surge brakes.

I've thought about buying yet another vehicle for towing, but it wouldn't see much use and I have no place to store it.

Thanks again,

Jim
www.unibrain.org/motorsports
'66 Lotus Elan
'67 Lotus Seven
'02 Mazda Miata
'97 Jeep Grand Cherokee - Soon to be replaced.

[Francisd]

If you haven't talked to UHaul, I would give them a call. They do more trailer hitches than any one else on a wide variety of vehicles and quoted me at about 350 CDN installed with wiring for my 04 XC.

PS - Jim is that your Elan I used to see at the Van Dusen meet in Vancouver?

[unibrain]

I'm a bit afraid of U-haul having seen some of the work they've done but will give them a call, and a couple other local places, to see what they can do.

As for the Elan, I finished a 3 year restoration earlier in the year. It was in a yard in Berkely for 7 years before that.

Jim
www.unibrain.org/motorsports
'66 Lotus Elan
'67 Lotus Seven
'02 Mazda Miata
'97 Jeep Grand Cherokee - Soon to be replaced.

[dlr97]

If you go with the XC70 for towing, I would advise getting the load-leveling rear suspension suspension kit (Nivomat shocks).

I towed my last race car (Neon ACR with 1500 lb trailer, about 3900 lb total) with a small pickup that weighed about the same as the XC. The trailer used surge brakes and I had no problems.

I also once towed a GTI on a trailer _without_ brakes from N. California to Portland, and the tow was more scary than the race!

Dave

[geo]

hi,
You guy's.
We in England speak English and have "over-run" brakes on our trailers between 750 KG and 2500KG, above 2500 KG power linked brakes are mandatory, below 750 KG brakes are not here a legal requirement. I guess the American for "over-run brakes" is surge brakes.
As the XC70 maximum towing limit is 1800kg power brakes would fall outside its range if use, so it would not be required to have wiring suitable for powered brakes.
Our Land Rovers, your Cherokees/ Explorers etc, and the various Japanese "Multi purpose" (a Euro legal definition) vehicles may well include the wiring (or offer a kit) as they have to have the facility to classify as Multi purpose vehicles.
I would imagine however that the Brake light feed wire to the trailer coupling would have a sufficient capacity to feed a relay to signal the power trailer brake, and the permanant live feed (fused 15amp) sufficient power to run the brakes.
They are all in a white 14 way multi plug (together with the other lighting, ignition switched live and 3 return earths) fixed to the rear wall to the rear RH side of the battery compartment/spare wheel under that clever lift up rear floor. This is the prep pack for the trailer wiring connection, where trailer wiring is connected when fitted.

[John@CdnRockies]

Keep in mind that while the XC70's tow capacity is 3,300 pounds, the tongue weight is only 180 pounds. I was initially very skeptical at this arrangement, but have found that it works just fine. I do take extra precautions to ensure evenly weighted loads by checking with a bathroom scale on the tongue.

I have towed a 3,000 pound boat/trailer combo over the Rockies as well as a 2,500 pound 8x12 high-box U-Haul trailer over the same terrain. Both experiences have been very smooth (frankly, to my suprise). Just the standard surge brakes on the trailers - but things worked very smoothly despite my lead foot.

I have had a fair amount of experience towing the boat behind our Jeep (across Canada and return twice - say 25,000 km total). The Jeep was great but the Volvo has also been reasonably good by comparison. Not to the level of a Jeep, but sufficiently satisfactory that I intend to use the Volvo for serious towing once we retire.

John

[HeadXC]

I have heard that surge brakes in Canada will soon be no longer allowed.

[philosophicaldreamer]

hi,
You guy's.
We in England speak English . . .. Hmm . . . You should watch a movie entitled Snatch. There is a cute seen in it when Dennis Ferina's character, who is from New York, comes to London and after two days of being in the city he says to one of his English buddies, "I have been here for two days, and so far non of you guys speak any English." :D

Ta-ta, j.