I found this pic in my collection, from 2001, of my wife's old 960 wagon, loaded to the gills, and towing a util trailer too. classic. that car rocked, but a few years later, it was tail ended hard enough to tweak the back beyond repair.




I really miss that car, it was a great drive

 

I've gotten mine to this point a few times as well and the car takes it like a champ. I love my nivomats, they really help level out the rear end. I like that you have the dual roof racks going, it really adds to the overall "extreme adventure" look. haha

 

when that 965 was tail ended in stopped traffic on highway 17, it was still driveable. the chassis and roof line was tweaked behind the back door, confirming my faith in their structural integrity. sadly, this rendered it unrepairable.

re nivomats, they are great til you push them too far, then they give up. the 240 with IPD overload springs and heavy duty boge shocks handles big loads better.

 

yeah my old nivos gave up, so I replaced them and went to the junk yard and pulled a pair of springs off a 940. So now I have a sort of hybrid rear suspension with the slightly larger and stiffer "stock springs" and the nivos. It works great! Bummer about your rear- ending. haha you should have cut the back section of roof off and made it into a pick up

 

the impact was hard enough that the benz was completely totalled, radiator shoved around engine. my wife got a rather severe whiplash too, that took a long time to heal, as she was looking sideways when the benz hit her.

I always wondered how safe that rear facing seat was, now I know.