I'm a proud new owner of a 95 850 wagon, i searched over a month to find a wagon that had heated seats, third row seating, roof rack, and 5 spd. lemme tell ya shes got 245,000 miles on her and she has one of the best sounding engines ever- its incredible. it was worth taking a last minute road trip from buffalo,ny to wilmington, delaware just to pick up the car, and miss thanksgiving hahaha.

ok, so new car different things i have fix or look to change and finding a lot of answers throughout the forums but i couldn't find anything on the following i searched for an hour. i apologize if this has been covered...

i purchased this wagon to turn it into a work vehicle, im a house painter at most i will have a trunk full of gallons of paint or 5 gallon buckets and supplies- nothing too crazy. when it comes to the ladders though prolly have two maybe three at most (if the car runs alright). Although, I wouldn't leave them on there day and night, the car would only transport the ladders to jobsites.
so i heard through searching for volvo's, a guy upgraded his volvo to carry a heavier load then the usual passengers and luggage; i wanted to something similar with this car.
i figure i needed to upgrade and strengthen the coils, bump stop, and shocks/struts? I've been looking at Scan Tech's heavy duty coil spring's on here, does this sound bout right? what about tires and rims is there a need to upgrade and strengthen them to better handle work loads? does this sound about right or am i over doing it? the other question, would there be a need to increase the power of the car not for speed but to carry the weight? i want this car to last and this seems like one of the ways to go.

for a time being before i purchase a second car, prolly a volvo, for pleasure and not work, i plan on using this car for long distance trips. so im just trying to figure out what would be best for the situation and you guys are the experts.

thank you for any advice possible or suggestions- especially if this makes sense to someone else.
keep up the great work!
D Brass

 

Dude, thats quite the photo...does it have a story behind it?

 

hahaha. dont they all. i'll tell that car was a trooper had it bout 3 years within the first six months the timing belt went (lady i bought the car from got me on that okey doke) so i had to replace the engine. it ran wasn't perfect so i drove it from buffalo to florida to san diego up and down the cali coast then headed back through the ATL up to buffalo. she was never the same after that...
funny this happened exactly a year ago today, i was getting things taking care of the car to bring it back to prime condition. a week before this happened i had over a grand worth of work done and put the fairly brand new snow tires on it. couple days later i gotta drive bout 40 miles to speak at a college. i bring my buddy with me bc i know its not gonna be a smooth ride. my buddy sits down and i tell 'em look man we are going on a death march and i can't guarantee we will make it back in this car. he laughed and said lets do it...
after twenty miles into the trip no problem- then i heard a pop the engine lights came. i figured it was the alternator and was in between tolls on the NYS thruway less than five miles from the next exit. so i threw on my flashers cruised on the shoulder bout 15 to 20 mph. we were looking good but right before that last mile there was slight incline which i counted on sailing down smoothly once we got over it. hahaha- needless to say the car never made it up the incline and died right on spot halfway up the incline...
so we just sat in the car thinking about what the next move was- no sense of urgency. i notice "steam" everywhere so i figured i pop the hood let it cool down and air out. bad decision. it was night time, the flashers were on, and there's this "steam." out of the corner of my eye i thought i saw a flame but when took a double take i thought it was just the flasher in dark reflecting off of the "steam." so i was messing with my buddy saying the car was on fire- he started flipping out but it was so cold out he didn't want to leave the car. then a D.O.T. plow truck was pulling up. as i look forward theres flames shooting out of under my hood! like they say stop drop and roll ha. actually, at that point they still were not large so we nonchalantly got out of the car walked over to the plow truck told them we had a small fire, they laughed and went to dig out their extinguisher...
i had no concerns, i left all my **** in the car ipod/textbooks/nice shoes thought the fire would stay small and it would be taking care of soon. by the time the plow guys got their extinguisher and walked to the front of my car the fire was larger than what they could handle. now im flipping bc i think they can take out the fire but they refused to even try. so a small fire turned into an inferno which closed down the thruway hahaha. bc i had to wait about 25 minutes for the fire department to get there. the fire was huge! the troopers standing with me were taking pictures and movies and laughing with me. it was ridiculous...
in the end- the bumper, both front tires, anything plastic under the hood, and the windshield was melted/consumed by the fire. in the end at the point where i knew the car was gone i wish the fire would've reached the gas tank and blown up! haha.
heres a photo of the aftermath

 

If yours is Turbo, it is basically the same car as mine. Legally speaking you can increase the payload by going through a re-certification process. In other words, when the Volvo specified 940 lbs of payload (people and cargo) it looked not just suspension. It's a combination of chassis design, suspension, braking ability, drivetrain, etc. This is also what DMV tables are based on.

Based on Volvo's specs (Gross Axle Weight Ratings) on my car I can only load 250 lbs on the front axle, and 690 on the rear axle.

Any aftermarket parts you will buy, those makers will warn you not to exceed Volvo's specs. Do people go over it? I am sure there are people that do it, however, if you are ever in an accident you will pay for everything, since the insurance carrier will deny your liability claims by looking at load your were carrying versus Volvo specs.

Practically speaking, when you load up the Volvo your suspension geometry will change, which will result in faster wear and tear. You can correct it by different means.

Rule of thumb:

a- If you have constant heavy load, you can go with heavy-duty springs, or spring helpers.

b- If your load changes light-to-heavy, air-bags are the most effective tool. But bags cost a lot more.

Again, they will not increase your payload capacity, they will just correct the geometry so things don't wear out as fast.

Another thing -- make sure tires are rated for the load you are carrying as well.

Weight Rating for the roof is 220 lbs, but make sure that roof rails / rack can hold that much / little. BTW, the 220 lbs roof load is part of the 940 lbs total payload.

About sway: if you load up the roof you will have more sway, especially in wind + rain conditions, which you have plenty Upstate. Heavy-duty sway bars might help with sway / driving ability, but they will not help with payload.

 

I work in construction management, and I don't think this Volvo is the right vehicle for your job, however light duty. I would look at an E-150 light duty van, or even a minivan, which surprisingly have a 1300-1400 lbs payload capacity. Minivans will squat but they will do the light-duty job.

Family travel -- yes.

 

Great story, did they ever determine what the cause was? Obviously fuel was involved.

I saw either on this forum or Volvospeed someone changed their rear springs with the springs from another car but I dont remember what(maybe it was a jag). That totally increased the load capacity in the back. Your going to need to measure the spring diameter and then go hunting.


Found it:
http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...1#entry1793313

 

Thank you for the feedback everyone! it has definitely been very helpful!!!! and is guiding me in the right direction.
granted i wont be packing the car day in and day out- especially now during winter. i will have somethings in there that will add some extra weight but its not like im talking about pack 3 to 4 40ft ladders on the roof. just a 6ft step/12ft extension/maybe a 30 footer.

yeah it was a wild night. im glad you enjoyed it, for its one of my favorite stories. it dealt with an electric short, gas, and when they replaced the engine they never gave me a dipstick so there was still oil around under the hood. it was mess