Hi,

We’ve recently moved from a trusty Passat estate to an XC90 as our gear seems to be growing!

We got the retractable towbar option as we use a towball mounted bike rack.

We have a Witter ZX503 3 bike rack.

This has served us well for several years on the Passat, but when we mount this on the Volvo’s tow ball it clamps on but seems to be able to swivel side to side (laterally). This never happened on the old tow bar, when clamped tight it didn’t move at all.

There seems to be no danger of it coming off, it’s solid up and down, but when turning a sharp bend it swivels such that the handlebars then come in to contact with the rear window

This rack has 2 indicators you can check when you have clamped, 2 green icons, then also it has a green “window” for towball pressure, and when clamped it is bang in the middle of this.

This is exactly the same position as it was on the old car, so I don’t know why it’s so easy to move side to side.

Looking at the instructions there doesn’t seem to be any way to increase tension in anyway.

So I guess my questions are, is the Volvo tow ball different in anyway?

Does it just have that fraction less diameter so the clamp isn’t as tight as previously?

I am slightly loathe to go and buy a new rack in case it happens again.

What racks are others using?

Anyone had similar problems?

I am going doubly clean the rack and ball, but to be honest I don’t think that will make a difference.

I’m tempted to put a smidgeon of thread lock on but not sure of that’s a good idea or not.

Any ideas, suggestions or help greatly appreciated as we are booked to drive to Morzine in the summer and need to get it sorted.