hi all i hope that someone may help about kerb weights. i have a 1996 850 2.5 tdi, i have taken the following from the plate in the engine bay. 1 2000 2 3600 3 1090 4 1010 i have copied this Kerbweight 1412 kgs Unbraked tow weight: 700 85% of kerbweight: 1200 kgs Braked tow weight: 700 kgs 95% of Kerbweight: 1341 kgs in my hand book its says i can tow a braked trailer up to 1600 at 50 mph. the reason i ask we are looking to buy a bailey pageant burgundy and the weights are MIRO 1158 MTPLM 1400 so looking at that i will be very near my actual kerb weight. thanks mike

Weights 

Mike, The weights shown on the plate are: 1. Gross weight of vehicle (unladen weight plus that allowed for passengers, luggage etc.) 2. Train weight - total gross weight of car and any trailer it will pull. 3. Max weight allowed for front axle 4. Max weight allowed for rear axle. My previous towcar was an 850 T5 saloon and this pulled my pageant bordeaux (1366kg) with no problems. As far as I know, the max weight for towing a braked trailer was 1600kg, but I was not aware of any speed restriction. Where did you find that? Noseweight is 75kg. I used my 850 for 3 years, twice to Italy, and found it a fine tow car, albeit a little thirsty!

I may be missing something here, but is it not the case that the only extra weight on the rear axle is that imposed by the noseweight? If Volvo say that the car will tow 1600kg with a 75kg nose weight then axle weights should not be a problem. I would also suggest that if the recommended speed of 50 was exceeded it could be used to support a prosecution if things went wrong, and no doubt any insurance company may use it as an excuse not to pay out. It is accepted that experienced caravanners can tow up to 100%, 85 is suggested for the less so. FWIW Gary

tdi kerb weight 

hi all finnally got round to putting the car on a weigbridge and the figures are with a full tank of diesel was 1640 kg,so if i wanted to go for the bailey pagent burgundy i am well within the limits. intresting that all the kerbweight sites quote a lesser figure. mike