Volvo XC70 2011 overland build

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Bjorn

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Have you made use of those cargo tie down rails in the boot of your xc70? I am thinking of making some kind of slide out table for cooking on one side of mine
 

kbudd93

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Hello, new member from Sweden. I’ll share my XC70 adventure overland build here. It’s a MY11 D5 Polestar with 30mm lift in the front and 40mm in the rear. Riding on 255/60R17 Continental CrossContact ATR tires adding a total of 50-60mm of clearance. Roof platform from Tola Roof Racks fitted and waiting to mount a good LED-bar on the roof rack.

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How do you find the awd system, I live in the UK and all 4x4 Volvo's fail because the system never gets used so ceases or dries out.

From what i have seen my xc90 do whilst the system worked was phenomenal.

Hows your experience been
 
Have you made use of those cargo tie down rails in the boot of your xc70? I am thinking of making some kind of slide out table for cooking on one side of mine
I haven’t used them for anything other than tying down cargo yet but have thougt about attaching some sort of drawer system to them. Please post any updates if you choose to proceed with that project.
 
How do you find the awd system, I live in the UK and all 4x4 Volvo's fail because the system never gets used so ceases or dries out.

From what i have seen my xc90 do whilst the system worked was phenomenal.

Hows your experience been
Over all I’m impressed with the performance of the Haldex 4 AWD system. Right now the limitations are more in the vehicle type than the driveline. Limited ground clearance (even after the lift) and limited flex will allways be a factor when choosing a wagon for any offroad use.

I know the older Volvo AWD systems (pre Haldex) have had some issues but I figure if I service the Haldex properly it will last for a long time. Oil change and filter change in the Haldex is not part of the standard Volvo service program so if you add that to the regular service I don’t think there will be a problem.
 

kbudd93

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Over all I’m impressed with the performance of the Haldex 4 AWD system. Right now the limitations are more in the vehicle type than the driveline. Limited ground clearance (even after the lift) and limited flex will allways be a factor when choosing a wagon for any offroad use.

I know the older Volvo AWD systems (pre Haldex) have had some issues but I figure if I service the Haldex properly it will last for a long time. Oil change and filter change in the Haldex is not part of the standard Volvo service program so if you add that to the regular service I don’t think there will be a problem.
My daily xc90 was a city car so was pretty run down and abused and most things were ceased including the variable turbo vains which I assume is because it was never taken above 3k rpm, I serviced the differential and angle gear but I think it was a lost cause. I would love to own another Volvo especially an xc70 because there just so cool and different but I'm worried I'll only get 9mpg (dont know what that is in l/km) and the awd system will fail again.

I love your build the stance of the lift and offset wheels

Good job

Have fun

Thanks
 
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jjrckd

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Tommy
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Hansen
I've got a 2014 XC70 which I've been playing with the idea of doing something similar to what you've done so I was very happy when I stumbled across your thread. I'm curious to know how you decided to go for the 30mm lift kit? I have no experience with lift kits but I have some with lowering kits where the change in angle of the drive shafts sometimes can cause increased wear on the diff. Was this at all something you took into consideration before you decided to go with the Terra4x4?

Also, how did you manage to get the wires for the roof lights through the roof without too much risk of water leaks?
 
I've got a 2014 XC70 which I've been playing with the idea of doing something similar to what you've done so I was very happy when I stumbled across your thread. I'm curious to know how you decided to go for the 30mm lift kit? I have no experience with lift kits but I have some with lowering kits where the change in angle of the drive shafts sometimes can cause increased wear on the diff. Was this at all something you took into consideration before you decided to go with the Terra4x4?

Also, how did you manage to get the wires for the roof lights through the roof without too much risk of water leaks?
Hi!

I considered it but figured the change in drive shaft angles is relatively small and will give the shafts a decent life expectancy any way. If I’m wrong and start wearing out drive shafts and wheel bearings due to lift kit and spacers I can allways go back to stock height.

The wires for rear lights are wired under the roof rail foot and in thru an existing hole.

Wires for the front light bar is routed under the foot of the roof rail and down in an existing channel next to the windscreen and comes out at the battery box.

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jjrckd

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Smooth. I've had some issues with water leaking through the original plug for the hole you used for the cabling for the rear light so I would have to do something here anyway. Do you have switches for controlling the roof lights or did you hook them up directly to the existing lights? I also liked your idea with the compressor in the spare tire bin. Should be plenty of space for an extra battery in there as well;)
 
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Smooth. I've had some issues with water leaking through the original plug for the hole you used for the cabling for the rear light so I would have to do something here anyway. Do you have switches for controlling the roof lights or did you hook them up directly to the existing lights? I also liked your idea with the compressor in the spare tire bin. Should be plenty of space for an extra battery in there as well;)
Thanks, allmost like Volvo wanted us to put lights up there. Front light is wired and controlled with the original extra light button from Volvo. Rear lights are wired from the reverse light cables in the trailer connector so they come on when I put it in reverse gear. Planning to add a button for it at some point. Extra battery is planned for the future too.
 

jjrckd

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I've been trying to find a switchable Haldex controller for my XC70 for a while. A lot of different solutions is available but nothing for Volvo. Does anyone know of a system which will work on a P3 XC70?
 
I've been trying to find a switchable Haldex controller for my XC70 for a while. A lot of different solutions is available but nothing for Volvo. Does anyone know of a system which will work on a P3 XC70?
I did some research on that too but gave up. Let me know if you find anything. So far the Haldex haven’t let me down but I guess it will behave in a more predictive way if you can controll it manually.
 

jjrckd

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Tommy
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Will do! I haven't really had any problems with the Haldex yet either other than having to gain a little more speed in order to avoid getting stuck that what I prefer. I also hate the under steer when going uphill on icy/snow covered roads. Over steering is so much better but it's just not possible with my car...