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Originally Posted by southernexposure
I am in the process of purchasing and 2005 TM 3023. I want to ensure my VOLVO SUV can handle the job. Does anyone have any experience with one. We live in Las Cruces, NM and will be going into Colorado, California, and mountain areas of New Mexico.
Appreciate any advice, etc
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As someone who tows almost exclusively over Colorado's high mountains, I'll toss out my thoughts. Haven't seen anyone report using a Volvo XC90 to tow a TM though one may be lurking.
After a close review of the engine torque numbers, driveline numbers, wheelbase, and "tow rating", my overall impression is a TM 3023 will be very close to the maximum in both weight and length this vehicle was designed to tow. The 3023, because of its high GVWR and large interior, can be readily loaded to weigh as much as 5000 lbs.
Strength wise, the XC90 should be able to handle a 3023's weight (barely) and it does have just enough wheelbase to control one.
Although the XC90 has a 3.69 axle ratio (good), the specs I found show a final driveline ratio of 2.92 (not good)...apparently the top 1 or 2 gears in the transmission are overdrive. If the OD feature of the transmission can be switched off, the engine's torque (280 ft-lbs) is adequate...just adequate...for towing a heavy 3023 in Colorado. If the OD feature of the transmission can't be turned off, then a final driveline ratio of 2.92 means a lot of transmission wear and tear on nearly every grade.
A normally aspirated 2.9 liter engine would be waaay too small for towing. But the twin turbos do enable a lot more torque and, because they're turbos and not a regular supercharger, they have ECU adjustable wastegates that could hold sea level power to a fairly high altitude (possibly up to around 10,000 feet). So, at least theoretically, this engine should do quite well even at high altitude...perhaps even better than a much larger but normally aspirated one. However, it is going to be working very hard on a very sustained basis in mountain towing...and that means a substantially increased likelihood of some kind of expensive failure.
So, bottom line, it appears that your XC90 will be able to successfully tow even a loaded 3023. But you will be taxing it to its limits, particularly in Colorado mountain towing, and that could (repeat
could) lead to substantially shortened life of various engine parts (especially the turbos) and/or the transmission. If you don't have one, I suggest buying an extended service contract (100,000 mile or more) that covers
everything in the drivetrain.