XC70 Utility/Micro-RV Build

riley.brown12345 · Apr 16, 2017

nsjames said:
hows the fit on 235s?
any rubbing?
Stock wheels?

I have about 800-1k miles on mine and there have been no rubbing issues on stock wheels. They get very close to the spring perch but they clear on going to be running spacers 5mm in the front and 20-25mm in the back and if they rub I'll I'm going to roll the fenders a bit

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Young Satchel · Apr 16, 2017

The new meats are lookin good man!

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josephku · May 29, 2017

Well, the XC has been living up to it's utility role recently.

Work has been picking up and staying steady, and my car has been working harder than me.

I do work on cell phone towers which usually are placed on top of hills and mountains. The access roads are a gamble. They range from nice paved roads to dirt trails you can't get down without an ATV.

On locations that are 4WD required, I need to also load up with tools and equipment from the 2WD vans and bring it up. Easily 500 pounds of equipment.

Anyway, that's why I love this car. It hasn't let me down yet.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but this hill was extremely steep, the car wanted to slide out whenever I hit any heavy gravel.

I would have never made it up if it wasn't for my awesome tires. I would highly recommend the Yokohama G015 to anyone looking for a capable all-terrain tire.

After all this driving, I finally hit 200k miles.

JaredR · May 29, 2017

Very nice! I love seeing people actually using their XCs to their potential :thumbup:

Young Satchel · May 29, 2017

Hell yeah! Looking good out there man [emoji1305]

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Excelsior · May 29, 2017

OP: You've been bitten by the Volvo bug. These cars are intoxicating.

There's nothing *quite like* a Volvo except for another Volvo, and the character that goes with the enthusiasts of these cars just make life better, especially one in reliable service.

Keep on maintaining one of the biggest drugs out there: Cellphone microwaves!

eleonora · May 29, 2017

Great job on the RV build so far. Looks like your really enjoying it. Great pictures also. I just bought a 2007 that had 212kmiles on the clock. Seems nice so far, must have been taken care of. I have 2003 Mercedes E320 4matic wagon also, we'll see how the Volvo compares over time. The Volvo is basically going to serve as my pickup truck.

josephku · May 30, 2017

eleonora said:
Great job on the RV build so far. Looks like your really enjoying it. Great pictures also. I just bought a 2007 that had 212kmiles on the clock. Seems nice so far, must have been taken care of. I have 2003 Mercedes E320 4matic wagon also, we'll see how the Volvo compares over time. The Volvo is basically going to serve as my pickup truck.

Thanks, pretty soon the RV side of the build will really be taking off.

The XC70 is a great light-duty utility vehicle. I also use it around the property, it's a great puller. Between shrubs, fallen trees, and ripping out vine systems, the XC has done it all with ease.

josephku · Jul 22, 2020

Well it has been quite some time since I posted an update on the project, but I finally have some real news and progress. I've still been going on adventures and getting many ideas for the car.

I just went on a week long trip to Maine to go camping and exploring, and had several things I wanted to do before leaving. So I installed a Volvo 2" receiver on the car, fixed some small electrical problems, and most importantly - I finally got the auxiliary electrical system planned and installed in the car.

This runs aux 12v ports in the cabinet, a Dometic fridge, communications equipment, and more without worrying about draining my starter battery. For those interested, it is a 200Ah deep-cycle AGM battery with a isolator from Hellroaring Technologies as recommended. There is also a remote switch in the front of the car to see the status and can be used to assist the starter battery if it is running low (not completely dead, although jumper cables could be used). I also put in a display unit to see the voltage and current draw on the aux system.

It required a custom aluminum bracket to mount the electrical components on, as well as securing the battery to the frame (you don't want a 110lb battery flying around in an accident)

The whole system did awesome on the trip, plenty of power to keep everything running overnight, although I am curious how many days I could go between charging. It charges while the engine is running, but sometimes I might not want to drive every day.

Either way, lots of fun on the trip and we got pretty far out in the middle of the nowhere.

Unfortunately I forgot to grab some pictures of the setup in the back of the car and already unloaded the car, but I should have some more updates coming soon. I think a lift kit is coming soon once I figure out spring stiffness concerns.

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JaredR · Jul 22, 2020

Wow this is a blast from the past! I like where this is going; I keep thinking it'd be a great time for some, uh, self sufficient road trips..........

R-Pow3R3d · Jul 22, 2020

Excellent. I got very excited to see this thread resurrected.

vtl · Jul 22, 2020

josephku said:
I finally got to install the auxiliary lights! I purchased Hella 500FF driving lights and the Volvo OEM lighting kit.

I'm thinking about replacing Black Oak pods (CREE LEDs + fog reflectors) with Hella 500FF. LED appears very bright and white, however the hue is so wrong that after a prolonged driving I get a flash burn-like symptoms. Halogen is so easy on eyes at night, I like them better than HID in wife's XC60 or LEDs in Tundra.

By the way, my aux lights are activated together with the stock fog lights. AUX button controls the spot light mini-bar on the basket:

spiked60 · Jul 22, 2020

vtl said:
I'm thinking about replacing Black Oak pods (CREE LEDs + fog reflectors) with Hella 500FF. LED appears very bright and white, however the hue is so wrong that after a prolonged driving I get a flash burn-like symptoms. Halogen is so easy on eyes at night, I like them better than HID in wife's XC60 or LEDs in Tundra.

By the way, my aux lights are activated together with the stock fog lights. AUX button controls the spot light mini-bar on the basket:

I wholeheartedly agree! lots of reasons to want to like led but halogens are better on my eyes as well.

josephku · Jul 22, 2020

vtl said:
I'm thinking about replacing Black Oak pods (CREE LEDs + fog reflectors) with Hella 500FF. LED appears very bright and white, however the hue is so wrong that after a prolonged driving I get a flash burn-like symptoms. Halogen is so easy on eyes at night, I like them better than HID in wife's XC60 or LEDs in Tundra.

By the way, my aux lights are activated together with the stock fog lights. AUX button controls the spot light mini-bar on the basket:

That's a very nice looking setup, although I definitely agree on the color of LED. You can get different temperatures I believe but the typical pure white LED is a little too blue for my liking.

You can't go wrong with the 500FFs, but they definitely leave something to be desired as far as light output goes. I switched them to 100W bulbs from Hella which helped a lot. They work for their purpose at least.

LED would be great for other aux lights though, like reverse lights and side lights.

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ScottishBrick · Jul 22, 2020

josephku said:
You can't go wrong with the 500FFs, but they definitely leave something to be desired as far as light output goes. I switched them to 100W bulbs from Hella which helped a lot. They work for their purpose at least.

That was my experience with the 500 Black Magics. Even with 100w's the pair was barely as bright as a single proper led pod. That being said, I also use a 5500k xenon bulb in my e codes so my led highs and driving lights all match in color temperature. The longer throw is great, i ditched the light bar on the P80 because it had too much splash in the foreground, something most bars and pods suffer from.

josephku · Jul 23, 2020

ScottishBrick said:
That was my experience with the 500 Black Magics. Even with 100w's the pair was barely as bright as a single proper led pod. That being said, I also use a 5500k xenon bulb in my e codes so my led highs and driving lights all match in color temperature. The longer throw is great, i ditched the light bar on the P80 because it had too much splash in the foreground, something most bars and pods suffer from.

I haven't tried any LED pods or light bars so I couldn't compare it, but the 500FF should have slightly better light output than the Black Magics. I'm pretty sure the Black Magics are waffled plus I would think the darker reflector wouldn't perform as well. But either way with 100W bulbs I still want more light, and 5500K is probably the perfect temperature.

I was looking into the Xenon aux lights but then you have to add a ballast and all that. At least the Halogens and Xenon lamps seem to have much better light patterns compared to most LED lights..

JaredR · Jul 23, 2020

vtl said:
I'm thinking about replacing Black Oak pods (CREE LEDs + fog reflectors) with Hella 500FF. LED appears very bright and white, however the hue is so wrong that after a prolonged driving I get a flash burn-like symptoms. Halogen is so easy on eyes at night, I like them better than HID in wife's XC60 or LEDs in Tundra.

By the way, my aux lights are activated together with the stock fog lights. AUX button controls the spot light mini-bar on the basket:

install LEDs in your headlights

ScottishBrick · Jul 23, 2020

josephku said:
I haven't tried any LED pods or light bars so I couldn't compare it, but the 500FF should have slightly better light output than the Black Magics. I'm pretty sure the Black Magics are waffled plus I would think the darker reflector wouldn't perform as well. But either way with 100W bulbs I still want more light, and 5500K is probably the perfect temperature.

I was looking into the Xenon aux lights but then you have to add a ballast and all that. At least the Halogens and Xenon lamps seem to have much better light patterns compared to most LED lights..

Black magic reflectors are just the same it's a shroud optimized for limiting external focus on the reflector.

vtl · Jul 23, 2020

JaredR said:
install LEDs in your headlights

Have LEDs in new Tundra, they suck at night. I also have the mighty CREE LED pods mounted on the XC70's bumper permanently. As the driving lights they suck too. Not because they are not bright enough - they are very bright, but because hue is not eye-compliant.

I only see LEDs in a spot lightbar mounted above the roof, for the night driving at the empty northern Quebec road, where all light you have is what you have mounted on your car. In such conditions, where there's no "anchor points" like dwellings lights or from other cars, you need to illuminate at least half a mile ahead or you will crash eventually.

Even for car repairs I usually turn on 2x 500W halogen working lights, though 2x 499 Watts go to heat, not light, and it gets hot in garage very quickly. I simply can't see anything in this unnatural LED light.

josephku · Aug 11, 2020

Alright, so the progress continues. I have some big plans for the build, but want to get everything mechanically situated and reliable before I start adding things.

I have all of the parts to do a cooling system refresh (new radiator, hoses, etc.) but while I'm in there I think it makes sense to do the PCV and probably add an auxiliary transmission cooler.

For the PCV, I was looking at this kit on FCP but I wasn't sure if this would be the best way to go. I want to do this once and be good for a while, so I want to replace everything. I'm just not sure about the Banjo bolt, and whether the one in the kit is the most current one. It seems like it's good though, and mostly OE parts.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-pcv-breather-system-kit-s60-turbo-s60turbopcvkit

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XC70 Utility/Micro-RV Build

riley.brown12345

Young Satchel

josephku

JaredR

Young Satchel

Excelsior

eleonora

josephku

josephku

JaredR

R-Pow3R3d

vtl

spiked60

josephku

ScottishBrick

josephku

JaredR

ScottishBrick

vtl

josephku

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