[Finish]

How much weight can a 9-3 carry in the boot/trunk?

 

[BobSaabit]

It's in the owner's manual. You can Google one up as a PDF.

I was interested since I am hauling around a few hundred pounds of tools these days:

Maximum permitted load in trunk
--------------------------------
Coupé and 5-door at curb weight plus
4 passengers à 155 lbs. (70 kg) _______ 130 lbs. (60 kg)
For each passenger less in the rear seat the load may be
increased by 100 lbs. (45 kg)
Convertible at curb weight and
3 passengers à 155 lbs. (70 kg) _______ 120 lbs. (55 kg)
Coupé and 5-door at curb weight and
rear seat right down ________________ 475 lbs. (215 kg)

WARNING
• The GVW and maximum axle loads must not be exceeded.
Note that if some accessories (e.g. towbar, CD changer) are
fitted, the available load capacity is reduced by the weight of
these items.
• When goods are being transported their security is important,
especially if the car is being used with the rear seat down.
Max. permitted roof load ____________ 220 lbs. (100 kg)
Trailer weights:
Trailer with brakes _________________ Max. 3500 lbs.
(1588 kg)
Trailer without brakes _______________ Max. 1000 lbs.
(450 kg)
Recommended towbar-ball load ______ 110-165 lbs.



Gross vehicle weight (GVW)
Coupé___________________________ 3930-4060 lbs.
(1785-1840 kg)
Viggen, Coupé ____________________ 4060 lbs. (1840 kg)
5-door __________________________ 3980-4100 lbs.
(1805-1860 kg)
Viggen, 5-door ____________________ 4100 lbs. (1860 kg)
Convertible ______________________ 3940-4020 lbs.
(1785-1825 kg)
Viggen, Convertible ________________ 3990 lbs. (1810 kg)

 

[Finish]

That's a fairly good trailer weight. I have no tow ball though.
My issue is....
I need to transport a couple of big pavers, 500mm X 500mm X 40mm. I have 13 of them. Each one weighs approximately 25kg.
I'll be travelling alone. I really only need to take 12 which is about 300kg. Plus me and my tools and stuff so say another 150kg for arguments sake.
The spare wheel in the boot is an alloy rim. I got a set of 5 X 16 inch Saab rims, so my spare matches.
Concerned I may also damage the rim with the weight, but correct, the axel is important too.
I was working off 5 people in a car all weighing around E.G 90kg each, 5X90kg=450kg.
I could cover the back seat and strap a few down to even the load. Unfortunately the drive is 4.5hrs to its destination. I could do this twice though over time. I know it sounds strange to do this, but if so I'm still not going out my way (have to drive there anyway).
Hmmmmm?

 

[Jeremy R.]

I'd think that your spare tire should be fine underneath the carpet. You can't take it out, unfortunately, since the tire provides most of the support for the carpet.

 

[Finish]

Cheers for chipping in.
Also thought I could half fill the tank rather than a full fill, and stop off for fuel along the way to lighten the load a little.

 

[Mort]

Dont forget there is also a load rating on your tyres as well.
The figures in the manual possible assume you are running 91 W for example.
91 index = 615 kg.
As I'm moving soon at the moment I did look it up.

 

[Finish]

Good point. Definitely worth checking.

 

[EdT]

The load you are proposing is obviously way more than Saab allows (which is 195 kg if I read it right).

You may be able to get away with it on a short trip, but then the obvious solution is to make multiple trips.

On a longer trip, not only is the car grossly overloaded, in any kind of accident you are probably dead.

And I am not sure if you will be able to sensibly load the trunk with that many pavers of those dimensions.

The answer in this case, as I see it, is:

1. Rent an appropriate vehicle; or
2. Install tow hitch and use a light utility trailer (they typically run about 200kg empty)

You would be a bit over the allowed tow weight, though if you redistribute the load such as your tools carefully, you won't be running on the rear bump stops.

 

[Finish]

Correct. 2-3 runs is the safe bet. I don't think the trunk would fit the lot. My interior is good too. Wouldn't want to ruin it and tear it up.
Strap them together, wrap them in cloth/carpet
Safer and easier.
Drive carefully and steady. Should be OK.
I have a van but it is off road at the moment otherwise I'd use it for sure. I travel to this destination every month or so. I'll just take my time dropping off portions on my way through.
I didn't know the cars specs, so it's good to know.
Warns the home renovator types who want to squeeze an extra couple of bags of cement in the boot or something. I haven't carried heavy things in my car since I've owned it, so thought it was best to ask.

 

[Doug]

I'd think that your spare tire should be fine underneath the carpet. You can't take it out, unfortunately, since the tire provides most of the support for the carpet.

I found my 2002 5 door og 9-3 boot floor to be structurally pathetic! Try pressing down on the carpet outside or in the middle of the spare wheel. The 9-5 by comparison has a very solid sheet of half inch ply or similar.

I made a three piece set of floor reinforcement boards cut accurately to fit the structure outboard and behind the wheel well. Its asymmetric due to the fuel filler. Easy to move if I needed the wheel, and gave a flatter, stronger floor. If your spare comes up to the level of the edge floor sections, so much the better. The space-saver meant the boards were unsupported on the middle but easily shimmed.

Summary - anything heavy in the boot better be resting on, and evenly distributed on the spare wheel and the floor sections at the edges.

Doug

 

[Jeremy R.]

I have a 9-5 wagon, too, and I agree, the floor on that car is rock solid compared to the NG900 and 9-3. I tried to shore up the floor on my NG900 a while back. I had a local plastic supplier cut a circular piece of plastic that fit inside the spare tire's rim, and was thick enough that it brought it up to the same height as the tire. That helped tremendously, but then I swapped out the original spare for a 16" when I upgraded to 308mm front brakes, and haven't had a new piece of plastic cut. I really should, though, since that helped so much. The other thing I did was to cut a piece of thin board to stiffen up the back of the floor behind the spare. The downside to that one was that it got soft and moldy after a couple of trunk leaks, and then I discovered that it had rubbed on the steel body, right through the paint, and was causing things to rust.

 

[BobSaabit]

The larger spare from a newer 9-3 (16") will come up quite a bit higher than the stock spare. The result is that the board gets a lot more support (as opposed to flexing down immediately under load as it does with the smaller spare). You could use the piece of plexiglass, etc as a replacement and it would be rock solid... but it's better even just with the stock panel with you go to the 16".

 

[Finish]

Thanks for all the ideas so far.

 

[Finish]

6 pavers, around 150kg, plus tools, couple of backpacks, no issues. Pretty safe. Bit like two friends sitting in the back. Made it there fine. Didn't crack any pavers either. Looking forward to the next run.
Rear suspension lowered a couple of inches but not much. Distance between wheel and guards, so all good. I have new kyb on the rear probably only a year old if that. Everything sat fine.
Cheers everyone!

 

[Mort]

Sweet. Hope you finished your hard day with a nice cold ale.
Moving can be thirsty work.
Hope everything worked out ok.