Towing advice needed

WDH and Unibodies don't seem to mix well.

The Q7 sounds like a beast!

I picked up a Honda Ridgeline for my business and it has become the official tow vehicle. This is mainly due to the addition of an Airstream in the driveway which is way to big and heavy for the Beetle.

The Ridgeline manual also states WDH not required but they don't completely rule it out. Sort of an on-the-fence approach from Honda. I can't get airbags for it so I am looking at a WDH to help with the squishy rear suspension perk up a bit. Currently, I am using a WeighSafe Hitch with the scale built in and it is really handy for tongue weight.

With a regular hitch, the Ridgeline tows the Airstream very well to the point of forgetting that the trailer is there. I am seeing about 2" of drop in the rear with the trailer onboard.

Hopefully Ed27 can get to a place where his trailer and car are one!

yes, but your talking about suburbans for some reason.. so I brought in the fact you can tow that much, without WD just fine if you dont got a ****ty GM product.

In the context of the OP here in his little golf, your really suggesting instead of running 200#lbs on the tongue for his 2000lb teardrop, he should bolt a 120lb WD hitch onto the back and run 320# on the tongue? cuz thats what it seems like your advocating here in context.

I think there are good points and not so good points for WDH setups.

For Ed's situation, we should be talking about the simplicity of a regular hitch and help him with the specifics of that since we all have experience with MK4's and towing. Perhaps the process of towing combined with the tools needed will be what's needed.

It is also good to use the bits of our experience from other situations as reference. I think these examples help tie the discussion together.

Nayr makes a great point about the added weight of a WDH imposing a lot of weight (~120 lbs.) on the rear of the car. It seems that trying to level the car by adding more weight is counter productive.

Genesis makes a great point about adding more beef to the suspension which may not be the best choice either.

The experience and knowledge here is exactly what I need and I thank everyone for it. Because I know the in and outs of American towing (bigger is better) I am 3rd owner of my 1999 GMC that the first owner bought with towing in mind from the special transmission to the A/T cooler to the awesome hitch to the reciever that I (Gym Rat) can barely lift. The towing mindset change is why I'm here.

my 1500lbs and ~200lbs on the tongue of my golf was excellent, did ~20k miles a year with that setup and it was so much better than a truck IMO, was great fuel economy and so cheap.. Just a Westfalia bar and tow helper bags.. If I were to add any more weight I'd of kept most of it off the tongue and added trailer brakes.. In a car check out RedArc Tow pro's, they are not knee bashers and really easy to fit one wherever you want.. your gonna have to run power for brakes and all that as there's zero OEM wiring and most wiring kits will be a 4-plug.

making sure my load was correct was critical, but I can deadlift ~200lbs and always just eyeballed its weight durring my travel.. if I could easily lift the tongue it was too light, and if I couldn't lift it it was too heavy.. once you know how much it should weigh it was pretty obvious if it was not right since its still light enough to move by hand.

WDH setups for LIGHTER trailers (yes, they're made) don't mass anywhere close to 100lbs. Mine does between the trunion and bars but it's also got a 2-5/8" ball on it and is built for a load of 1k on the ball and a trailer of up to 10k! Obviously that's not what you use for an application like this.

Is a light-duty one intended for this sort of application the right answer? Maybe but a lot depends on the hitch. Setups like the Bosal (or what Volvo uses for that matter, which I think is custom to them) can't be used with any sort of WD system since they present a ball to you, not a standard 2" square receiver.

The OP is talking about putting at least 2x the "recommended" weight behind this car. The SMALLER T@B has a 2k DRY mass, and the larger one is ~2,600lbs. 15% of the smaller with no personal gear, water, etc in the trailer is 300lbs on the ball. That's a 100% overload and is definitely not trivial. (BTW I really like those little trailers but my God is the manufacturer proud of them!)

CAN it be done? Yes. But you definitely need to pay attention to the rear suspension, and I'd start by taking the expected tongue weight in something loadable all the way back on the rear deck near where the load would be taken (e.g. bags of cement) and see what they do when placed back there -- and figure that part of the problem out -- and whether it's reasonable to address the issues that will arise with the car riding reasonably level under load before proceeding.

The Westphalia/Bosal setup that becomes "one with the rear rails" in the unibody is certainly superior to any of the bolt-on/drill (e.g. curt, etc) models when it comes to the hitch part and for this application strength in that area is definitely going to matter. I have a Tekonsha proportional brake controller and like it a LOT; I'd either use that or something comparable, and you'll need to figure out how to mount the round connector at the hitch and run the wiring (and harness) for it. You need an isolated harness with its own power run (not just tapping into the brake/turn signal wiring) but you will have to run isolated power that for the brake controller anyway as it needs its own fusing.

Hi Ed,

Here are some links to items to start the parts review process.

Light Controller on etrailer.com
https://www.etrailer.com/Wiring/Volkswagen/Golf/2000/C56175.html?VehicleID=20001176593

Brake Controller on etrailer.com
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Br...gen/Golf/2000/90195.html?VehicleID=2000203512

Possible hitch for the receiver
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch-Ball-Mount/Weigh-Safe/WS4-2.html

I have one of these and it takes the guess work out of the tongue weight. Also adjustable so you don't have to worry about your hitch not working to help you level the combo.

I don't know where to get a Bosal hitch. Like I said earlier, mine is coming out and the Beetle and Golf are basically the same car. If you can't find another option and wish to discuss my hitch, feel free to contact me.

Sway Control at etrailer.com
https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Reese/83660.html

My fixed hitch has one of the smaller balls welded on which makes connecting one of these friction sway units easy.

Here's the brake controller I have; same three-stage boost setting and has the same protective measures and such -- all you're really giving up for the other $100 is the fancy LCD display.

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brake-Controller/Tekonsha/TK90160.html

The light controller box will get the job done, plus the 4-to-7-pin adapter (which you need for electric brakes) and the circuit breaker + wiring for a 20A circuit + breaker for the brakes, which needs to go to the battery (should be mounted near the battery somewhere, then run appropriately.) Circuit protection should be an auto-reset breaker and not a fuse (otherwise a transient overload leaves you with no trailer brakes!); same setup, basically, that is used for headlights and for the same reason.

This camper is dry weight at 950lbs and has a max of 2000lbs, this is more car suitable: https://www.intechrv.com/models/flyer/chase/

A WDH puts a strong twisting force on a hitch- it should only be used on hitches engineered for this type of load, e.g. those on american trucks. OEM euro hitches could fail catastrophically with load vectors they weren't engineered to handle. There is a messy looking brace you can add to a euro hitch to safely support a WDH. Google "Touareg CanAm hitch reinforcement." It kills your rear departure angle, so I wouldn't consider it for a vehicle that gets any offroad use.

Genesis said:

WDH setups for LIGHTER trailers (yes, they're made) don't mass anywhere close to 100lbs. Mine does between the trunion and bars but it's also got a 2-5/8" ball on it and is built for a load of 1k on the ball and a trailer of up to 10k! Obviously that's not what you use for an application like this.

Click to expand...

Link please? eTrailer has no WD setups that are not for 10klb loads.. I dont believe you that anyone makes one designed for a 2-3klb load max and dont weigh >100lbs

Oh really?

Reese makes one for ball weights from 250-400lbs, max load mass 4k. They're not the only ones either; I've seen them when on the road (one of the penalties of hauling that pig behind the truck is that it seems I stop at every Love's there is for gas -- of course that's not really true but it sure seems like it compared against the Jetta which can do 700 miles on a fill!) Last trip I ran across another guy fueling with a quite-small single-axle camper behind a short-wheelbase, compact thing (think Xterra sort of vehicle) who had one in use.

The other issue that comes up with WD systems and can play Hell with you is that they all reduce the ground clearance of both the truck and trailer because the bars and such are under the trailer frame. For some lower-profile trailers and depending on how low the receiver is clearance can become a serious problem.

I do like that Intech setup; aluminum is a LOT lighter than steel for equivalent strength and in addition has significant corrosion resistance benefits. Surprisingly reasonable in price too. Not as fancy as some but IMHO definitely an option.

You will probably loose about 6 inches of ground clearance based on some of the WD systems I have seen. There were some things hanging lower on the trailer like the black/grey discharge. The tongue jack can hang down as well.

With my hitch, we had the receiver height at 16" so I only needed to go up about 2" to meet the trailer and everything was level. My hitch is mounted higher than most off the shelf solutions but has to come through the bumper skin. It looks clean enough but there are nicer solutions that hide behind the license plate or behind the bumper. Also, the Beetle is lowered a bit but still never had any scraping issues.

The intech frame details reminds me of my aluminum Camplite. It came in at 1620 lbs dry and had a wet bath, queen bed, small kitchen and very little dining area. That thing was great but lacked the comfortable seating area when the rains came. The biggest towing problem with it was the frontal area, like pushing a barn down the highway. The car was happier cruising at 60 to 65 mph and about 2,500 rpm. I usually drove it in 4th which seemed to be the best for the engine and fuel economy.

There are many little trailers in this weight range and more coming as the demand heats up.

About 5 years ago we looked at the T@B, Safari Condo, Prolite, Bigfoot and then we found the Camplite used so we jumped on it. It was probably one of the best built and lightest out there. Now you can't get them anymore because Thor bought them and swallowed them up. Around 2015 and earlier would be the best years for the Camplite. After that, they started getting heavier and heavier as aluminum was replaced with wood in their builds. We sold out Camplite a few months back for what we paid for it and had lots of viewers even with the covid concerns.

Our new trailer has a GVW of 4,500 lbs (3,634 lbs unloaded). I haven't tried to pull it with the Beetle but that could be fun exercise. The biggest challenge would be starting up on a hill! Sure would be sight!

http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=135747&title=funny&cat=500]

Rrusse11 said:

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/tow-bars/...tchback/vw-golf-mark-4-1998-2004-towbars.html


You want one of these, a "Euro" style hitch. Rated well over the usual
US offerings at > 3000#s. I've done thousands of miles with my teardrop
and Golf. A tune and a good clutch are a big help, brake upgrades also
recommended. I found even paying the freight from the UK was cheaper
than finding a US vendor.


Here's the one I got:
https://www.pfjones.co.uk/volkswagen-golf-iv-hatchback-1997-2004-oris-swan-neck-towbar.html

Click to expand...

The cost of shipping from PFJones will eat you alive. As others have said, seek out username Frans:
Franz's profile

Granted, I got a Westfalia hitch with non-removable ball for my 2003 Jetta sedan and it cost what a new one was, but shipping was included and I got it in 3 days.

I would highly recommend a brake controller. I tapped off one of the wires from the brake pedal switch, used a Tekonsha P3 brake controller, and a Hopkins short proof trailer light converter. For the brake controller, you'll want a self-resetting circuit breaker. For the Hopkins converter, an inline fuse. I just tapped off my tail lights, though for Mk5 and up, you'd be needing a CANbus trailer module.

I've probably towed about 70-80% with both a Mk4 and a Mk6, all the way from California to Michigan to Maine (multiple times).

I've got the biggest Intech Flyer they ever made, they are super nice trailers.. nothing like most of the garbage trailers you find, I like it dont have a toilet and all that crap hanging under it.. If I'd of known about them back when I had the golf I think my whole camp trailer setup woulda been different.. I had about $5k in just a basic tiny cargo trailer I couldn't sleep in, just carried my tent/cooler/chairs/etc and took an hour to tear down and fold up perfectly.

Nayr thanks for the pics!

I changed my struts today and will be working on the rear shocks and the recommended Moog 81055 coils tomorrow. Thank everyone for the links you're making my job easier but the choices!

"The cost of shipping from PFJones will eat you alive."

Current rates see the referenced hitch in your hand for $310, (to my zip),
in 3 days.

Yes, shipping is more than the cost of the hitch. It was a bit cheaper 5 years
ago when I got mine, but still expensive. Try and find one for less than that.

I have no regrets.

**** I bought my westfallia hitch pre-brexit, in 2013 it was about $750 total to get mine.. When I went to do my buyback nobody would buy my westy hitch because the sterling pound had crashed and you could get a westy hitch from PF jones for not half what I paid.

With as many miles as I was putting on it and with as cheap as it ran the whole trailer and hitch easily paid for its self compared to the cost of any truck I'd used to cover same miles with the same gear at the same speeds.. 36mpg @ 75mph towing was pretty freaking sweet and I really miss it.

Everyone,
I replaced my rear coils (Moog) and shocks (Monroe) with all new brake pads. I also replaced the shock mounts and bellows/boots. Got a BIG surprise the holes for my uhaul hitch where already there with a strange flat 7 pin trailer wiring. It seems one of the two previous owners towed with it. I don't have it on the ground yet but looking forward to seeing it.
Ed

7 pin could mean that the previous owners had a brake controller installed too! If they did you should, fingers crossed, be able to find a plug near the steering column or around there. This would probably look like a mystery plug with 4 or 6 pins just hanging around! If there is something like that, it could save you having to run wires. There may also be a trailer light controller installed. Probably tucked away in the hatch behind the hatch plastic near one of the tail lights.

Where did you find the holes for the hitch? Were they in the spare tire well? If that's what is there, it sounds like a class 1 hitch was there before. There are a couple of different models on etrailer.com that give you up to 2,000 lbs towing and 200 tongue capacity. They have a 1 1/4" receiver. I would think that this would not be suitable for a T@B but it could be for a lighter trailer.

The other guys recommended PFJones as a source for hitches.
https://www.pfjones.co.uk/tow-bars/...tchback/vw-golf-mark-4-1998-2004-towbars.html

With the gooseneck hitch, You would need to have a couple of hooks installed to connect the safety chains to the car body or the towbar frame. This would be a good question for the guys who had this hitch.

The hitch capacity numbers for the one you finally go with, will be helpful in determining the trailer to go with if you haven't already picked that up.

i cut a couple chain links off some heavy duty chain and welded em to my westy bar for the chains.. also cut off the euro power plate and welded on a north american one for mounting the wiring onto.

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/volkswagen-golf-iv-hatchback-1997-2004-oris-swan-neck-towbar.html


One of the reasons I got this Orvis is the two extensions with holes,
a pair of heavy galvanized bow shackles takes the hooks from my chains.
I didn't go for the dismountable swan neck, figuring I could always unbolt
it easily. I don't bother, the vertical neck isn't anything like the shin cracker
that a horizontal bar is.

Perfect match

PB NB,
The holes are in the spare tire wheel well. and are an exact match to the Uhaul hitch I bought. I will be looking for the connectors you mentioned.
Also, thank everyone for the hitch advice but the UK hitches are out of my budge range.
Also, I've tried to post pics that I took but the TDI Photo site says they are too big. Any ideas or threads?
Ed

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You should be able to post them in the members photo section. You will need to resize them to about 1,000 x 1,000 pixels at 72 dpi to give a good size without blowing your total storage.
This one is a "medium thumbnail" which is linked to a larger image. It fits well in most threads without blowing out the size. I think the software creates the thumbnail of the image and you just need the link to insert into the thread.
One other thing is that you have to sign in to the photos area even if you are already logged in. At least that's how mine works.

Ed,
You need the pic on your computer, right click, open with Windows "Paint".
Look for the "resize" button to shrink.

I would also gently suggest that going cheap on the hitch is a false economy.
Not when the teardrop is worth $ks, or whatever you value your life at.

Rrusse11,
If the uhaul hitch does not meet my needs/safety concerns (test drive locally) I will get one made, especially for the price of the euro to be shipped I may save a little money. Besides in my experience expensive does not mean better. For example I just changed the front struts and they were 'no name brand' the rear shocks were Sachs both were 5 years old and both were equally shot.
Ed

uhaul bolts to tow hook and body mostly, westfalia replaces rear bumper entirely.. uhaul screws your departure angle and is barely suitable for a bike rack let alone any serious towing.. this is a case of getting what you pay for.



vs uhaul

Bosal/Westy:


uHaul:

Nayr,
Nice pics! You have any of the bumper back in place? I may just have to install a Westy or a custom hitch.
Ed