Installed Torklift EcoHitch Tow Hitch on 2014 Sportwagen

Cross posted from VW Vortex
Finally completed installation of the new tow hitch from Torklift on my 2014 Sportwagen. A nice, out of the way solution without the complications and limitations of the westfalia system or the clearance issues of the more traditional system from Curt etc.

Installation was a little tricky, as the fit of the system was very tight, but it's together now and working well. Can tow my boat (gently, gently) and slide in my rear mount bike rack with no clearance issues.
Shipping and Purchase
Item cost a manageable $264.95 with free shipping, which compares nicely to the $535 for the westfalia from http://www.eurohitches.com/jetta-mk6-sportwagen-2010-p-63.html but a bit more than the new low low price for the curt system at etrailer of $139.51. http://torkliftcentral.com/trailer-hitch-and-towing/ecohitch/volkswagen/2010-volkswagen-jetta-sportwagen-ecohitch
Item was ordered on the 23rd of March, Shipped on the 24th, and delivered from Washington state on the 27th, so very quick turnaround from Torklift. The say 5-10 days to ship, given high volumes, but clearly did much better than that.
Instructions and Kit Contents
The kit comes with:
Tow hitch
6 bolts with nuts and crush washers for the attachment of hitch to the back of the car (only 5 needed for my 2014.)
2 side bolts to attach hitch tongue to the frame rail
Instruction Manual with clear instructions, but unfortunately it is a black and white photocopy which makes the images very difficult to see, especially when detail is needed.
General Walkthrough- Removing Bumper And Rear Bumper Rail
1. Remove the access covers to the rear light assemblies in the trunk of the car

2. Unscrew 3 bolts for each rear light housing

3. Unclip electrical connector for rear light housing

4. Slide lights out gently and place in a safe area away from the car

5. Remove T25 and T27 torx screws from following areas:
a. Behind light housing on top of bumper (2 T27 on each side)

b. Underneath the bumper at the rear of the car (three equally spaced T27 screws)

c. In rear wheel well (3 T25 screws on each side)

d. On underside of bumper towards wheel well (2 T25 screws on each side)

6. Release and remove the plastic pop rivet at the top front of the bumper (inside the wheel well.)

This can be tricky, the best thing to do is:
a. Press the center of the rivet out from the bottom (the part that drops into the wheel well using a small srewdriver)

b. Pull the rivet out using a pair of pliers from the top side

7. Slide the bumper out slowly and carefully to expose the the rear

8. Remove bumper rail by removing the bolts attaching bumper rail to frame


Installation of the hitch to follow soon!

Here's the Torklift installation video on youtube

I ordered a Ecohitch this past Tuesday. I am hoping to install the hitch next weekend.

This one just got added to my to-do list. It looks like a good compromise between the north american and euro style hitch

Is there any trimming of the bumper required?

This is pretty awesome, Love the fact that it does not hang below the bumper like every other hitch out there that I have seen on sportwagens.

Idk if its me or the 1.25" hitch appear more appealing then the 2" one... just seems to fit the rear end better... what do you guys think?

1.25 is less versatile. Things like bike racks, hitch baskets, etc. are hard to find or non-existent in 1.25.
Aesthetics, yeah I think the 1.25 looks better.
Choose either form or function.
frank

There is a little trimming of the bumer required, but it's a 4" x 6" cut that's easy to make using a utility knife. It's only on the underside of the bumper so you don't really see it at all. I was intimidated by this step and it was relatively easy. Here's a picture of what you have to cut. I cut a little less deep than this and it was fine.

Tow Hitch Install - Part 2

Now that we have the bumper rail removed, it's time to install the tow hitch behind the bumper rail. To do this we have to install both the rear mounts and a set of bolts into the frame rail on the side of the rail. That part is a little tricky as it requires us to gain access behind the muffler heat shield. So to that end, you have to loosen the muffler supports, lower the muffler a bit, and pull away the heat shield (which is attached by an irritating press-on nut. Once that's done, it's a fairly simple task of attaching the tow hitch behind the bumper rail. Here goes:
1. Loosen the two bolts holding the muffler hanger onto the body. If your car is older, lubricate these bolts with WD-40 before trying to crank them off

2. Remove the press-on nut by twisting the inner part of the press-on nut (lefty loosey) while watching your fingers as these nuts have a lot of sharp edge

3. Lower the muffler 2-3 inches and support with a block
4. Pull back the muffler heat shield on the right side of the muffler to gain access to the hole in the side of the frame rail that you will screw the 7/6" x 1"hex cap screw into.

5. Screw an m8 hanging bolt with a 5/16" lock washer through holes on the bottom left screw hole on the driver's side of the car (this will help you hang the hitch and bumper rail)
- The bolt end should be sticking out of the rear of the car once you've screwed this bolt far enough in to crush the lock washer

6. Screw an m8 hanging bolt with a 5/16" lock washer through holes the bottom right screw hole on the passenger side of the car (this will help you hang the hitch and bumper rail)
- The bolt end should be sticking out of the rear of the car once you've screwed this bolt far enough in to crush the lock washer

7. Hang the hitch on these two bolts
8. Hang the bumper rail over the hitch (making sure that you flatten the tabs on the edge of the bumper rail before you reinstall)
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAAAAHd0/1k77xvHLhRk/w483-h409-no/Tabs.png
For 9-16 see the following diagram

9. Secure the two bolts that the the hitch and bumper rail are resting on with a 5/16" washer and 5/16" lock washer and M8 hex nut.

10. Thread (1) M8-1.25 x 40mm hex cap screw with (1) 5/16” lock washer and (1) 5/16” flat washer into the two weld nuts on the passenger side
11. Thread (1) M8-1.25 x 40mm hex cap screw with (1) 5/16” lock washer and (1) 5/16” flat washer into the one weld nut on the driver's side
12. Torque all M8 bolts to 17 lb-feet
13. Thread (1) 7/16” x 1” hex cap screw with (1) 7/16” lock washer and (1) 7/16” flat washer into the side of the frame rail on driver's side

14. Thread (1) 7/16” x 1” hex cap screw with (1) 7/16” lock washer and (1) 7/16” flat washer into the side of the frame rail on driver's side
- Note that at this point I had a little trouble as the holes drilled at the factory did not quite line up with the weld nut on the passenger's side. This made it impossible to screw in the 7/16" hex cap screw.
Ultimately, I had to drill out the hole in the frame rail by a very small amount (1/8") which allowed me to screw in the 7/16" hex cap screw straight and true. This seemed to be an issue with the holes drilled in the frame rail at the factory, and I would not expect this to be a problem on other installs. If you do run into this, it is minor problem that is easily solved with a good drill bit. I will admit, it took a good hour of staring and trying alternatives which made me question whether the hitch was manufactured symmetrically. If this occurs, skip the fiddling and go right to a minor widening of the frame rail slot.
15. Torque 7'15 hex cap screws to 33-lb feet
16. Grind down the styrofoam on the bumper rail by about 1/3-1/2" with an electrical sander and 60 grit coarse sandpaper
Alternative: Instructions that come with the hitch say to discard the styrofoam on the rear of the bumper rail.
17. Bumper trim time: Mark and trim a 4-1/2” wide x 6” deep rectangle at the center of the bumper fascia (instructions say 4", but the diagram shows a much deeper cut on the side going "into" the bumper" . See diagram below for details

18. Reinstall the bumper. Test to make sure there is clearance at the tow hitch. I initially cut 3.5", then tested with 4.5" and then 6". 6" did it just about right.
That's it. At this point you are done. and simply need to reinstall all parts in the following order:
1. Put back in place muffler heat shield and press on the press-on nut
2. Tighten the muffler hanger
3. Screw all the torx screws back into place
4. Reattach the pop-rivets in the top front of the bumper on the driver's and passenger side
5. Slide back in light assemblies
6. Screw in light assemblies
7. Re-attach electrical connector

These look like a nice compromise, however they don't have the arms the Westfalia hitch has that go into the body above the rear suspension providing extra support, I asked Torquelift if they would make it that way and got no response so customer service is very much weak (they replied to the first email and none after that). It would be very simple to add them, and they advertise custom welding/fabrication so no idea why they wouldn't be interested in making them that way-the Westfalia has a greater tow rating. I need them as I have a hitch basket/cargo platform for dirty stuff and big objects like snowblowers and lawn mowers, I need the strongest hitch possible.

Towing w/ a tdi sportwagen is totally possible. I saw all kinds of cars towing boats, trailers, etc. in New Zealand.

Also the smaller hitch (1.25) is fine for bikes, etc. FXK stated they weren't as versatile, but I disagree. There are a lot of bike racks, etc. that fit in 1.25 and if you aren't towing they are fine. If you have a bike rack that needs the larger hole then you can buy an adapter.

Thanks for the pix and info! I have a Curt hitch and (1) it looks kinda crappy and, (2) it sometimes drags when entering a driveway, etc. So, thinking this new hitch might be the ticket. Also, while the 2" might not look as good as the 1.25" I think it would be more versatile. One can always put a cover on it for esthetic reasons.

kevin_in_idaho said:

Towing w/ a tdi sportwagen is totally possible. I saw all kinds of cars towing boats, trailers, etc. in New Zealand.

Also the smaller hitch (1.25) is fine for bikes, etc. FXK stated they weren't as versatile, but I disagree. There are a lot of bike racks, etc. that fit in 1.25 and if you aren't towing they are fine. If you have a bike rack that needs the larger hole then you can buy an adapter.

Click to expand...

Also, I prefer the 2" receiver this hitch comes with because it allows one to use a 2" to 1 1/4" reducer putting my 1upUSA bike rack further back allowing the hatch to open with the bike on the rack.

http://www.amazon.com/CURT-Manufact...580&sr=8-1&keywords=curt+2"+to+1+1/4"+adapter

This guide, and the one posted here; http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=290710
were a big help to me installing my own eco hitch. I figured I'd post a few pics to share my own experience.

the first surprise I had was from the mudflaps.
Extra screws, and some with nuts on the other side. You'll have to crawl under there and get a wrench to hold them down.
The tabs can be undone with a small flathead screwdriver.
A bit tricky to hammer them back in with the tire there. a small heavy metal thing worked for me.

<a href="http://imgur.com/RzRQ8SN"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/RzRQ8SN.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

i dont know how these forums work.

on the foam rear bumper, I too wanted to save it, but how to trim off 1/2"?

Random orbital sander did nothing.
Belt sander did nothing.
but wood planer was the perfect tool for my car!

heres the mudflap photo

I was never send the u-channel "trim lock" liner they sent. The edges are little rough, mixture of utility knife and dremel used to cut the bumper.

unlike the directions, I cut mine a little wider, so I could cut out a hole instead of a notch. This allowed me to keep the center attachment point.

worked ok.

I was worried about ground clearance, so I went with the ecohitch, and the 1up rack.
It cost more, but scraping the ground would of drove me nuts.

look at all that ground clearance.

I will say this project was twice as difficult as I expected.

The holes on the hitch do not quite match, as the OP mentioned.
I had no tools to drill bigger holes, so I used "the force".

Now I had a bolt break on me... Using hand tooks, I used enough force to break these bolts that are being used to attach my bumper which is the first line of defense in a rear end collision!

The ones that were already in, i had to go laughably beyond the "torque to x weight" suggestion just to get them in. I wasn't going to take them out. I got heavier duty bolts from the hardware store for the remainders.

I used a Dremel multi-max and saw blade to trim my bumper foam - it worked GREAT, and it took all of about 2 minutes to do the trimming... the blade went through the foam like butter.

I also used the same tool to make the cut in my bumper.. I went slowly, and it came out great - I did go over the cut edges with a utility knife to clean them up a bit. I also did NOT get the trim-lok that was supposed to be included. I'm not sure yet if I will attempt to use something else (like door edge trim if I can ever find any in black - all I can find locally is chrome) or badger them about it.

The frame hole on the right side also didn't line up at all on mine - but it was more like 3/16" off, not just 1/8" - there would have been no "forcing" it into place, I had to grind that hole open a LOT to make the bolt fit. I also couldn't get the nut onto the end of the "hanging bolts" when they were installed backwards- there just wasn't enough room due to the bumper itself hitting the hitch frame and deflecting the mounting plates outwards at the bottom by about 1/4", so I removed the bolts and installed them the other direction after the top bolts were in place, relying on the bolts themselves to pull the bumper mounting plates back into place (which didn't require a lot of force - I had to tighten quite a bit when I broke the torque wrench out).. which worked well enough, but IMO something isn't quite right with how torklift is making these, for those two significant issues to exist in what should be a clean "bolt on" installation.

All said I am super happy with it.. I did break one of my expanding rivets removing it (the pin broke when I pulled on it with pliers), and when I went to get another from my local dealer, they just gave it to me, no charge, which was pretty nice

Does anyone have any more installation feedback/tips/observations since the last post in 2015?

Thanks!

I hope to install soon. Nice write up.