Show what you tow!

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
ymz said:
Hey, Jason... how would you feel about taking one of my patented short-cuts - through Montreal - and towing my hydro-locked Golf halfway to Toronto ??i
Does that mean my Golf might catch up with yours, odometer-wise?
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
The hydro-locked car is our 2001 Golf... (my wife drove into a flooded street a couple of months ago... I'm trying to make room in my garage to bring the car here and swap engines...) Our 2003 Jetta Wagon is now the only working car... it's up to 339000+ miles...

Y.
 

Sweeps

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Location
Orillia, Ontario, Canada
TDI
None currently. MK4/5/6 Jetta's in the past.
Here is the little trailer I tow. Tow great. Weighs about 500lbs empty. Barely can tell it is there.
Use it for trips to Home Depot, The Dump, Furniture stores, etc.

 

3L3M3NT

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Location
Sturgeon Bay, WI
TDI
04 Jetta GLS TDI, 04 RTDI
Victor Huge said:


World's sexiest Jetta right there, voted by me.
:D
Thanks for the compliment. It's in the shop right now for some go fast goodies along with a New 6 speed tranny:D
 

McBrew

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Location
Annapolis, MD
TDI
2003 Golf GLS TDI, 5 speed, Silver/Grey
I know it's not a TDI, but I towed stuff with my Golf when I had it.





The second trailer is a Harbor Freight one... I have since added sides to it. I have put over 2,000 miles on it since I bought it this summer. Got it on sale for about $270.
 

Thorne

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Location
SF Bay Area
Keep a sharp eye on the wheelbearings -- I had my first set dissolve after one season, even with waterproof grease. I put a lot of miles on my utility and boat trailers, but could not find anyone willing to work on my HF trailer.
 

McBrew

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Location
Annapolis, MD
TDI
2003 Golf GLS TDI, 5 speed, Silver/Grey
Thorne said:
Keep a sharp eye on the wheelbearings -- I had my first set dissolve after one season, even with waterproof grease. I put a lot of miles on my utility and boat trailers, but could not find anyone willing to work on my HF trailer.
I hear you. The very first thing I did after assembling the trailer was to pull the bearings, clean them thoroughly, and repack them with a synthetic grease. After a long drive, I usually put my hand on each hub to see if either of them are hot. In the spring, I'll repack the bearings and see how they are doing.
 

Wildfire

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
Location
Hamilton, Ontario
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS TDI


Boat weighs 800 lbs, motor weighs 300, trailer is 500 and change. Add 3 batteries and 68l of gas and that's what it weighs. lol

I bought it in Texas and towed it home with the Jetta, 2500 km.
 

domboy

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Location
Wilmington NC
TDI
2003 Golf GLS TDI 5spd
I like this thread! I tow a few things with my 03 Golf.

A 4x6 Utility Trailer, mostly for hauling trash to the landfill. No idea how much it weights, but it's pretty light.


And an Aliner Classic camper:


Side view hooked to the Golf:


From the front... doesn't look as silly from this angle...


Unloaded weight is advertised at 1430lbs, Dry Hitch Weight is 175lbs. I don't think this includes the weight of a full propane tank or the battery, and ours has trailer brakes and the off-road package (3000lbs axle and better tires/rims), the later adds either 35lbs or 113lbs, the documentation is a bit confusing on that. Guesstimate around ~1550lbs. I've got a hidden hitch and a proportional brake controller on the Golf. I have to thank NarfBLAST, as seeing the old popup being towed by his Golf at post #35 gave me the courage to seriously investigate towing an Aliner with my Golf. It does very well. Might need some hight on the rear suspension perhaps, otherwise I'm very happy with the setup. See more on this in my thread here.
 
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domboy

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Location
Wilmington NC
TDI
2003 Golf GLS TDI 5spd
NB_TDi said:
Glad you bought it! I love it, maybe I'll trade my 8' in for one...Hmm
Do it!! :D

They really are nice. We've been tent camping a lot, and my in-laws are full-timers from their camper, so we'll be making good use of it. I think the Aliner is a very nice step up from tent camping, but it feels more like a full camper than a pop-up does, to me anyway. No fabric to worry about (should be warmer too). Setup time is next to nothing, it's amazing! We'd been thinking about it for awhile, but when we actually went to look at one... sold!!
 

ndamico

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Location
Sacramento, CA
TDI
2003 Golf 2Dr TDI, 2003 Jetta TDI, 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI, 2002 Duramax, 2003 Duramax
Well its definitely not a TDI, but I can fit both my MKIV's in it at once and still have room for the quad :)

 

DieselOx

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2007
Location
Spokane, WA
TDI
2003 Jetta Sedan 5sp 342,000mi
Thorne said:
Keep a sharp eye on the wheelbearings -- I had my first set dissolve after one season, even with waterproof grease. I put a lot of miles on my utility and boat trailers, but could not find anyone willing to work on my HF trailer.
McBrew said:
I hear you. The very first thing I did after assembling the trailer was to pull the bearings, clean them thoroughly, and repack them with a synthetic grease. After a long drive, I usually put my hand on each hub to see if either of them are hot. In the spring, I'll repack the bearings and see how they are doing.
You both need Bearing Buddies (replacement bearing caps with spring plunger and a grease nipple). They install in minutes, and you can grease them before every wet trip with a plain old grease gun. You can get them just about anywhere they sell trailer parts (RV supply, better auto supplies) I put 8 or 10 camping trips a year on our old tent trailer for the last 5 years, still on the original 20 year old bearings. I burn through the tires though, they only last 2 seasons. (I'd post pics, but we always tow with the truck, no room for the dogs, kids and coolers in the Golf)
 

79TA7.6

Veteran Member
Joined
May 8, 2006
Location
Live: Wilbur/Creston; Work: Moses Lake Washington
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta, 2002 TDI Golf, 2005 TDI Golf
Need to be very careful with bearing buddies. As far as I can tell and from what I remember, bearing buddies only grease the outside bearings and leave the inside bearings to die. This is unless they have changed them. I have a coworker who had them installed and the inside bearings died. He thought he was good because his bearing buddies were taking care of the bearings for him.
 

DieselOx

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2007
Location
Spokane, WA
TDI
2003 Jetta Sedan 5sp 342,000mi
79TA7.6 said:
Need to be very careful with bearing buddies. ...I have a coworker who had them installed and the inside bearings died. He thought he was good because his bearing buddies were taking care of the bearings for him.
Whenever I check them, they're pushing grease out the back side, hence the inner's greased. When it's been a while, I fill up the cup, wait a day or 50 miles for it to push grease through. If the cup bottoms out without any coming out the back, it needs more grease.
 

TDIJetta99

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
TDI
03... Faster than yours =]
79TA7.6 said:
Need to be very careful with bearing buddies. As far as I can tell and from what I remember, bearing buddies only grease the outside bearings and leave the inside bearings to die. This is unless they have changed them. I have a coworker who had them installed and the inside bearings died. He thought he was good because his bearing buddies were taking care of the bearings for him.
your buddy just wasn't putting enough grease in them.. The grease will come out through the inner bearing if you keep putting grease in it..
 

Thorne

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Location
SF Bay Area
Very nice, dremd!

As for the Bearing Buddies, not all the Harbor Freight trailer hubs can take 'em -- mine were some odd size and although I purchased every available size of BB, none would fit. But most can and they are a great idea.
 

dremd

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2007
Location
South Louisiana
TDI
06 sprinter. 03 jetta wagon premium with 6 speed ALH swap, 14 JSW
What is that gjslutz?
And why does it look so cool?
 

gjslutz

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Location
Ohio
TDI
2010 JSW
It is my little 1220 LB "7" toy car. I enclosed an Aluma trailer to haul it. The trailer weighs 950 LBS.

;) This is the reason I purchased the JSW. I can get my track tires in the rear. The JSW tows it like it isn't there.
 

gunnerdd972

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 15, 2001
Location
Panama City Beach, FL
TDI
2000 NB GLS
What I tow.

This was taken a few years ago, a friend from work let me use his trailer. I towed this set up from San Diego to Manhattan, Kansas. From I-15 to I-70 through the Rocky's. I am going to buy a Kendon dual trailer as I have bought another motorcycle.

 

Keven

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Location
Tampa FL
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
Moar pictures!



Obviously this is with the boat setup and not how I tow it. I did however tow that boat/trailer, ANOTHER hobie trailer on top of that (minus wheels/axle), another trampoline setup (all of the metal abve the hulls), 2 sets of rudders, another mast, 2 sets of booms/sails, and a packed car 200 miles from school to my hometown for winter break!

 
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